Listed 100 (total found 125) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "CORINTHIA Prefecture PELOPONNISOS" .
STRAVA (Bay) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
Piney area with summer houses.
XYLOKASTRO (Small town) CORINTHIA
Built in 1260, dominated the area, was destroyed by earthuquake in 1402 and does not exist today
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
ZOODOCHOS PIGI (Small island) ALKYONIDES
It stretches 1mile from N-NW, Cape Spilitses (38,7,3 N - 22,59,4 E) to S-SE, Cape Sotiras (38,6,4 N - 22,59,9 E), with height 68m (38,1,7 N -22,59,6 E).
XYLOKASTRO (Small town) CORINTHIA
(Following URL information in Greek only)
AGII THEODORI (Municipality) CORINTHIA
ARISTONAFTES (Ancient city) XYLOKASTRO
The harbour of Pellene was called Aristonautae (Aristonautai), and
was distant 60 stadia from Pellene, and 120 from Aegeira. It is said to have been
so called from the Argonauts having landed there in the course of their voyage.
(Paus. vii. 26. § 14, ii. 12. § 2.) It was probably on the site of the modern
Kamari. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 384.) A little to the E., near the coast,
was the fortress Olurus (Olouros), dependent upon Pellene; Leake places it at
Xylo-castro. It would thus have stood at the entrance of the gorge leading from
the maritime plain into the territory of Pellene, and would have been a position
of great importance to the safety of that district. (Xen. Hell. vii. 14. 17, 18;
Plin. iv. 6; Mel. iii. 3; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, vol. iii. p. 224.) Near Aristonautae
was Gonnusa or Gonoessa, to which Homer gives the epithet of lofty (aipeine).
According to Pausanias its proper name was Donussa (Donoussa), which was changed
by Peisistratus into Gonoessa, when he collected the poems of Homer. Pausanias
says that it was a fortress belonging to the Sicyonians, and lay between Aegeira
and Pellene; but from its position we may infer that it was at one time dependent
upon Pellene. Leake places it at Koryfi, the lofty mountain, at the foot of which
is Kamari, the ancient Aristonautae. (Horn. Il. ii. 573; Paus. vii. 26. § 13;
Leake, vol. iii. p. 385.)
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
ASSOPOS (River) CORINTHIA
Asopus. River of St. George, a river of Peloponnesus, rising in the mountains
S. of Phlius, and flowing through Sicyonia into the Corinthian gulf. Hence the
plain of Sicyonia was called Asopis or Asopia. Its principal sources are at
the foot of Mt. Gavria. In the upper part of its course it is a clear tranquil
stream, but in passing through Sicyonia it becomes rapid, white, and turbid.
It flows past the city of Sicyon on the east, and joins the sea a little eastward
of a round height in the plain. (Strab. vii., viii., ix.;
Paus. ii. 5.2, 15.1; Plin. iv. 5. s. 6)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
FENEOS (Ancient city) FENEOS
Pheneos (Hom. Il. ii. 605); Pheneos (Steph. B. s. v.): Eth. Pheneates.
The territory (he Pheneatike, Paus.; he Pheneatis, Alciphr. iii. 48; (e Phenike,
Polyb.). A town in the NE. of Arcadia, whose territory was bounded on the N. by
that of the Achaean towns of Aegeira and Pallene, E. by the Stymphalia, W. by
the Cleitoria, and S. by the Caphyatis and Orchomenia. This territory is shut
in on every side by lofty mountains, offshoots of Mt. Cyllene and the Aroanian
chain; and it is about 7 miles in length and the same in breadth. Two streams
descend from the northern mountains, and unite their waters about the middle of
the valley; the united river is now called Foniatiko, and bore in ancient times
the name of Olbius and Aroanius. (Paus. viii. 14. § 3.) There is no opening through
the mountains on the S.; but the waters of the united river are carried off by
katavothra, or subterranean channels in the limestone rocks, and, after flowing
underground, reappear as the sources of the river Ladon. In order to convey the
waters of this river in a single channel to the katavothra, the inhabitants at
an early period constructed a canal, 50 stadia in length, and 30 feet in breadth.
(Paus. l. c.; comp. Catull. lxviii. 109.) This great work, which was attributed
to Hercules, had become useless in the time of Pausanias, and the river had resumed
its ancient and irregular course; but traces of the canal of Hercules are still
visible, and one bank of it was a conspicuous object in the valley when it was
visited by Lake in the year 1.806. The canal of Hercules, however, could not protect
the valley from the danger to which it was exposed, in consequence of the katavothra
becoming obstructed, and the river finding no outlet for its waters. The Pheneatae
related that their city was once destroyed by such an inundation, and in proof
of it they pointed out upon the mountains the marks of the height to which the
water was said to have ascended. (Pans. viii. 14. § 1.) Pausanias evidently refers
to the yellow border which is still visible upon the mountains and around the
plain: but in consequence of the great height of this line upon the rocks, it
is difficult to believe it to be the mark of the ancient depth of water in the
plain, and it is more probably caused by evaporation, as Leake has suggested;
the lower parts of the rock being constantly moistened, while the upper are in
a state of comparative dryness, thus producing a difference of colour in process
of time. It is, however, certain that the Pheneatic plain has been exposed more
than once to such inundations. Pliny says that the calamity had occurred five
times (xxxi. 5. s. 30); and Eratosthenes related a memorable instance of such
an inundation through the obstruction of the katavothra, when, after they were
again opened, the water rushing into the Ladon and the Alpheius overflowed the
banks of those rivers at Olympia. (Strab. viii. p. 389.)
The account of Eratosthenes has been confirmed by a similar occurrence
in modern times. In 1821 the katavothra became obstructed, and the water continued
to rise in the plain till it had destroyed 7 or 8 square miles of cultivated country.
Such was its condition till 1832, when the subterraneous channels again opened,
the Ladon and Alpheius overflowed, and the plain of Olympia was inundated. Other
ancient writers allude to the katavothra and subterraneous course of the river
of Pheneus. (Theophr. Hist. Plant. iii. 1; Diod. xv. 49.)
Pheneus is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 605), and was more celebrated
in mythical than in historical times. Virgil (Aen. viii. 165) represents it as
the residence of Evander; and its celebrity in mythical times is indicated by
its connection with Hercules. Pausanias found the city in a state of complete
decay. The acropolis contained a ruined temple of Atliena Tritonia, with a brazen
statue of Poseidon Hippius. On the descent from the acropolis was the stadium;
and on a neighbouring hill, the sepulchre of Iphicles, the brother of Hercules.
There was also a temple of Hermes, who was the principal deity of the city. (Paus.
viii. 14. § 4, seq.)
The lower slope of the mountain, upon which the remains of Pheneus
stand, is occupied by a village now called Fonia. There is, however, some difficulty
in the description of Pausanias compared with the existing site. Pausanias says
that the acropolis was precipitous on every side, and that only a small part of
it was artificially fortified; but the summit of the insulated hill, upon which
the remains of Pheneus are found, is too small apparently for the acropolis of
such an important city, and moreover it has a regular slope, though a very rugged
surface. Hence Leake supposes that the whole of this hill formed the acropolis
of Pheneus, and that the lower town was in a part of the subjacent plain; but
the entire hill is not of that precipitous kind which the description of Pausanias
would lead one to suppose, and it is not impossible that the acropolis may have
been on some other height in the neighbourhood, and that the hill on which the
ancient remains are found may have been part of the lower city.
There were several roads from Pheneus to the surrounding towns. Of
these the northern road to Achaia ran through the Pheneatic plain. Upon this road,
at the distance of 15 stadia from the city, was a temple of Apollo Pythius, which
was in ruins in the time of Pausanias. A little above the temple the road divided,
the one to the left leading across Mt. Crathis to Aegeira, and the other to the
right running to Pellene: the boundaries of Aegeira and Pheneus were marked by
a temple of Artemis Pyronia, and those of Pellene and Pheneus by that which is
called Porinas ho kaloumenos Porinas), supposed by Leake to be a river, but by
Curtius a rock. (Paus. viii. 15. § § 5-9.)
On the left of the Pheneatic plain is a great mountain, now called
Tiurtovana, but which is not mentioned by Pausanias. He describes, however, the
two roads which led westward from Pheneus around this mountain,--that to the right
or NW. leading to Nonacris and the river Styx, and that to the left to Cleitor.
(Paus. viii. 17. § 6.) Nonacris was in the territory of Pheneus. The road to Cleitor
ran at first along the canal of Hercules, and then crossed the mountain, which
formed the natural boundary between the Pheneatis and Cleitoria, close to the
village of Lycuria, which still bears its ancient name. On the other side of the
mountain the road passed by the sources of the river Ladon. (Paus. viii. 19. §
4, 20. § 1.) This mountain, from which the Ladon springs, was called Penteleta
(Penteleia, Hesych. and Phot. s. v.) The fortress, named Penteleium (Penteleion),
which Plutarch says was near Pheneus, must have been situated upon this mountain.
(Plut. Arat. 39, Cleom. 17.)
The southern road from Pheneus led to Orchomenus, and was the way
by which Pausanias came to the former city. The road passed from the Orchomenian
plain to that of Pheneus through a narrow ravine (pharanx); in the middle of which
was a fountain of water, and at the further extremity the village of Caryae. The
mountains on either side were named Oryxis (Oruxis), and Sciathis (Skiathis),
and at the foot of either was a subterraneous channel, which carried off the water
from the plain. (Paus. viii. 13. § 6, 14. § 1.) This ravine is now called Gioza,
from a village of this name, which occupies the site of Caryae. The mountains
on either side are evidently the Oryxis and Sciathis of Pausanias, and at the
foot of either there is a katavothra, as he has remarked. The eastern road from
Pheneus led to Stymphalus, across Mt. Geronteium (now Skipezi), which formed the
boundary between the territories of the two cities. To the left of Mt. Geronteium
near the road was a mountain called Tricrena (Trikrena), or the three fountains;
and near the latter was another mountain called Sepia (Sepia), where Aepytus is
said to have perished from the bite of a snake (Paus. viii. 16. § § 1, 2.)
