Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "FERES Ancient city RIGAS FERAIOS".
A city of Pelasgiotis, lying just S of the road between Larissa and
the Gulf of Pagasai. The site is on the tail end of a N spur (modern Maluka) of
the mountain Chalkedonion (modern Karadag); the spur flanked by two ravines, the
Maluka revma to the SE and the Makalo to the NW. The city controls also the E
end of a pass (modern railroad) which leads E from Pharsalos. Modern Velestinou
occupies a part of the ancient city. The city site has been settled since prehistoric
times. In antiquity it was known as the home of Admetos, whose son Eumelos figured
in the Trojan war (Eur., Alk. etc.; Hom., Il. 2.711, Od. 4.798). It controlled
the port of Pagasai by the late 5th c. B C partly from this it grew powerful under
the tyrant Lycophron and much more under his successor, Jason, who tried to unite
Thessaly under his leadership. Jason was killed in 370 B.C. and was soon succeeded
by Alexander, who was defeated by a Thessalian League-Theban alliance in 364 B.C.
and his territory reduced to Pherai, Pagasai, and part of Magnesia. He was killed
in 358 B.C. but his expansionist policies continued until Philip II of Macedon
took over Magnesia and Pagasai and in 344 B.C. placed a Macedonian garrison in
Pherai. The city remained fairly prosperous and was important in the post 196
B.C. Thessalian League. It was besieged by Antiochos III in 192 B.C. (Livy 36.8f,
14.11); it was at that time divided into an upper and lower city. Steph. Byz.
says (s.v.) that it was divided into Old and New Pherai, 8 stades (one km) apart.
Remains from the Imperial period are practically nonexistent, and his statement
remains enigmatic.
A flat-topped prehistoric mound (150 m) was the acropolis. This is
protected at the back by the Makalo revma, which flows NE. The Maluka revma is
roughly parallel to the Makalo, ca. one km to the S. Between the streams the land
slopes from the acropolis to the plain, about 50 m away. At the edge of the plain,
under the S face of a rocky hill (Kastraki) is a copious fountain. Traces of the
city wall can be seen at the back (W) of the acropolis hill above the Makalo ravine
and following its bank towards the plain for about 500 m where it disappears.
The S wall ran from behind the acropolis towards the Makalo revma and along its
N edge to the plain. A wall, of which few traces remain, ran along the edge of
the hill just above the plain, presumably connecting the N and S sections of wall,
but its junction with the NW side of the city wall is not clear. Bequignon saw
blocks in the plain which led him to believe this wall along the edge of the hill
was a cross wall, and that the lower city wall made a curve into the plain E of
the modern railroad. The wall is double faced, ca. 3 to 5 m thick, of rough-faced
rectangular and trapezoidal blocks laid in fairly regular courses. There are no
towers visible. It must date from the first half of the 4th c. A short stretch
of wall (or terrace wall?) on the N side of the Kastraki hill is built of careful,
flat-faced polygonal masonry. No walls have been reported on or around the acropolis
hill.
Very few ancient remains are to be seen within the city. Dedications
to Herakles and a Doric column capital and parts of a wall (peribolos?) were found
in 1907 by the Church of Haghios Charalambos S of the acropolis. Part of an early
5th c. marble statue of Athena, nearly life-sized, was found on the acropolis
in 1967, which indicates the presence of a temple there. The fountain (ancient
Hypereia) in the city center is bordered by a semicircular retaining wall of thin
rectangular slabs laid in courses. This may or may not be ancient. The ground
of the Kastraki hill above is littered with sherds, but no ancient foundations
or blocks are visible. The sites of the ancient agora, theater, etc. are not determined.
The most notable remains are those of a large Doric temple outside (?) the city
walls, ca. 0.8 km NE of the acropolis, on the right bank of the Makalo revma.
This was excavated in 1920-27. Here a temple of the later 4th c. had been built
on the site of one of the 6th. The 4th c. temple was Doric, peripteral, 16 x 32
m, perhaps 6 x 12 columns. The foundations were of conglomerate and the exposed
parts of the euthynteria and krepis of marble. At the E end the euthynteria and
one step of the krepis were preserved. Of architectural fragments, some column
drums, fragments of capitals, epistyle, a sima carved with a lotus and acanthus
motif remain. Incorporated in the foundations are some Doric column drums of the
earlier temple and around about were other architectural fragments including painted
terracotta revetment and a capital fragment dating from the second half of the
6th c. B.C. In front of the later temple's E end were several small foundations
for naiskoi, altar, and/or statues.
