Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "KORONI Ancient city PETALIDI".
ca. 30 km W-SW of Kalamata. Koroni was a town under Mt. Mathia (now
Lycodemon), on Koronaeus Bay in the NW part of the Messenian Gulf. It is generally
accepted (except for one scholar who believes that the present Koroni occupies
the site of the ancient one) that Petalidi village corresponds to the site of
ancient Koroni. Petalidi Bay is the safest of all Peloponnesian ports and was
called "port of the Achaeans". Parts of the ancient dock can still be
seen in the sea. The older name of Koroni was Aipeia (Paus. 4.34.5) or Pedasos
(Strab. 8.360). The name of the town refers to the Boiotian Koroneia whence came
the founder Epimelides, who fortified the city ca. 365 B.C. The poros wall was
1.5 m thick and 2 km long. In the 2d c. B.C. Koroni was either autonomous (191)
or associated with the Achaean League or Sparta. The earliest known coins of the
city with the head of Athena and the inscription ACHAION KORONAION date from this
period.
On the acropolis hill and outside of the village have been found
the foundations of the fortification wall and of various buildings, as well as
sarcophagi, inscriptions, and sculptures. Classical remains have been found especially
on the NE side of the acropolis, including five Doric capitals possibly belonging
to a small temple of Early Classical date. Near the village were ruins of baths
and an aqueduct, and 10 km to the NW are remains of Roman baths. On the acropolis
in Pausanias' lifetime there was a bronze statue of Athena holding a bird. There
was a bronze statue of Zeus the Savior in the agora, and temples of Artemis Paidotrophos
(Children's nurse), of Dionysos and Asklepios, with marble statues of Dionysos
and Asklepios.
G. S. Korres, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Sep 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
A town in Messenia on the west side of the Messenian Gulf, founded B.C. 371 by the Messenians, after their return to their native country, with the assistance of the Thebans.
Korone: Eth. Koronaeus, Koroneus, Koronuieus, Koronaios (Steph. B.:
Petalidhi). A town of Messenia, situated upon the western side of the Messenian
gulf, which was sometimes called after it, the Coronaean. (Plin. iv. 5. s. 7.)
According to Pausanias, it was built on the site of the Homeric Aepeia, at the
time of the restoration of the Messenians to their native country, by Epaminondas;
and received the name of Coroneia because Epimelides, who founded the new town,
was a native of Coroneia, in Boeotia. This name was changed by the Messenians
into that of Corone. According to others, Corone corresponded to the Homeric Pedasus.
(Strab. viii. p. 360.) In the acropolis of the city was a brazen statue of Athena,
who became the patron deity of Corone in consequence of her worship at Coroneia.
In the agora there was a statue of Zeus Zoter, as at Messene; and there were likewise
in the lower city temples of Artemis, of Dionysus, and of Asclepius. The harbour
of Corone was called the port of the Achaeans, probably because the city belonged
to the Achaean league. (Paus. iv. 34.)
Pausanias says that Corone was situated to the right of the Pamisus,
close to the sea, and at the foot of a mountain called Temathia or Mathia (the
reading is doubtful). The present name of the mountain is Lykodimo, at the foot
of which stands Petalidhi, on the site of Corone, in a small but fertile plain.
Within the last few years a colony of Mainotes has settled here, and restored
to the place its ancient name. The modern town of Koroni, however, which is situated
upon a promontory some distance south of Petalidhi, occupies the site of Asine.
It is probable that the inhabitants of Corone migrated at some period to Asine,
carrying with them their ancient name.
There are considerable remains of Corone. Part of a mole may still
be traced jutting out into the sea, and in the plain have been found foundations
of houses and walls, and some works of ancient art. There are likewise traces
of the walls of the acropolis upon the heights above the plain.
Corone was supplied with water for drinking from the fountain Plataniston,
which flowed from a hollow plane tree 20 stadia from the road, leading from the
Pamisus. Eighty stadia south of Corone, near the coast, was the temple of Apollo
Corynthus, the site of which is probably indicated by some ancient remains on
the hill of St. Elias, near the sea, above the village of Kastelia. Corone, as
already stated, belonged to the Achaean league. It was on his march to relieve
this city that Philopoemen was made prisoner, and put to death at Messene on the
following day. (Liv. xxxix. 49.) Plutarch, however, relates that Philopoemen was
captured on his march towards Colonis (Plut. Philopoem. 18); but the statement
of Livy is the more probable one. Corone is also mentioned by Ptolemy (iii. 16.
§ 8).
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
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