This text 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
FLIOUS (Ancient city) NEMEA
Eth. Phliasios, the territory Phliasia. An independent city in the
north-eastern part of Peloponnesus, whose territory was bounded on the N. by Sicyonia,
on the W. by Arcadia, on the E. by Cleonae, and on the S. by Argolis. This territory
is a small valley about 900 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains,
from which streams flow down on every side, joining the river Asopus in the middle
of the plain. The mountain in the southern part of the plain, from which the principal
source of the Asopus springs, was called Carneates (Karneates) in antiquity, now
Polyfengo. (Strab. viii. p. 382.) The territory of Phlius was celebrated in antiquity
for its wine. (Athen. i. p. 27, d.) According to Strabo (viii. p. 382), the ancient
capital of the country was Araethyrea (Araithurea) on Mt. Celosse, which city
is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 571); but the inhabitants subsequently deserted
it and built Phlius at the distance of 30 stadia. Pausanias (ii. 12. § § 4, 5),
however, does not speak of any migration, but says that the ancient capital was
named Arantia (Arantia), from its founder Aras, an autochthon, that it was afterwards
called Araethyrea from a daughter of Aras, and that it finally received the name
of Phlius, from Phlias, a son of Ceisus and grandson of Temenus. The name of Arantia
was retained in the time of Pausanias in the hill Arantinus, on which the city
stood. Hence the statement of grammarians that both Arantia and Araethyrea were
ancient names of Phlius. (Steph. B. s. vv. Phlious, Arantia; Schol. ad Apoll.
Rhod. i. 115.) According to Stephanus B. (s. v. Phlious) Phlius derived its name
from Dionysus and Chthonophyle. Phlius was subsequently conquered by Dorians under
Rhegnidas, who came from Sicyon. Some of the inhabitants migrated to Samos, others
to Clazomenae; among the settlers at Samos was Hippasus, from whom Pythagoras
derived his descent. (Paus. ii. 13. § 1, seq.) Like most of the other Doric states,
Phlius was governed by an aristocracy, though it was for a time subject to a tyrant
Leon, a contemporary of Pythagoras. (Diog. Laert. i. 12, viii. 8; Cic. Tusc. v.
3) Phlius sent 200 soldiers to Thermopylae (Herod. vii. 202), and 1000 to Plataea
(ix. 28). Daring the whole of the Peloponnesian War it remained faithful to Sparta
and hostile to Argos. (Thuc. v. 57, seq., vi. 105.) But before B.C. 393 a change
seems to have taken place in the government, for in that year we find some of
the citizens in exile who professed to be the friends of the Lacedaemonians. The
Phliasians, however, still continued faithful to Sparta) and received a severe
defeat from Iphicrates in the year already mentioned. So much were they weakened
by this blow that they were obliged to admit a Lacedaemonian garrison within their
walls, which they had been unwilling to do before, lest their allies should restore
the exiles. But the Lacedaemonians did not betray the confidence placed in them,
and quitted the city without making any change in the government. (Xen. Hell.
iv. 4. 15, seq.) Ten years afterwards (B.C. 383) the exiles induced the Spartan
government to espouse their cause; and with the fate of Mantineia before their
eyes, the Phliasians thought it more prudent to comply with the request of the
Spartans, and received the exiles. (Xen. Hell. v. 2. 8, seq.) But disputes arising
between returned exiles and those who were in possession of the government, the
former again appealed to Sparta, and Agesilaus was sent with an army in B.C. 380
to reduce the city. At this period Phlius contained 5000 citizens. Agesilaus laid
siege to the city, which held out for a year and eight months. It was at length
obliged to surrender through failure of provisions in B.C. 379; and Agesilaus
appointed a council of 100 members (half from the exiles and half from the besieged),
with powers of life and death over the citizens, and authorised to frame a new
constitution. (Xen. Hell. v. 3. 10, seq.; Plut. Ages. 24; Diod. xv. 20.) From
this time the Phliasians remained faithful to Sparta throughout the whole of the
Theban War, though they had to suffer much from the devastation of their territory
by their hostile neighbours. The Argives occupied and fortified Tricaranum above
Phlius, and the Sicyonians Thyamia on the Sicyonian frontier. (Xen. Hell. vii.
2. 1) In B.C. 368 the city was nearly taken by the exiles, who no doubt belonged
to the democratical party, and had been driven into exile after the capture of
the city by Agesilaus. In this year a body of Arcadians and Eleians, who were
marching through Nemea to join Epaminondas at the Isthmus, were persuaded by the
Phliasian exiles to assist them in capturing the city. During the night the exiles
stole to the foot of the Acropolis; and in the morning when the scouts stationed
by the citizens on the hill Tricaranum announced that the enemy were in sight,
the exiles seized the opportunity to scale the Acropolis, of which they obtained
possession. They were, however, repulsed in their attempt to force their way into
the town, and were eventually obliged to abandon the citadel also. The Arcadians
and Argives were at the same time repulsed from the walls. (Xen. Hell. vii. 2.
5--9) In the following year Phlius was exposed to a still more formidable attack
from the Theban commander at Sicyon, assisted by Euphron, tyrant of that city.
The main body of the army descended from Tricaranum to the Heraeum which stood
at the foot of the mountain, in order to ravage the Phliasian plain. At the same
time a detachment of Sicyonians and Pellenians were posted NE. of the Acropolis
before the Corinthian gate. to hinder the Phliasians from attacking them in their
rear. But the main body of the troops was repulsed; and being unable to join the
detachment of Sicyonians and Pallenians in consequence of a ravine (Pharanx),
the Phliasians attacked and defeated them with loss. (Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 11, seq.)
After the death of Alexander, Phlius, like many of the other Peloponnesian
cities, became subject to tyrants; but upon the organisation of the Achaean League
by Aratus, Cleonymus, who was then tyrant of Phlius, voluntarily resigned his
power, and the city joined the league. (Polyb. ii. 44.)
Phlius is celebrated in the history of literature as the birthplace
of Pratinas, the inventor of the Satyric drama, and who contended with Aeschylus
for the prize at Athens. In the agora of Phlius was the tomb of Aristias, the
son of Pratinas. (Paus. ii. 13. § 6.)
Pausanias says that on the Acropolis of Phlius was a temple of Hebe
or Ganymeda, in a cypress grove, which enjoyed the right of asylum. (Comp. Strab.
viii. p. 382.) There was also a temple of Demeter on the Acropolis. On descending
from the citadel there stood on the right a temple of Asclepius, and below it
the theatre and another temple of Demeter. In the agora there were also other
public buildings. (Paus. ii. 13. § 3, seq.) The principal place at present in
the Phliasia is the village of St. George, situated at the southern foot of Tricaranum,
a mountain with three summits, which bounds the plain to the NE. The ruins of
Phlius are situated three quarters of an hour further west, on one of the spurs
of Tricaranum, above the right bank of the Asopus. They are of considerable extent,
but present little more than foundations. On the south-western slope of the height
stands the church of our Lady of the Hill (Eanagia Hpachiotissa), from which the
whole spot is now called s ten Hpachiotissan. It probably occupies the site of
the temple of Asclepius. Ross found here the remains of several Doric pillars.
Five stadia from the town on the Asopus are some ruins, which Ross considers to
be those of Celeae (Keleai), where Demeter was worshipped. (Paus. ii. 14. § 1.)
Leake supposed Phlius to be represented by some ruins on the western side of the
mountain, now called Polyfengo; but these are more correctly assigned by Ross
to the ancient city of Araethyrea; and their distance from those already described
corresponds to the 30 stadia which, according to Strabo, was the distance from
Araethyrea to Phlius.
On Mt. Tricaranum are the remains of a small Hellenic fortress called
Paleokastron, which is probably the fortress erected by the Argives on this mountain.
(Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 1, 5, 11, 13; Dem. Megal. p. 206; Harpocrat. s. v. Trikaranon;
Steph. B. s. v. Trikarana.) Thyamia, which the Sicyonians fortified, as already
narrated (Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 1), is placed by Ross on the lofty hill of Spiria,
the northern prolongation of Tricaranum, between the villages Stimanga and Skrapani;
on the summit are the remains of a large round tower, probably built by the Franks
or Byzantines. In the southern part of the Phliasia is the Dioscurion (Dioskourion),
which is mentioned only by Polybius (iv. 67, 68, 73), and which lay on the road
from Corinth over the mountain Apelauron into the Stymphalia.
This text 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
Araethyrea (Araithurea), the ancient capital of Phliasia, is said by Pausanias to have been originally named Arantia (Arantia), after Aras, its founder, and to have been called Araethyrea after a daughter of Aras of this name. The name of its founder was retained in the time of Pausanias in the hill Arantinus, on which it stood. Homer mentions Araethyrea. (Horn. Il. ii. 571; Strab. viii. p. 382; Paus. ii. 12. § § 4, 5.) We learn from Strabo that its inhabitants quitted Araethyrea, and founded Phlius, at the distance of 30 stadia from the former town. Hence the statement of the grammarians, that Araethyrea and Arantia were both ancient names of Phlius. (Steph. B. s. vv. Phlious, Arantia; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 115.) Ross supposes the ruins on Mt. Polyfengo to be those of Araethyrea. Leake had erroneously supposed them to be the ruins of Phlius. (Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, vol. i. p. 27, seq.; Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 339, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ISTHMUS KORINTHOS (Isthmus) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
The most important part of the territory of Corinth was the Isthmus,
both as the place across which merchandise was carried from the eastern to the
western sea, and more especially as hallowed by the celebration of the Isthmian
games. The word Isthmus (Isthmos) probably comes from the root i, which appears
in i-enai to go, and the Latin i-re, and hence originally meant a passage. From
being the proper name of this spot, it came to be applied to the neck of any peninsula.
The situation of the Isthmus, a stony plain lying between the mountain barriers
of the Geraneia on the north and the Oneia on the south, has been already described.
The word was used both in a wider and a narrower signification. In its wider use
it indicated the whole land lying between the two gulfs, and hence Corinth is
said to have been situated on the Isthmus (Korinthos epi toi Isthmoi keimenos,
Strab. viii. p. 380; Corinthum in Isthimo condidit, Vell. Pat. i. 3): in its more
restricted sense it was applied to the narrowest part of the Isthmus, and especially
to the neighbourhood of the Poseideium and the locality of the Isthmian games
ten eis Kenchreas lonton ex Isthmou, Paus. ii. 2. § 3; ta Isthmoi dgalmata,, Philostr.
Vit, Her. 5.) Most of the Greek writers make the breadth of the Isthmus 40 stadia..