The temple had been built on top of an early Geometric necropolis.
It must have been on or near the site of an early shrine, since a temple deposit
pit S of it yielded a large number of terracotta and bronze offerings of the 8th
through the 6th-5th c. Other bronzes had come from the area previously. Some are
in the National Museum of Athens, some in Volo, and some probably in Cambridge.
The temple, once thought to be to Zeus Thaulios, is more likely to be that of
Artemis Ennodia, the chief goddess of Pherni.
The main necropolis of the city was on the road to Larissa, just outside
the wall. Some grave mounds have been noted and/or excavated in the plain, near
the railroad line. A chamber tomb was excavated at Souvleri Magoula in 1910. In
1899 a mound (Pilaf-Tepe, or Mal-Tepe) on the road about half way between Pherai
and Pagasai was excavated. This contained a shaft grave and in it a silver situla
of the 3d c. B.C. The grave seems to have dated from the 2d c. B.C. and may have
held a notable citizen of Pherai. At Rizomylo, 5 km N of the city, foundations
and various architectural remains have been discovered.
T. S. Mackay, 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.
(Pherai). An ancient town of Thessaly in the Pelasgian plain, ninety stadia from its porttown Pagasae, on the Pagasaean Gulf. It is celebrated in mythology as the residence of Admetus, and in history on account of its tyrants, who extended their power over nearly the whole of Thessaly. Of these the most powerful was Iason, who was made Tagus, or military chief, of Thessaly about B.C. 374.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Pherai: Eth. Pheraios, Pheraeus. One of the most ancient cities of
Thessaly, was situated in the SE. corner of Pelasgiotis, W. of the lake Boebeis,
and 90 stadia from Pagasae, which served as its harbour. (Strab. ix. 436.) It
was celebrated in mythology as the residence of Admetus and his son Eumelus, the
latter of whom led from Pherae and the neighbouring towns eleven ships to the
Trojan War. (Hom. Il. ii. 711-715.) Pherae was one of the Thessalian towns which
assisted the Athenians at the commencement of the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii.22.)
At this time it was under the government of an aristocracy; but towards the end
of the war Lycophron established a tyranny at Pherae, and aimed at the dominion
of all Thessaly. His designs were carried into effect by his son Jason, who was
elected Tagus or general-issimo of Thessaly about B.C. 374, and exercised an important
influence in the affairs of Greece. He had so firmly established his power, that,
after his assassination in B.C. 370, he was succeeded in the office of Tagus by
his two brothers Polydorus and Polyphron. The former of these was shortly afterwards
assassinated by the latter; and Polyphron was murdered in his turn by Alexander,
who was either his nephew or his brother. Alexander governed his native city and
Thessaly with great cruelty till B.C. 359, when he likewise was put to death by
his wife Thebe and her brothers. Two of these brothers, Tisiphonus and Lycophron,
successively held the supreme power, till at length in B.C. 352 Lycophlron was
deposed by Philip, king of Macedon, and Pherae, with the rest of Thessaly, became
virtually subject to Macedonia.
In B.C. 191 Pherae surrendered to Antiochus, king of Syria, but it
shortly afterwards fell into the hands of the Roman consul Acilius. (Liv. xxxvi.
9, 14.) Situated at the end of the Pelasgian plain, Pherae possessed a fertile
territory. The city was surrounded with plantations, gardens, and walled enclosures.
(Polyb. xviii. 3.) Stephanus B. (s. v.) speaks of an old and new Pherae distant
8 stadia from each other.
In the middle of Pherae was a celebrated fountain called Hypereia.
(Hupereia, Strab. ix.; Pind. Pyth. iv. 221; Sophocl. ap. School. ad Pind. l. c.;
Plin. iv. 8. s. 15.) The fountain Messeis was also probably in Pherae. (Strab.
ix.; Hom. Il. vi. 457; Val. Flacc. iv. 374; Plin. l. c.)
The remains of Pherae are situated at Velestino, where the ancient
walls may be traced on every side except towards the plain. On the northern side
are two tabular summits, below the easternmost of which on the southern side is
the fountain Hypereia, which rushes from several openings in the rock, and immediately
forms a stream. Apollonius says (i. 49) that Pherae was situated at the foot of
Mt. Chalcodonium (Chalko donion), which is perhaps the southern and highest summit
of Mt. Karadagh.
This is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
