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PASSALIMANI (Port) PIRAEUS
Zea, the small round harbor (of Piraeus) between Akte and Mounychia. . .
According to Demosthenes the shiphouses (neosoikoi) were among the glories of Athens. Fourth c. inscriptions (IG, II2, 1627-1631) tell us that there were 94 ship-sheds in Kantharos, 196 in Zea, and 82 in Mounychia. Thus Zea was the main base of the war fleet. Remains have been found at various points, especially in Zea. An inscription of the second half of the 4th c. B.C. (IG II2 1668) found N of Zea, gives detailed specifications for the construction of a great skeuotheke or arsenal for the storage of equipment, a long rectangular structure divided into three lengthwise by colonnades. Philon is named as the architect.
Stratiotiki (called Paschalimani by Ulrichs), the middle of the three harbours, is the ancient Zea, erroneously called by the earlier topographers Munychia. (Timeaus, Lex., Plat.; Phot. Lex. s. v. Zea.) It was the largest of the three harbours for ships of war, since it contained 196 ship-houses, whereas Munychia had only 82, and Cantharus only 94. Some of the ship-houses at Zea appear to have been still in existence in the time of Pausanias; for though he does not mention Zea, the Weosoikoi which he speaks of (i. 1. § 3) were apparently at this port. This harbour probably derived its name from Artemis, who was worshipped among the Athenians under the surname of Zea, and not, as Meursius supposed, from the corn-vessels, which were confined to the Emporium in the great harbour.
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
The
port of Zea
Zea was the second largest port of Piraeus and was wholly covered by the installations
of the dockyard of the attican fleet. Its development most probably preceded the
other two ports, since it granted the best natural protection for the mooring
of vessels. The drawing of the port preceded its construction in order to cover
the increased need for the immediate building of ships that would form the powerful
fleet of the Athenians (493 ? 492).
Basins.
The basin of the port of Zea had a circular shape in antiquity, as it has today,
with a diameter of 450m and an entrance port on its south side 180m wide and 200m
in length (Traulos 1972, p.442-456).
Jetties.
As in the port of Cantharus, the entrance was formed by two jetties (moles), over
which extended the walls that run along the coastline of the peninsula. At the
end of each mole the walls were reinforced with a large rectangular tower from
which a chain was hang across the entrance of the port.
Dwellings.
The area of the dockyard was surrounded by workers? dwellings (they housed the
workers that had undertaken the heavy work of constructing the walls and the harbour
installations of Piraeus), barracks, shipbuilding warehouses, equipment warehouses,
craftwork shops, and places for the entertainment of the ships? crews (Panagos,
Ch.Th., p237). A industrial zone that surrounded the port of Zea as well as Munychia
must not have been included by Hippodamus in the drawing up of the plans for the
city of Piraeus that followed the construction of the dockyards.
Defences.
The naval zone was separated from the rest of the city ?in the same way it did
in Cantharus? port ? with an enclosure that run across its whole length at a distance
of 50m from the coastline, serving in the same time, as the closed wall of the
ship sheds? narrow side.
Warehouses.
During the time that passed in between the expeditions and during the winter months,
the triremes? equipment was stored separately - the wooden parts (oars, masts,
etc) in the ship sheds and the hanging parts (sails, ropes, cables etc) in special
wooden buildings (arsenals, "skeuothekai") the existence of which is mentioned
since the establishment of the dockyards (early 5th century B.C.). In 347/346
Euvoulos introduced the idea for the revival of the Athenians? naval power and
the construction of a new arsenal that was designed by the architect Philo and
was completed at the time of Lycurgus (Steinhauer, G.A., 2000,p.64).
The discovery and partial excavation of the Arsenal of Philo took
place during 1988-1989. However the fame of this important building preceded its
discovery due to the praising comments about the arsenal by Demostenes, Ploutarch,
Strabo, Pliny, Val.Maximus and Vitruvius (Steinhauer, G.A., 1996, p.71) as well
as due to the discovery, οnew hundred years earlier (1888), of a marble inscription
(IG II²1668) with the detailed description of the construction and use of the
building, written by Philo. The inscription was 98 lines long and allowed a detailed
graphic representation of the building making it one of the better known buildings,
construction wise. (see Figure)
The Arsenal was built between the Hippodameian Agora and the ship
sheds, NE of the deepest recess of the gulf of Zea with its axis running from
SW to NE (Fig.11), a direction that allows the proper ventilation of its internal
space and is one of the important elements for the design of the building according
to Philo. The building was 18m wide and 130m long with entrances on both its narrow
sides and two colonnades of piers that divided its inner space into three aisles.
The central aisle extended in the whole length and height of the building, while
the side aisles were separated in 34 compartments each, they had lofts with wooden
shelves that served as storage space.
This text is cited Aug 2005 from the R.G.Z.M.
Roman-Germanic Central Museum URL below.
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