(Strab. viii. p. 335; Diod. xi. 16; Scylax, p. 15.) Pliny states it as 5 miles
(iv. 4. s. 5), and Mela 4 miles (ii. 3). The last statement is the most correct,
the real breadth being about 3 1/2 English miles in direct distance. In the Byzantine
time it was called to hexamilion, the name which the village on the Isthmus still
bears, and which was also given to the Isthmus of Mount Athos.
The only town on the Isthmus in ancient times was Schoenus on the
Saronic gulf. (ho Schoinous, viii. p. 380; Portus Schoenitas, Mel. ii. 3.) Situated
at the narrowest part of the Isthmus, it was the port of the Isthmian sanctuary,
and the place at which goods, not intended for the Corinthian market, were transported
across the Isthmus by means of the Diolcos. This harbour, which is now called
Kalamaki, is exposed to the east and south-east: the site of the town is indicated
by a few fragments of Doric columns. The Isthmian sanctuary lies rather less than
a mile south-east of Schoenus. It was a level spot, of an irregular quadrangular
form, containing the temple of Poseidon and other sanctuaries, and was surrounded
on all tides by a strong wall, which can still be clearly traced. The northern
and north-eastern parts of the enclosure were protected by the wall, which extended
across the Isthmus, and of which we shall speak presently. On the other sides
it was shut in by its own walls, which are in some cases more than 12 feet thick.
The enclosure is about 640 feet in length; but its breadth varies, being about
600 feet broad on the north and northeast, but only 300 feet broad at its southern
end. Its form, as well as the way in which it was connected with the Isthmic wall,
is shown in the annexed plan copied from Curtius, which is taken with a slight
improvement from Leake. The interior of the enclosure is a heap of ruins, which
in consequence of earthquakes and other devastating causes have been so mixed,
that it is impossible without extensive excavations to discover the ground-plan
of the different buildings.
Pausanias's account of the Isthmian sanctuary is unusually brief and
unsatisfactory (ii. 1). He came to it from the port. Towards his left he saw the
stadium and theatre, both constructed of white marble, of which there are still
some vestiges. Both lay outside the sacred enclosure, the stadium towards the
south, and the theatre towards the west, Here the Isthmian games were celebrated;
and these buildings were connected with the sacred enclosure by a grove of pine
trees. (Strab. viii. p. 380.) The main gate of the sanctuary appears to have been
in the eastern wall, through which Pausanias entered. The road leading from this
gate to the temple of Poseidon, was lined on one side by the statues of conquerors
in the Isthmian games, and on the other side by a row of pine trees. Upon the
temple, which was not large, stood Tritons, probably serving as weather-cocks,
like the Triton on the Horologium of Andronicus Cyrrhestes at Athens. In the pronaus
Pausanias saw two statues of Poseidon, and by their side statues of Amphitrite
and Thalassa. The principal ornament of the cella was a magnificent gift of Herodes
Atticus, consisting of four gilded horses with ivory hoofs, drawing the chariot
of Poseidon, Amphitrite and Palaemon. The chariot rested upon a base, on which
were represented in bas-relief Thalassa with her child Aphrodite in the centre,
while on either side were the Nereids. The fragments of Doric columns found within
the enclosure may be assigned to this temple. Leake measured the end of the fluting
of one of these shafts, and found it ten inches and a half.
Within the sacred enclosure, to the west, was the Palaemonion, consisting
of two sanctuaries, one above ground, containing statues of Poseidon, Leucothea,
and Palaemon; and a subterraneous adytum, where Palaemon was said to have been
buried. This adytum was the most sacred spot in the Isthmus, since the festival
was originally in honour of Palaemon. Poseidon was subsequently substituted for
this local divinity as the patron god of the festival; but Palaemon continued
to receive special honour, and in his adytum the most sacred oaths were sworn.
Pausanias also mentions an ancient sanctuary, called the altar of the Cyclopes.
Sisyphus and Neleus were said to have been buried here, but the site of their
graves was unknown.
These are all the buildings in the Isthmic sanctuary mentioned by
Pausanias; but we learn, from an inscription discovered by Wheeler in 1676, and
now preserved at Verona, that there were several other buildings besides. (See
the inscription in Bockh, Corp. Inscr. n. 1104.) It contains a list of the Isthmian
edifices erected by Publius Licinius Priscus Juventianus, high priest for life
at Roman Corinth. He built lodgings for the athletae, who came to the Isthmian
games from the whole world. He erected, at his own expense, the Palaemonium, with
its decorations;--the enagisterion, probably the subterraneous adytum, spoken
of by Pausanias;--the sacred avenue;--the altars of the native gods, with the
peribolus and the pronaos (perhaps the sanctuary containing the altars of the
Cyclopes);--the houses in which the athletae were examined;--the temple of Helios,
together with the statue and peribolus;--moreover, the peribolus of the Sacred
Grove, and within it temples of Demeter, Core, Dionysus and Artemis, with their
statues, decorations and pronai. He repaired the temples of Eueteria, of Core,
of Pluto, and the steps and terrace-walls, which had fallen into decay by earthquakes
and antiquity. He also decorated the portico at the Stadium, with the arched apartments
and the decorations belonging to them.
It has been already mentioned that the northern portion of the walls
which surrounded the Isthmic sanctuary belonged to a line of fortification, which
extended at one period across the Isthmus. This wall may still be traced in its
whole extent across the narrowest part of the Isthmus, beginning at the bay of
Lechaeum and terminating at the bay of Schoenus. It was fortified with square
towers on its northern side in the direction of Megaris, showing that it was intended
for the defence of Peloponnesus against attacks from the north. It was not built
in a straight line, but followed the crest of a range of low hills, the last falls
of the Oneian mountains. The length of the wall, according to Boblaye, is 7300
metres, while the breadth of the Isthmus at its narrowest part is only 5950 metres.
At what period this wall was erected, is uncertain. The first Isthmian wall, mentioned
in history, was the one thrown up in haste by the Peloponnesians when Xerxes was
marching into Greece. (Herod. viii. 71; Diod. xi. 66.) But this was a work of
haste, and could not have been the same as the massive walls, of which the remains
are extant. Moreover, it is evident from the military operations in the Corinthia,
recorded by Thucydides and Xenophon, that in their time the Isthmus was not defended
by a line of fortifications: the difficulties of an invading army always begin
with the passes through the Oneian mountains. Diodorus (xv. 68) speaks of a temporary
line of fortifications, consisting of palisades and trenches, which were thrown
across the Isthmus by the Spartans and their allies, to prevent the Thebans from
marching into Peloponnesus (B.C. 369), from which it clearly appears that there
was no permanent wall. Moreover, Xenophon (Hell. vii. 1. § 15, seq.) does not
even mention the palisading and trenches, but places the Lacedaemonians and their
allies upon the Oneian mountains. It is not till we come to the period of the
decline of the Roman empire, that we find mention of the Isthmian wall. It was
then regarded as an important defence against the invasions of the barbarians.
Hence, it was restored by Valerian in the middle of the third century (Zosim.
i. 29), by Justinian towards the end of the sixth (Procop. de Aedif. iv. 2), by
the Greeks against the Turks in 1415, and after it had been destroyed by the Turks
it was rebuilt by the Venetians in 1463. It was a second time destroyed by the
Turks; and by the treaty of Carlowitz, in 1699, the remains of the old walls were
made the boundary line between the territories of the Turks and Venetians.
The Isthmian wall formed with the passes of the Geraneian and with
those of the Oneian mountains three distinct lines of defence, which are enumerated
in the following passage of Claudian (de Bell. Get. 188):
Vallata mari Scironia rupes,
Et duo continuo connectens aequora muro Isthmus,
et angusti patuerunt claustra Lechaei.
A short distance north of the Isthmian wall, where the ground was
the most level, was the Diolcos (diolkos, Strab. viii. p. 335). It was a level
road, upon which smaller vessels were drawn by moving rollers from one sea to
the other. The cargoes of those ships, which were too large for this mode of transport,
were unloaded, carried across, and put on board other vessels upon the opposite
coast Hence we find the expressions diisthmein tas naus, huperisthmein (Pol. iv.
19), huperpherein (Thus. viii. 7), dielkuein (Diod. iv. 56). In some seasons of
the year there was an uninterrupted traffic upon the Diolcos, to which allusion
is made in one of the jokes of Aristophanes (Thesmoph. 647).
The narrow breadth of the Isthmus, and the important traffic across
it, frequently suggested the idea of cutting a canal through it. This project
is said to have been formed by Periander (Diog. Laert. i. 99), Demetrius Poliorcetes
(Strab. i. p. 54), Julius Caesar (Dion Cass. xliv. 5; Suet. Caes. 44; Plut. Caes.
58), Caligula (Suet. Calig. 21), Nero, and Herodes Atticus (Philostr. Vit. Soph.
ii. 6). But the only one who actually commenced the work was Nero. This emperor
opened the undertaking with great pomp, and cut out part of the earth with his
own hands; but the work had advanced only four stadia, when he was obliged to
give it up, in consequence of the insurrection of Julius Vindex in Gaul. (Dion
Cass. lxv. 16; Suet. Ner. 19; Paus. ii. 1, § 5; Plin. iv. 4. s. 5; Lucian, de
Fossa Isthmi.) The canal was commenced upon the western shore close to the Diolcos,
and traces of it may still be seen at right angled to the shore. It has now little
depth; but it is 200 feet wide, and may be traced for about 1200 yards. It ceased
where the rocky ground begins to rise; for even the Isthmus is not a perfect level,
but rises gradually from either shore, and steeper from the eastern than the western
side. Curtius says that the highest point is 246 feet above. the level of the
sea. The existing remains of the canal leave no doubt respecting its position;
but since it was said by some authorities to commence apo tou Lechaiou, Chandler
erroneously concluded that it commenced at the port of Lechaeum. Leake, however,
has shown that the bay of the Corinthian gulf at the Isthmus bore the name of
Lechaeum, and that we are to understand the bay, and not the port, in the passages
referred to.
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KECHREES (Ancient city) KORINTHOS
Kenchreai, Kenchreia, Kenchreiai, Kerchnis, Cenchreis or Cenchris.
The port of the Saronic gulf, was distant from Corinth about 70 stadia, and was
the emporium of the trade with Asia. (Strab. viii. p. 380.) This port was not
simply an artificial one, like that of Lechaeum. It is a bay protected by two
promontories on the north and south, from which the Corinthians carried out moles,
as the existing remains prove, in order to render the harbour more secure. On
a Corinthian coin of Antoninus Pius (figured below) the port of Cenchreae is represented
as inclosed between two promontories, on each of which stands a temple, and between
them at the entrance of the harbour a statue of Poseidon, holding a trident in
one hand and a dolphin in the other. This agrees with the description of Pausanias,
from whom we learn that the brazen Poseidon stood upon a rock in the sea, that
to the right of the entrance was the temple of Aphrodite, and to the left, in
the direction of the warm springs, were the sanctuaries of Asclepius and of Isis.
(Paus. ii. 2. § 3, in which passage instead of rheumati, we ought either to adopt
Leake's emendation, hermati, or else chamati.)
Cenchreae is mentioned in the history of St. Paul (Act. Apost. xviii.
18; Ep. ad Rom. xvi. 1.) It is now deserted, but it retains its name in the form
Kekhries. The ancient town, stood upon the slopes of the hill above the town,
as the numerous remains of its foundations prove. Between this hill and the heights
to the right and the left there were two small plains, through one of which ran
the road leading to Schoenus, and through the other the road leading to Corinth.
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KLEONES (Ancient city) NEMEA
Kleonai: Eth. Kleonaios. A city in Peloponnesus, described by writers
of the Roman period as a city of Argolis, but never included in the Argeia or
territory of Argos, in the flourishing period of Greek history. Cleonae was situated
on the road from Argos to Corinth, at the distance of 120 stadia from the former
city, and 80 stadia from the latter. (Strab.viii. p.377.) The narrow pass through
the mountains, called Tretus, leading from Argos to Cleonae, is described elsewhere.
Cleonae stood in a small plain upon a river flowing into the Corinthian gulf a
little westward of Lechaeum. This river is now called Longo: its ancient name
appears to have been Langeia. In its territory was Mt. Apesas, now called Fuka,
connected with the Acro-Corinthus by a rugged range of hills. Both Strabo and
Pausanias describe Cleonae as a small place; and the former writer, who saw it
from the Acrocorinthus, says that it is situated upon a hill surrounded on all
sides by buildings, and well walled, so as to deserve the epithet given to it
by Homer (II. ii. 570):--euktimenas Kleonas. Statius also speaks of ingenti turritae
mole Cleonae. (Theb. iv. 47.) The existing ruins, though scanty, justify these
descriptions. They are found at a hamlet still called Klenes, not far from the
village Kurtesi. According to Dodwell, they occupy a circular and insulated hill,
which seems to have been completely covered with buildings. On the side of the
hill are six ancient terrace walls rising one above another, on which the houses
and streets are situated.
Cleonae possessed only a small territory. It derived its chief importance
from the Nemean games being celebrated in its territory, in the grove of Nemea,
between Cleonae and Phlius. Hence the festival is called by Pindar agon Kleonaios
(Nem. iv. 27). Hercules is said to have slain Eurytus and Cteatus, the sons of
Actor, near Cleonae; and Diodorus mentions a temple of Hercules erected in the
neighbourhood of the city in memory of that event. (Paus. v. 2. § 1, seq.; Pind.
Ol. x. 36; Diod. iv. 33.)
Cleonae is said to have derived its name either from Cleones, the
son of Pelops, or from Cleone, the daughter of the river-god Asopus. (Paus. ii.
15. § 1.) It was conquered by the Dorians, whereupon some of its inhabitants,
together with those of the neighbouring town of Phlius, are said to have founded
Clazomenae in Asia Minor. (Paus. vii. 3. § 9.) In the Dorian conquest, Cleonae
formed part of the lot of Temenus, and in early times was one of the confederated
allies or subordinates of Argos. Indeed in the historical period, Cleonae was
for the most part closely connected with Argos. After the Persian wars, the Cleonaeans
assisted the Argives in subduing Mycenae (Strab. viii.); and they fought as. the
allies of Argos at the battle of Mantineia, B.C. 418. (Thuc. v. 67.) Of their
subsequent history nothing is known, though their city is occasionally mentioned
down to the time of Ptolemy.
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KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
KROMYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Krommuon, Kromuon, Cromyon, Kremmuon, Cremmyon, Eth. Krommuonios.
A village of the Corinthia on the Saronic gulf, but originally the last town of
Megaris. It was the chief place between the isthmus, properly so called, and Megara;
whence the whole of this coast was called the Crommyonia (he Krommuonia, Strab.
viii.). Crommyon was distant 120 stadia from Corinth (Thuc. iv. 45), and appears
to have therefore occupied the site of the ruins near the chapel of St. Theodorus.
The village of Kineta, which many modern travellers suppose to correspond to Crommyon,
is much further from Corinth than 120 stadia. Crommyon is said by Pausanias to
have derived its name from Crommus, the son of Poseidon. It is celebrated in mythology
as the haunt of the wild boar destroyed by Theseus. (Paus. ii. 1. § 3; Strab.
l. c.; Plut. Thes. 9; Ov. l. c.) It was taken by the Lacedaemonians in the Corinthian
War, but was recovered by Iphicrates. (Xen. Hell. iv. 4. 13, iv. 5. § 19.)
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LECHEON (Ancient port) CORINTHIA
to Lechaion, Lecheae, Lecheum. The port on the Corinthian gulf connected
with the city by means of the Long Walls, 12 stadia in length. already mentioned.
(Strab. viii. p. 380; Xen. Hell. iv. 4. 17) The Long Walls ran nearly due north,
so that the wall on the right hand was called the eastern, and the one on the
left hand the western or Sicyonian. The space between them must have been considerable;
since, as we have already seen, there was sufficient space for an army to be drawn
up for battle. The flat country between Corinth and Lechaeum is composed only
of the sand washed up by the sea; and the port must have been originally artificial
(chostos limen, Dionys.), though it was no doubt rendered both spacious and convenient
by the wealthy Corinthians. The site of the port is now indicated by a lagoon,
surrounded by hillocks of sand. Lechaeum was the chief station of the Corinthian
ships of war; and during the occupation of Corinth by the Macedonians, it was
one of the stations of the royal fleet. It was also the emporium of the traffic
with the western parts of Greece, and with Italy and Sicily. The proximity of
Lechaeum to Corinth prevented it from becoming an important town like Peiraeeus.
The only public buildings in the place mentioned by Pausanias (ii. 2. § 3) was
a temple of Poseidon, who is hence called Lechaeus by Callimachus. (Del. 271.)
The temple of the Olympian Zeus was probably situated upon the low ground between
Corinth and the shore of Lechaeum. (Paus. iii. 9. § 2; Theophr. Cans. Plant. v.
14.)
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NEMEA (Ancient sanctuary) CORINTHIA
he Nemea, Ion. Nemee: Adj. Nemeios, Nemeaios, Nemeaeus. The name of
a valley in the territory of Cleonae, where Hercules slew the Nemean lion, and
where the Nemean games were celebrated every other year. It is described by Strabo
as situated between Cleonae and Phlius (viii. p. 377). The valley lies in a direction
nearly north and south, and is about two or three miles long, and from half to
three quarters of a mile in breadth. It is shut in on every side by mountains,
and is hence called by Pindar a deep vale (bathupedos, Nem. iii. 18.) There is
a remarkable mountain on the NE., called in ancient times Apesas, now Fuka, nearly
3000 feet high, with a flat summit, which is visible from Argos and Corinth. On
this mountain Perseus is said to have first sacrificed to Zeus Apesantius. (Paus.
ii. 15. § 3; Steph. B. s. v. Apesas; Stat. Theb. iii. 460, seq.) Theocritus gives
Nemea the epithet of well-watered (euudrou Nemees choros,, Theocr. xxv. 182).
Several rivulets descend from the surrounding mountains, which collect in the
plain, and form a river, which flows northward through the ridges of Apesas, and
falls into the Corinthian gulf, forming in the lower part of its source the boundary
between the territories of Sicyon and Corinth. This river also bore the name of
Nemea (Strab. viii. p. 382; Diod. xiv. 83; Liv. xxxiii. 15); but as it was dependent
for its supply of water upon the season of the year, it was sometimes called the
Nemean Charadra. (Aesch. de Fals. Leg. § 168, ed. Bekker; he Charadra, Xen. Hell.
iv. 2. 15) The mountains, which enclose the valley, have several natural caverns,
one of which, at the distance of 15 stadia from the sacred grove of Nemea, and
on the road named Tretus, from the latter place to Mycenae, was pointed out as
the cave of the Nemean lion. (Paus. ii. 15. § 2.)
The name of Nemea was strictly applied to the sacred grove in which
the games were celebrated. Like Olympia and the sanctuary at the Corinthian Isthmus,
it was not a town. The sacred grove contained only the temple, theatre, stadium,
and other monuments. There was a village in the neighbourhood called Bembina,
of which, however, the exact site is unknown. (Strab. viii. p. 377; Steph. B.
s. v.) The haunts of the Nemean lion are said to have been near Bembina. (Theocr.
xxv. 202.)
The chief building in the sacred grove was the temple of Zeus Nemeius.
the patron god of the place. When visited by Pausanias the roof had fallen, and
the statue no longer remained (ii. 15. § 2). Three columns of the temple are still
standing, amidst a vast heap of ruins. Two of these columns belonged to the pronaos,
and were placed as usual between antae; they are 4 feet 7 inches in diameter at
the base, and still support their architrave. The third column, which belonged
to the outer range, is 5 feet 3 inches in diameter at the base, and about 34 feet
high, including a capital of 2 feet. Its distance from the corresponding column
of the pronaos is 18 feet. The total height of the three members of the entablature
was 8 feet 2 inches. The general intercolumination of the peristyle was 7 feet;
at the angles, 5 feet 10 inches. From the front of the pronaos to the extremity
of the cell within, the length was 95 feet; the breadth of the cell within, 31
feet; the thickness of the walls, 3 feet. The temple was a hexastyle, of about
65 feet in breadth on the upper step of the stylobate, which consisted of three
steps: the number of columns on the sides, and consequently the length of the
temple, I could not ascertain. (Leake.) Though of the Doric order, the columns
are as slender as some of the specimens of the Ionic, and are so different from
the older Doric examples, that we ought probably to ascribe to the temple a date
subsequent to the Persian wars.
Among the other monuments in the sacred grove were the tombs of Opheltes,
and of his father Lycurgus. The former was surrounded with a stone enclosure,
and contained certain altars; the latter was a mound of earth. (Paus. ii. 15.
§ 3.) Pausanias also mentions a fountain called Adrasteia. The latter is, doubtless,
the source of water near the Turkish fountain, which is now without water. At
the foot of the mountain, to the left of this spot, are the remains of the stadium.
Between the stadium and the temple of Zeus, on the left of the path, are some
Hellenic foundations, and two. fragments of Doric columns. Near the temple are
the ruins of a small church, which contains some Doric fragments.
(Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 327, seq.; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 505,
seq.)
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ORNIES (Ancient city) NEMEA
Orneai: Eth. Orneates. A town in the Argeia, mentioned in the Iliad
(ii 571), which is said to have derived its name from Orneus, the son of Erechtheus.
Orneae retained its ancient Cynurian inhabitants, when Argos was conquered by
the Dorians. It continued independent of Argos for a long time; but it was finally
conquered by the Argives, who removed the Orneatae to their own city. (Paus. ii.
25. § 6, viii. 27. § 1.) Thucydides mentions (v. 67) the Orneatae and Cleonaei
as allies (summachoi) of the Argives in B.C. 418; and the same historian relates
(vi. 7) that Orneae was destroyed by the Argives in B.C. 416. (Comp. Diod. xii.
81.) It might therefore be inferred that the destruction of Orneae by the Argives
in B.C. 416 is the event referred to by Pausanias. But Muller concludes from a
well-known passage of Herodotus (viii. 73) that Orneae had been conquered by Argos
long before; that its inhabitants were reduced to the condition of Perioeci; and
that all the Perioeci in the Argeia were called Orneatae from this place. But
the Orneatae mentioned by Thucydides could not have been Perioeci, since they
are called allies; and the passage of Herodotus does not require, and in fact
hardly admits of, Muller's interpretation. The Cynurians, says Herodotus, have
become Doricized by the Argives and by time, being Orneatae and Perioeci. These
words would seem clearly to mean that, while the other Cynurians became Perioeci,
the Orneatae continued independent,--an interpretation which is in accordance
with the account of Thucydides. (Muller, Aeginetica, p. 48, seq., Dorians, iii.
4. § 2; Arnold, ad Thuc. v. 67.)
With respect to the site of Orneae we learn from Pausariias (v. 25.
§ 5) that it was situated on the confines of Phliasia and Sicyonia, at the distance
of 120 stadia from Argos, being 60 stadia from Lyrceia, which was also 60 stadia
from Argos. Strabo (viii. p. 382) says that Orneae was situated on a river of
the same name above the plain of the Sicyonians; for the other passage of Strabo
(viii. p. 578), which states that Orneae lay between Corinth and Sicyon, and that
it was not mentioned by Homer, is probably an interpolation. Orneae stood on the
northern of the two roads, which led from Argos to Mantineia. This northern road
was called Climax, and followed the course of the Inachus. Ross supposes Orneae
to have been situated on the river, which flows from the south by the village
of Lionti and which helps to form the western arm of the Asopus. Leake places
it too far to the east on the direct road from Argos to Phlius.
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PELLANA (Ancient city) XYLOKASTRO
Dor. Pellana, Pellina. Eth. Pelleneus, Pellenensis, Pellenaeus. (Tzerkovi,
nr. Zugra). A town of Achaia, and the most easterly of the twelve Achaean cities,
whose territory bordered upon that of Sicyon on the E. and upon that of Aegeira
on the W. Pellene was situated 60 stadia from the sea, upon a strongly fortified
hill, the summit of which rose into an inaccessible peak, dividing the city into
two parts. Its name was derived by the inhabitants themselves from the giant Pallas,
and by the Argives from the Argive Pellen, a son of Phorbas. (Herod. i. 145; Pol.
ii. 41; Strab. viii. p. 386; Paus. vii. 26. § § 12 - 14; Apoll. Rhod. i. 176.)
Pellene was a city of great antiquity. It is mentioned in the Homeric catalogue;
and according to a tradition, preserved by Thucydides, the inhabitants of Scione
in the peninsula of Pallene in Macedonia professed to be descended from the Achaean
Pallenians, who were driven on the Macedonian coast, on their return from Troy.
(Horn. Il. ii. 574; Thuc. iv. 120.) At the commencement of the Peloponnesian War,
Pellene was the only one of the Achaean towns which espoused the Spartan cause,
though the other states afterwards followed their example. (Thuc. ii. 9.) In the
time of Alexander the Great, Pellene fell under the dominion of one of its citizens
of the name of Chaeron, a distinguished athlete, who raised himself to the tyranny
by Alexander's assistance. (Paus. vii. 27. § 7.) In the wars which followed the
re-establishment of the Achaean League, Pellene was several times taken and re-taken
by the contending parties. (Pol. ii. 52, iv. 8, 13; Plut. Cleom. 17, Arat. 31,
32.). The buildings of Pellene are described by Pausanias (Vii. 27). Of these,
the most important were a temple of Athena, with a statue of the goddess, said
to have been one of the earlier works of Pheidias; a temple of Dionysus Lampter,
in whose honour a festival, Lampteria, was celebrated; a temple of Apollo Theoxenius,
to whom a festival, Theoxenia, was celebrated; a gymnasium, &c. Sixty stadia from
the city was the Mysaeum (Musaion), a temple of the Mysian Demeter; and near it
a temple of Asclepius, called Cyrus (Kuros): at both of these places there were
copious springs. The ruins of Pellene are situated at Zugra, and are now called
Tzesrkovi. The two temples of Mysaeum and Cyrus are placed by Leake at Trikkala,
SE. of the ancient city. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 215, Peloponnesiaca, p. 391.)
Between Aegium and Pellene, there was a village also called Pellene,
celebrated for the manufacture of a particular kind of cloaks, which were given
as prizes in the agonistic contests in the city. (Strab. viii. p. 386; Pind. Ol.
ix. 146, with Schol.; Aristoph. Av. 1421, with Schol.; Hesych. and Phot. s. v.
Pellenikai chlainai.) K. O. Muller (Dor. vol. ii. p. 430), however, questions
this second Pellene: he supposes that Strabo is describing Pellene as both citadel
and village, and he corrects the text, keitai de metaxu Aigiou kai Kullenes, instead
of Pellenes; but the context renders this conjecture improbable.
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SIDOUS (Ancient small town) CORINTHIA
Sidus (Sidous, Sidountias kome, Hesych.: Eth. Sidountios), a village in the Corinthia,
on the Saronic gulf, between Crommyon and Schoenus. It was taken by the Lacedaemonians
along with Crommyon in the Corinthian War, but was recovered by Iphicrates. (Xen.
Hell. iv. 4. 13, iv. 5. § 19.) It probably stood in the plain of Susaki.
SIKYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Stumphalos, Stumphelos, Stumphelon, Stymphalum, Stymphala, Eth. Stumphalios,
Stumphelios. The name of a town, district, mountain, and river in the NE. of Arcadia.
The territory of Stymphalus is a plain, about six miles in length, bounded by
Achaia on the N., Sicyonia and Phliasia on the E., the territory of Mantineia
on the S., and that of Orchomenus and Pheneus on the W. This plain is shut in
on all sides by mountains. On the N. rises the gigantic mass of Cyllene, from
which a projecting spur, called Mt. Stymphalus, descends into the plain. (Stumphalos
oros, Ptol. iii. 16. § 14; Hesych. s. v.; nivalis Stymphalus, Stat. Silv. iv.
6. 100.) The mountain at the southern end of the plain, opposite Cyllene, was
called Apelaurum (to Apelauron, Polyb. iv. 69) , and at its foot is the katavothra
or subterraneous outlet of the lake of Stymphalus (he Stumphalis limne, Strab.
viii. p. 371; he Stumphelie limne, Herod. vi. 76). This lake is formed partly
by the rain-water descending from Cyllene and Apelaurum, and partly by three streams
which flow into it from different parts of the plain. From the west descends a
small stream, which rises in Mount Geronteium in the neighbourhood of Kastania;
and from the east comes another stream, which rises near Dusa. But the most important
of the three streams is the one which rises on the northern side of the plain,
from a copious kefalovrysi. In summer it flows about two miles through the plain
into the katavothra of Apelaurum; but in winter it becomes almost immediately
a part of the waters of the lake, though its course may be traced through the
shallower water to the katavothra. This stream was called Stymphalus by the ancients;
it was regarded by them as the principal source of the lake, and was universally
believed to make its reappearance, after a subterranean course of 200 stadia,
as the river Erasinus in Argolis. (Herod. vi. 76; Paus. ii. 3. § 5, ii. 24. §
6, viii. 22. § 3; Strab. viii. p. 371) The Stymphalii worshipped the Erasinus
and Metope (Metope, Aelian, V. H. ii. 33), whence it has been concluded that Metope
is only another name of the river Stymphalus. Metope is also mentioned by Callimachus
(Hymn. in Jov. 26), with the epithet pebbly (polusteios), which, as Leake observes,
seems not very appropriate to a stream issuing in a body from the earth, and flowing
through a marsh. (Peloponnesiaca, p. 384.) The water, which formed the source
of the Stymphalus, was conducted to Corinth by the emperor Hadrian, by means of
an aqueduct, of which considerable remains may still be traced. The statement
of Pausanias, that in summer there is no lake, is not correct, though it is confined
at that time to a small circuit round the katavothra. As there is no outlet for
the waters of the lake except the katavothra, a stoppage of this subterraneous
channel by stones, sand, or any other substance occasions an inundation. In the
time of Pausanias there occurred such an inundation, which was ascribed to the
anger of Artemis. The water was said to have covered the plain to the extent of
400 stadia; but this number is evidently corrupt, and we ought probably to read
tessarakonta instead of tetrakosious. (Paus. viii. 22. § 8.) Strabo relates that
Iphicrates, when besieging Stymphalus without success, attempted to obstruct the
katavothra, but was diverted from his purpose by a sign from heaven (viii. p.
389). Strabo also states that originally there was no subterraneous outlet for
the waters of the lake, so that the city of the Stymphalii, which was in his time
50 stadia from the lake, was originally situated upon its margin. But this is
clearly an error, even if his statement refers to old Stymphalus, for the breadth
of the whole lake is less than 20 stadia.
The city derived its name from Stymphalus, a son of Elatus and grandson
of Areas; but the ancient city, in which Temenus, the son of Pelasgus, dwelt,
had entirely disappeared in the time of Pausanias, and all that he could learn
respecting it was, that Hera was formerly worshipped there in three different
sanctuaries, as virgin, wife, and widow The modern city lay upon the southern
edge of the lake, about a mile and a half from the katavothra, and upon a rocky
promontory connected with the mountains behind. Stymphalus is mentioned by Homer
(Il. ii. 608), and also by Pindar (Ol. vi. 169), who calls it the mother of Arcadia.
Its name does not often occur in history, and it owes its chief importance to
its being situated upon one of the most frequented routes leading to the westward
from Argolis and Corinth. It was taken by Apollonides, a general of Cassander
(Diod. xix. 63), and subsequently belonged to the Achaean League (Polyb. ii. 55,
iv. 68, &c.). In the time of Pausanias it was included in Argolis (viii. 22. §
1). The only building of the city, mentioned by Pausanias, was a temple of Artemis
Stymphalia, under the roof of which were figures of the birds Stymphalides; while
behind the temple stood statues of white marble, representing young women with
the legs and thighs of birds. These birds, so celebrated in mythology, the destruction
of which was one of the labours of Heracles, are said by Pausanias to be as large
as cranes. but resembling in form the ibis, only that they have stronger beaks,
and not crooked like those of the ibis (viii. 22. § 5). On some of the coins of
Stymphalus, they are represented exactly in accordance with the description of
Pausanias.
The territory of Stymphalus is now called the vale of Zaraka, from
a village of this name, about a mile from the eastern extremity of the lake. The
remains of the city upon the projecting cape already mentioned are more important
than the cursory notice of Pausanias would lead one to expect. They cover the
promontory, and extend as far as the fountain, which was included in the city.
On the steepest part, which appears from below like a separate hill, are the ruins
of the polygonal walls of a small quadrangular citadel. The circuit of the city
walls, with their round towers, may be traced. To the east, beneath the acropolis,
are the foundations of a temple in antis; but the most important ruins are those
on the southern side of the hill, where are numerous remains of buildings cut
out of the rock. About ten minutes N. of Stymphalus, are the ruins of the medieval
town of Kronia.
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TENEA (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Eth. Teneates. The most important place in the Corinthia after the
city of Corinth and her port towns, was situated south of the capital, and at
the distance of 60 stadia from the latter, according to Pausanias. The southern
gate of Corinth was called the Teneatic, from its leading to Tenea. Stephanus
describes Tenea as lying between Corinth and Mycenae. The Teneatae claimed descent
from the inhabitants of Tenedos, who were brought over from Troy as prisoners,
and settled by Agamemnon in this part of the Corinthia; and they said that it
was in consequence of their Trojan origin that they worshipped Apollo above all
the other gods. (Pans. ii. 5. § 4.) Strabo also mentions here the temple of Apollo
Teneates, and says that Tenea and Tenedos had a common origin in Tennis, the son
of Cycnus. (Strab. viii. p. 380.) According to Dionysius, however, Tenea was of
late foundation. (Cic. ad Att. vi. 2. 3) It was at Tenea that Oedipus was said
to have passed his childhood. It was also from this place that Archias took the
greater number of the colonists with whom he founded Syracuse. After the destruction
of Corinth by Mummius, Tenea had the good fortune to continue undisturbed, because
it is said to have assisted the Romans against Corinth. We cannot, however, suppose
that an insignificant place like Tenea could have acted in opposition to Corinth
and the Achaean League; and it is more probable that the Teneatae were spared
by Mummius in consequence of their pretended Trojan descent and consequent affinity
with the Romans themselves. However this may be, their good fortune gave rise
to the line: eudaimon ho Korinthos, ego d eien Teneates.
Tenea lay in the mountain valley through which flows the river that
falls into the Corinthian gulf to the east of Corinth. In this valley are three
places at which vases and other antiquities have been discovered, namely, at the
two villages of Chilimodi and Klenia, both on the road to Nauplia, and the latter
at the very foot of the ancient road Contoporia, and at the village of Athiki,
an hour east of Chilimodi, on the road to Sophiko. In the fields of Athiki there
was found an ancient statue of Apollo, a striking confirmation of the prevalence
of the worship of this god in the district. The Teneatae would therefore appear
to have dwelt in scattered abodes at these three spots and in the intervening
country; but the village of Tenea, properly so called, was probably at Chilimodi,
since the distance from this place to Corinth corresponds to the 60 stadia of
Pausanias.
Since one of the passes from the Argeia into the Corinthia runs by
Klenia and Chilimodi, there can be little doubt that it was by this road that
Agesilaus marched from the Argeia to Corinth in B.C. 391. (Xen. Hell. iv. 5. 19)
In the text of Xenophon the words are ekeithen huperbalon es Korinthon, but Tnean
ought to be substituted for Tegean, since it is impossible to believe that Agesilaus
could have marched from the Argeia to Corinth by way of Tegea. Moreover, we learn
from Strabo (viii. p. 380) that the well-known name of Tegea was in other cases
substituted for that of Tenea. In the parallel passage of the Agesilaus of Xenophon
(ii. 17), the pass by Tenea is called kata ta stena.
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TITANI (Ancient city) SIKYON
Titana, Eth. Titanios. A place in the Sicyonia, upon the left bank
of the Asopus, distant 60 stadia from Sicyon, and 40 from Phlius. It was situated
upon the summit of a hill, where Titan, the brother of the Sun, is said to have
dwelt, and to have given his name to the spot. It was celebrated for a temple
of Asclepius, reported to have been built by Alexander, the son of Machaon, the
son of Asclepius. This temple still existed in the time of Pausanias, in the middle
of a grove of cypress trees, in which the servants of the god attended to the
patients who came thither for the recovery of their health. Within the temple
stood statues of Asclepius and Hygieia, and of the heroes Alexanor and Euamerion.
There was also a temple of Athena at Titane, situated upon a hill, and containing
an ancient wooden statue of the goddess. In descending from the hill there was
an altar of the Winds. (Paus. ii. 11. § § 5 - 8, ii. 12. § 1, ii. 27. § 1.) Stephanus
B. refers the Titanoio te leuka karena of Homer (Il. ii. 735) to Titane, but those
words indicate a mountain in Thessaly. The ruins of Titane were first discovered
by Ross. Leake heard that there were some ancient foundations on the summit of
the hill above Liopesi, which he supposed to be the remains of the temple of Asclepius
at Titane; but although Hellenic remains exist at this site, there can be no doubt
that Titane is represented by the more important Paleokastron situated further
S., and a few minutes N. of the village of Voivonda. This Paleokastron stands
upon a projecting spur of the mountains which run eastward towards the Asopus,
and terminate just above the river in a small hill, which is surrounded by beautiful
Hellenic walls, rising to the height of 20 or 30 ft. on the S. and SW. side, and
flanked by three or four quadrangular towers. On this hill there stands a chapel
of St. Tryphon, containing fragments of Doric columns. This was evidently the
acropolis of the ancient city, and here stood the temple of Athena mentioned by
Pausanias. The other parts of this projecting ridge are covered with ancient foundations;
and upon this part of the mountain the temple of Asclepius must have stood. (Leake,
Morea, vol. iii. p. 354, seq.; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 49, seq.; Curtius,
Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 500, seq.)
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AKROKORINTHOS (Castle) KORINTHOS
A high hill overhanging the city of Corinth, on which was erected a citadel, called also by the same name. This situation was so important a one as to be styled by Philip the fetters of Greece.
ASSOPOS (River) CORINTHIA
A river of Achaea flowing into the Corinthian Gulf near Sicyon.
FENEOS (Ancient city) FENEOS
An ancient town in the northeast of Arcadia, at the foot of Mount Cyllene.
FLIOUS (Ancient city) NEMEA
The chief town of a small province in the northeast of Peloponnesus, whose territory, Phliasia, was bounded by Sicyonia, Arcadia, and Argos. It was usually allied with Sparta, and under Cleonymus joined the Achaete.
ISTHMUS KORINTHOS (Isthmus) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
An isthmus between the Saronicus Sinus and Corinthiacus
Sinus, and uniting the Peloponnesus to the northern parts of Greece. Its breadth,
in the narrowest part, was less than six miles (or not quite five miles). It
has lately (1893) been cut by a canal. Ships were drawn, by means of machinery,
from one sea to the other, near the town of Schoenus, over the narrowest part
of the isthmus, which was called Diolkos. This could only be accomplished, however,
with the vessels usually employed in commerce, or with lemboi, which were light
ships of war, chiefly used by the Illyrians and Macedonians. The tediousness
and expense attending this process, and still more probably the difficulty of
circumnavigating the Peloponnesus, led to frequent attempts, at various periods,
for effecting a junction between the two seas; but all proved equally unsuccessful.
Demetrius Poliorcetes abandoned the enterprise, because it was found that the
two gulfs were not on the same level. We read of the attempt having been made
before his time by Periander and Alexander, and, subsequently to Demetrius,
by Iulius Caesar, Caligula, Nero, and Herodes Atticus. Dio Cassius tells nearly
the same story about digging through the isthmus as that which is related to
travellers at this day. He says that blood issued from the ground; that groans
and lamentations were heard, and terrible apparitions seen. In order to stimulate
the perseverance of the people, Nero took a spade and dug himsel . Lucian informs
us, that Nero was said to have been deterred from proceeding, by a representation
made to him, similar to that which Demetrius received respecting the unequal
levels of the two seas. The Isthmus of Corinth derived great celebrity from
the games which were celebrated there every five years in honour of Palaemon
or Melicerta, and subsequently of Poseidon. These continued in vogue when the
other gymnastic exercises of Greece had fallen into neglect and disuse; and
it was during their solemnization that the independence of Greece was proclaimed,
after the victory of Cynoscephalae, by order of the Roman Senate and people.
After the destruction of Corinth, the superintendence of the Isthmian Games
was committed to the Sicyonians by the Romans; on its restoration, however,
by Iulius Caesar, the presidency of the games again reverted to the Corinthian
settlers.
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KECHREES (Ancient city) KORINTHOS
The eastern harbour of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf, important for its trade and commerce with the East.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
A famous city of Greece, situated on the isthmus of the same
name. Commanding by its position the Ionian and the Aegean seas, and holding,
as it were, the keys of the Peloponnesus, Corinth, from the pre-eminent advantages
of its situation, was already the seat of opulence and the arts, while the rest
of Greece was sunk in comparative obscurity and barbarism. Its origin is, of
course, obscure; but we are assured that it already existed under the name of
Ephure before the siege of Troy. According to the assertions of the Corinthians
themselves, their city received its name from Corinthus, the son of Zeus; but
Pausanias does not credit this popular tradition, and cites the poet Eumelus
to show that the appellation was really derived from Corinthus, the son of Marathon.
Homer certainly employs both names indiscriminately. Pausanias reports that
the descendants of Sisyphus reigned at Corinth until the invasion of their territory
by the Dorians and the Heraclidae, when Doridas and Hyanthidas, the last princes
of this race, abdicated the crown in favour of Aletes, a descendant of Heracles,
whose lineal successors remained in possession of the throne of Corinth during
five generations, when the crown passed into the family of the Bacchiadae, so
named from Bacchis, the son of Prumnis, who retained it for five other generations.
After this the sovereign power was transferred to annual magistrates, still
chosen, however, from the line of the Bacchiadae, with the title of prutaneis.
The oligarchy so long established by this rich and powerful
family was at length overthrown, about B.C. 629, by Cypselus, who banished many
of the Corinthians, depriving others of their possessions, and putting others
to death. Among those who fled from his persecution was Demaratus, of the family
of the Bacchiadae, who settled at Tarquinii in Etruria, and whose descendants
beame sovereigns of Rome. The reign of Cypselus was prosperous, and the system
of colonization, which had previously succeeded so well in the settlements of
Corcyra and Syracuse, was actively pursued by that prince, who added Ambracia,
Anactorium, and Leucas to the maritime dependencies of the Corinthians.
Cypselus was succeeded by his son Periander. On the death
of this latter (B.C. 585), after a reign of forty-four years, according to Aristotle,
his nephew Psammetichus came to the throne, but lived only three years. At his
decease Corinth regained its independence, when a moderate aristocracy was established,
under which the Republic enjoyed a state of tranquillity and prosperity unequalled
by any other city of Greece. We are told by Thucydides that the Corinthians
were the first to build war-galleys or triremes; and the earliest naval engagement,
according to the same historian, was fought by their fleet and that of the Corcyreans,
who had been alienated from their mother-State by the cruelty and impolicy of
Periander. The city is believed to have had at this time a population of 300,000
souls.
The arts of painting and sculpture, more especially that
of casting in bronze, attained to the highest perfection at Corinth, and rendered
this city the ornament of Greece, until it was stripped by the rapacity of a
Roman general. Such was the beauty of its vases, that the tombs in which they
had been deposited were ransacked by the Roman colonists whom Iulius Caesar
had established there after the destruction of the city; and these, being transported
to Rome, were purchased at enormous prices.
When the Achaean League became involved in a destructive
war with the Romans, Corinth was the last hold of their tottering Republic;
and had its citizens wisely submitted to the offers proposed by the victorious
Metellus, it might have been preserved; but the deputation of that general having
been treated with scorn and even insult, the city became exposed to all the
vengeance of the Romans L. Mummius, the consul, appeared before its walls with
a numerous army, and after defeating the Achaeans in a general engagement, entered
the town, now left without defence and deserted by the greater part of the inhabitants.
It was then given up to plunder and finally set on fire; the walls also were
razed to the ground, so that scarcely a vestige of this once great and noble
city remained (B.C. 146). Polybius, who saw its destruction, affirmed that he
had seen the finest paintings strewed on the ground, and the Roman soldiers
using them as boards for dice or draughts. Pausanias reports that all the men
were put to the sword, the women and children sold, and the most valuable statues
and paintings removed to Rome. Strabo observes that the finest works of art
which adorned that capital in his time had come from Corinth. He likewise states
that Corinth remained for many years deserted and in ruins. Iulius Caesar, however,
not long before his death, sent a numerous colony thither, by means of which
Corinth was once more raised from its state of ruin, and renamed Colonia Iulia
Corinthus. It was already a large and populous city and the capital of Achaia,
when St. Paul preached the Gospel there for a year and six months. It is also
evident that when visited by Pausanias it was thickly adorned by public buildings
and enriched with numerous works of art, and as late as the time of Hierocles
we find it styled the metropolis of Greece. In a later age the Venetians received
the place from a Greek emperor; Mohammed II. took it from them in 1458; the
Venetians recovered it in 1699, and fortified the Acrocorinthus again; but the
Turks took it anew in 1715, and retained it until driven from the Peloponnesus
in 1822. In 1858, it was wholly destroyed by an earthquake, since which time
it has been rebuilt upon a site three miles to the northeast.
An important feature of the scenery around Corinth was the
Acrocorinthus, a mention of which has been made in a previous article. On the
summit of this hill was erected a temple of Aphrodite, to whom the whole of
the Acrocorinthus, in fact, was sacred. In the times of Corinthian opulence
and prosperity, it is said that the shrine of the goddess was attended by no
less than one thousand female slaves, dedicated to her service as courtesans.
These priestesses of Aphrodite contributed not a little to the wealth and luxury
of the city, whence arose the well-known expression, ou pantos andros eis Korinthon
est ho plous, or, as Horace expresses it, "Non cuivis homini contingit
adire Corinthum," in allusion to its expensive pleasures.
Corinth was famed for its three harbours--Lechaeum, on the
Corinthian Gulf, and Cenchreae and Schoenus, on the Saronic. Near this last
was the Diolkos, where vessels were transported over the isthmus by machinery.
The city was the birthplace of the painters Ardices, Cleophantus, and Cleanthes;
of the statesmen Periander, Phidon, Philolaus, and Timoleon; and of Arion, who
invented the dithyramb.
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KYLLINI (Mountain) CORINTHIA
The highest mountain in the Peloponnesus, on the frontiers of Arcadia and Achaia, sacred to Hermes, who had a temple on the summit, was said to have been born there, and was hence called Cyllenius.
NEMEA (Ancient sanctuary) CORINTHIA
((Nemea) or Nemee (Nemee). A valley in Argolis between Cleonae and Phlius, celebrated in mythical story as the place where Heracles slew the Nemean lion. In this valley there was a splendid temple of Zeus Nemeus surrounded by a sacred grove, in which the Nemean Games were celebrated every other year.
ORNIES (Ancient city) NEMEA
An ancient town of Argolis, near the frontier of the territory of Phlius, subdued by the Argives in the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 418.
PELLANA (Ancient city) XYLOKASTRO
The most easterly of the twelve cities of Achaia, near the frontiers of Sicyonia, and situated on a hill sixty stadia from the city. The inhabitants of the peninsula of Pallene, in Macedonia, professed to be descended from the Pellenaeans in Achaia, who were shipwrecked on the Macedonian coast on their return from Troy.
SCHINOUS (Ancient port) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
A harbour of Corinth at the narrowest part of the Isthmus.
SIKYONIA (Ancient area) CORINTHIA
A small district in the northeast of the Peloponnesus, whose
area was probably somewhat less than one hundred square miles. It consisted
of a plain near the sea with mountains in the interior. Its rivers, which ran
in a northeasterly direction, were Sythas on the frontier of Achaia, Helisson,
Selleis, and Asopus in the interior, and Nemea on the frontier of the territory
of Corinth. The land was fertile, and produced excellent oil. Its almonds and
its fish were also much prized.
Its chief town was Sicyon (Sikuon, "cucumbertown"),
which was situated a little to the west of the river Asopus. The ancient city,
which was situated in the plain, was destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes, and
a new city, which bore for a short time the name of Demetrius, was built by
him on the high ground close to the Acropolis. The harbour, which, according
to some, was connected with the city by means of long walls, was well fortified,
and formed a town of itself. Sicyon was one of the most ancient cities of Greece.
It is said to have been originally called Aegialea or Aegiali (Aigialeia, Aigialoi),
after an ancient king, Aegialeus; to have been subsequently named Mecone (Mekone,
"poppy-town"), and to have been finally called Sicyon from an Athenian
of that name. Sicyon is represented by Homer as forming part of the empire of
Agamemnon; but on the invasion of Peloponnesus it became subject to Phalces,
the son of Temenus, and was henceforward a Dorian State. The ancient inhabitants,
however, were formed into a fourth tribe called Aegialeis, which possessed equal
rights with the three tribes of the Hylleis, Pamphyli, and Dymanatae, into which
the Dorian conquerors were divided. Sicyon, on account of the small extent of
its territory, never attained much political importance, and was generally dependent
either on Argos or Sparta. At the time of the Second Messenian War it became
subject to a succession of tyrants, who administered their power with moderation
and justice for a hundred years. The first of these tyrants was Andreas, who
began to rule B.C. 676. He was followed in succession by Myron, Aristonymus,
and Clisthenes, on whose death, about 576, a republican form of government was
established. Clisthenes had no male children, but only a daughter, Agariste,
who was married to the Athenian Megacles. In the Persian Wars the Sicyonians
sent fifteen ships to the battle of Salamis, and three hundred hoplites to the
battle of Plataea. In the interval between the Persian and the Peloponnesian
Wars the Sicyonians were twice defeated and their country laid waste by the
Athenians, first under Tolmides in 456, and again under Pericles in 454. In
the Peloponnesian War they took part with the Spartans. From this time till
the Macedonian supremacy their history requires no special mention; but in the
middle of the third century Sicyon took an active part in public affairs in
consequence of its being the native town of Aratus, who united it to the Achaean
League in 251. Under the Romans it gradually declined; and in the time of Pausanias,
in the second century of the Christian era, many of its public buildings were
in ruins. These ruins have been of late carefully studied by the members of
the American School at Athens, who have excavated the tiers of seats and supports
of the stage of a theatre. The position of the Acropolis, the temple of the
Dioscuri, and the Stadium can also still be traced.
Sicyon was for a long time the chief seat of Grecian art.
It gave its name to one of the great schools of painting, which was founded
by Eupompus, and which produced Pamphilus and Apelles. It is also said to have
been the earliest school of statuary in Greece, which was introduced into Sicyon
by Dipoenus and Scyllis from Crete about 560; but its earliest native artist
of celebrity was Canachus. Lysippus was also a native of Sicyon.
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STYMFALOS (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
A town in the northeast of Arcadia, the territory of which
was bounded on the north by Achaia, on the east by Sicyonia and Phliasia, on
the south by the territory of Mantinea, and on the west by that of Orchomenus
and Pheneus. The town itself was situated on a mountain of the same name, and
on the north side of Lake Stymphalis (Zaraka), on which dwelt, according to
tradition, the celebrated birds, called Stymphalides, destroyed by Heracles.
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EFYRA (Homeric city) CORINTHIA
Ephure. Probably an Aeolic form of Ephora (ephorao, ephoroi), and equivalent to
Epope, 'a watchtower.' This descriptive name was naturally applicable to many
places; and we find no less than eleven of the name enumerated (Pape, Dict.s.v.).
But of these there are but three, or at most four, that come into the Homeric
poems.
(1) The city afterwards called Corinth, Il.2. 570; 6. 152, which of course is
not intended in the present passage:
(2) A town in Thessaly, known in later times as Crannon, cp. Il.13. 301, with
the interpretation of Strabo (9. 442). But for the Ephyra in the Odyssey the question
lies only between
(3) a town in Thesprotia, called later Kichuros ( Il.2. 659), and
(4) an old Pelasgic town in Elis on the river Selleis (Strabo 7. 328; 8. 338).
Nitzsch declares in favour of (3), because in this passage Athena,
in the character of Mentes king of the Taphians, represents Odysseus as having
touched at Taphos on his return (anionta) from Ephyra to Ithaca; and in a direct
line Taphos lies between Thesprotia and Ithaca; but a ship sailing round the Leucadian
promontory to Ithaca would avoid Taphos altogether, and Leucas had not yet been
made into an island by the channel dug across the neck, for Homer calls it akte
epeiroio Od.24. 378.But if, following the Schol. on Ap. Rhod.1. 747, we place
the Taphian isles among the Echinades and so much further S. , we shall get an
equally good argument in favour of the Eleian Ephyra, as Taphos would then lie
between Ephyra and Ithaca. Another argument in favour of the Eleian town is the
mention ( Il.11. 741) of Agamede, daughter of Augeias king of Elis, as a sorceress,
he tosa pharmaka eide hosa trephei eureia chthon, which suits well with the description
here of the androphonon pharmakon and thumophthora pharmaka in Od.2. 329.In the
latter passage, Ephyra is named along with Pylos and Sparta, as if all three places
were in the Peloponnese.
Again, in Il.3. 627, Meges son of Phyleus is said to have been the
leader of the contingent from Dulichium and the Echinades, hai naiousi peren halos
Elidos anta, and in Il.15. 530, Phyleus is described as having bought a corslet,
ex Ephures potamou apo Selleentos. The statement of the Scholiast that Ilus son
of Mermerus was great grandson of Jason and Medea, and was king of Thesprotia,
is given on the authority of Apollodorus. Eustath. also mentions a story which
makes Medea to have lived for a while in Elis; either story doubtless being invented
or acknowledged by those who maintained the claims of the Thesprotian or Eleian
Ephyra respectively. See Buchholz, Hom. Real. 1. 1. p. 90.
SIKYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
KORINTHOS (Municipality) PELOPONNISOS
LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA (Municipality) CORINTHIA
XYLOKASTRO (Municipality) CORINTHIA
XYLOKASTRO (Small town) CORINTHIA
HERAION (Ancient sanctuary) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
The ruins of the famous sanctuary of Hera are to be found near the
lighthouse on Cape Malagavi, to the north-west of Loutraki and beyond the village
of Perachora amid its dense greenery. The Heraion of Perachora consists of two
sections, that' s why, until recently, it was believed to be two separate sanctuaries:
those of Hera Acraea ('of the cape') and Hera Limenia ('of the harbour').
Recent research, however, has led archaeologists to the conclusion
that there was only one sanctuary, dedicated to Hera Acraea-Limenia.
The cult seems to have established itself in the southern part of
the sanctuary (that formerly held to be the sanctuary of Hera Acraea) during the
Geometric period.
Around 800 BC, the first apsidal temple of Hera was built, but no
trace of it has survived. In the sixth century BC, α new temple of Hera was constructed,
further west. This was of a Doric order and had α rectangular layout measuring
10.30 meters on its short sides and 31 meters on the long sides. To the east was
an altar, also oblong and ornamented with triglyphs. In the fourth century BC,
eight Ionic columns were constructed around the altar; these supported a shelter,
which protected the priests and the sacred flame from the strong winds that often
blow in the area. A building which has come to light to the west of the Doric
temple has been interpreted as an agora, whose functions would have been both
commercial and religious.
At α distance of 200 m. from this section of the sanctuary is the
other, originally identified as the sanctuary of Hera Limenia. This reading of
the site, which originated with Professor Humfry Payne, was based on the discovery
of a rectangular Archaic building which was believed to be the temple of Hera.
Professor Tomlinson, who succeeded Payne, explored the site more systematically
and interpreted the building as α dining room for pilgrims to the sanctuary. It
would thus seem that the cult proper was practised in the south part of the site,
by the harbour, while the area around the dining room contained the service facilities
for visitors.
Between the two parts of the sanctuary was α sacred pool used as α
rainwater tank. This had become silted up as early as the fourth century BC and
during excavations some 200 glass bottles - connected with the sacred rites -
were found in the landfill. Not far away was a water tank with apsidal short sides
and a row of piers down the center on which the roof would have been supported.
The building is tightly waterproof and is an interesting example of the way in
which water was collected and stored in the fourth century BC.
This text is cited October 2004 from the Municipality of Loutrakion - Perachoras URL below, which contains images.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
CORINTHIA (Prefecture) PELOPONNISOS
In the following WebPages you can find an interactive map with all the monuments and museums of the Prefecture, with relevant information and photos.
ISTHMUS KORINTHOS (Isthmus) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
The Corinth Canal is a junction of international sea transport and
serves ships coming from the Western Mediterranean and Adriatic en route to Eastern
Mediterranean and Black Sea ports and vice versa.
The Corinth Canal intersects the Isthmus of Corinth and has a length
of 6.343m. The minimum width of the canal at sea level is 24.6m and bottom width
of 21m at 8m depth.
This text is cited October 2004 from the Corinth Canal Management Company Periandros S.A. URL below, which contains images
KORINTHIA (Ancient area) PELOPONNISOS
ISTHMIA (Ancient sanctuary) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
ISTHMUS KORINTHOS (Isthmus) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Corinthos, Ephyraea, Korinth, Korinthos, Korinthians
KROMYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
KORINTHIA (Ancient area) PELOPONNISOS
LIMNI VOYLIAGMENIS LOUTRAKI (Lagoon) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
Near the W end of the promontory is Lake Eschatiotis (modern Vouliagmene) along whose W shore there are remains of an ancient road that Swings W past a 4th c. B.C. fountain-house and through the town of Heraion. Below and N of the fortified acropolis are foundations of archaic and Classical houses.
PELLANA (Ancient city) XYLOKASTRO
Total results on 19/4/2001: 108 for Pellene, 1 for Pallenians, 7 for Pellenian, 10 for Pellenians.
PENTESKOUFI (Castle) KORINTHOS
Total results on 3/7/2001: 4
TENEA (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Total results: 23 Tenea, 1 Teneans, 1 Tenean
INOI (Ancient fortress) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
Today we locate the town Oenoe of Perachora on a steep hill to the East of the village Schinos (Ekd. Athinon, Pausaniou Periegissis, vol. 2, p. 25, note 1).
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
A titular archiepiscopal see of Greece.
The origin of Corinth belongs to prehistoric legend. About 1100 B.C.
this city, delivered from the Argives by the Dorian invasion, became the centre
of the Heracleid rule in Peloponnesus;
at this time it waged successful wars against neighbouring cities, including Athens.
A little later, under the tyranny of the Bacchiadae (750-657 B.C.), it founded
many colonies, among them Corcyra
and Syracuse. About 657 B.C.
a revolution substituted for tyranny a government based on popular election; from
that time Corinth took no great part in Greek history, except as the scene of
the Isthmian games and by the transit duty it imposed on all goods passing by
its citadel.
The foreign policy of this submissive vassal of Philip (later the
federal centre, but not the inspirer, of the Achaean league) was never positive
and domestic; its true glory was its luxury, riches, and artistic culture. It
gave its name to the third and most ornamental of the orders of Greek architecture.
Corinth was captured and plundered by Mummius (146 B.C.), restored and embellished
again by Caesar and Hadrian, and ravaged in turn by the Heruli, Visigoths, and
Slavs. In 1205 it was captured by the French, who gave it up to the Venetians,
by whom it was held, excepting brief intervals, until 1715. The Turks left it
in 1821, and in 1858, after a severe earthquake, it was transferred to the western
shore of the gulf.
The new town, in the provinces of Argolis
and Corinthia, has about 4500
inhabitants, and exports dried currants, oil, corn, and silk. The ancient site
is now occupied by a wretched village, Palaeo-Corinthos, or Old Corinth, with
five churches, probably built where temples had formerly stood. Nearby are the
lofty Acropolis (Acro-Corinthus)
and ruins of a temple and amphitheatre. The ship canal between the bay of Corinth
and the gulf of Aegina, about
four miles in length, was opened 8 November, 1893.
St. Paul preached successfully at Corinth. Corinth was the metropolis
of all Hellas. After the Byzantine
emperors had violently withdrawn Illyricum from Papal direction, Corinth appears
as a metropolis with seven suffragan sees; at the beginning of the eighteenth
century there were only two united in one title.
Since 1890 Corinth, for the Greeks, has been a simple bishopric, but
the first in rank, Athens being
the sole archbishopric of the Kingdom of Greece.
S. Petrides, ed.
Transcribed by: Fr. Paul-Dominique Masiclat, O.P.
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
ANTHIDOS (Ancient port) SOLYGIA
Anthedos, a port on the Saronic Gulf, is named only by Pliny (HN 4.5)
in a list of significant coastal toponyms: the Spiraion promontory and the ports
Anthedos, Boukephalos, and Kenchreai. The progression in the list is from S to
N. The narrow cove at the mouth of the Sellondas river (ancient Sellanys) on the
S side of the Bay of Sophikon is the probable location of the harbor.
J. R. Wiseman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ASPIS (Small island) KORINTHOS
Aspis. An island in the Saronic Gulf. A well-preserved mediaeval castle crowns
the sloping ridge that runs the length of the island, and remains are also known
of the Mycenaean (Late Helladic III C) to late Roman times. The island is named
by Pliny (HN 4.57) who locates it 7 (Roman) miles from Kenchreai. The Athenian
fleet must have anchored there briefly after the battle of Solygia in 425 B.C.
while heralds were sent back to recover the only two Athenian casualties of the
engagement before sailing to Krommyon
J. B. Wiseman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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