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Acropolis.gr

ZINON.COM

PIRAEUS WEBCAM

,Argolis
[Isthmia][Fortress of Acrocorinth][Ancient Sikyon]
[Archaeological site of Nemea]
[Castle "Larissa" at Argos][Mycenae]
[The Castle of Palamidi at Nauplion]
[Acropolis of Kazarma]
[Epidaurus]

Isthmia
The Sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia was an important cult and athletic center where the Panhellenic Games, called "the Isthmia", took place every two years in honor of Melicertes-Palaemon or Poseidon.
The site was fortified in about 1200 B.C. and ritual festivities were performed from the middle of the 11th century B.C. onwards.
The temple of Poseidon was first built in the 7th century B.C., and was reconstructed three times from the middle of the 7th century B.C. to 146 B.C. The first Stadium was built during the 6th century B.C., while the peribolos of the shrine of Palaemon and the Theatre were added in the 5th century B.C. During the Roman period, the temple and the theatre were restored while baths and the circular temple of Palaemon were constructed.
The sanctuary was abandoned at the end of the 4th century A.D., and later, building material from it was used in the construction of the Hexamilion wall.
The first, restricted excavations, poor in results, were carried out in 1883 by Paul Monceaux and in 1930, by B.S. Jenkins and H. Megaw.
Extensive excavations on the site were undertaken by the American School of Classical Studies. During the years 1959-1967, Oscar Brooner excavated the temple of Poseidon, porticoes, the sanctuary of Palaemon, the two Stadiums and a Hellenistic settlement at "Rachi", while later,€. Gebhard brought to light the theatre. During 1967-1976 , P. Clement excavated the Roman baths and other buildings. Finally, in 1980 and 1989,€. Gebhard investigated the central shrine and the prehistoric settlement at "Rachi".
Fortress of Acrocorinth
The most important defensive work of the area from antiquity to more recent times. The history of the fortification is closely connected with that of Corinth.
Sections of the wall are discernible from ancient pre-Christian times, the Byzantine period, the Frankish domination, the Venetian domination and finally the Turkish occupation . The fortress (castro) is accessible from the western side, departing from the modern village of Ancient Corinth.
The fortress is secured by a system of three circuit walls reinforced by towers. On the highest of the two peaks of the mountain are traces of the temple of Aphrodite on the site where later stood a church and subsequently a Turkish mosque.
The second hill top, at the SW edge of the precipitous rock, was fortified during Frankish times and formed the inner keep of the fortress. Remains of churches, mosques, houses, fountains and cisterns are preserved within the second and third peribiloi.
Conservation and restoration has been carried out on various parts of the wall and on a few buildings. The Upper Peirene Spring received conservation and protective work around 1930.
In 1965-66 the bridge over the dry moat and the guard house at the entrance were restored. In 1972-73 the wall between gates a and b was reinforced. In 1978 the northern end of the second peribolos wall was reinforced, near the Kanoni site.
In 1980 parts of the outer side of the third peribolos wall were reinforced. In 1993-95 the bridge over the moat was replaced and the wall between gates b and c were reinforced and parts of the calderimi paving repaired.
Excavations were carried out by the American School in 1926 on the highest part of Acrocorinth which demonstrated the continuous use of the place from archaic times down to the beginning of the 19th century.
At this same time, the excavators opened trenches in the wider area as far as the Upper Peirene Spring, revealing a cemetery of Turkish times. 
Ancient Sikyon
The city of ancient Sikyon, center of cultural activities mostly sculpture, painting and metallurgy has stood apart already since the archaic period to the end of Antiquity.
It started to flourish during the 7th century B.C. with the Orthagorides tyrants and, above all, Kleisthenes who lead the State of Sikyon to its highest peak.
After the fall of the Orthagorides the aristocratic regime was restored at the beginning of the 5th B.C.
The political disputes and the perpetual rebellions brought firstly the Thebean Epaminondas and afterwards the Macedonians during the Hellenistic period to take over Sikyon. In 303 B.C., Demetrios Poliorcetes conquered the region and transferred the city higher than it was before, on the eastern feet of the Ancient Acropolis, and fortified it with powerful walls.
He was followed by Antigonos Gonatas until 251 B.C. when the general Aratos from Sikyon made it join the Achaean League. After the destruction of Corinth, in 146 B.C., by the Romans, Sikyon reached a peak once more but in 87 B.C, it was plundered by the roman general Sulla.
In 141 and 153 B.C., the city was destroyed by earthquakes but the then emperor Antoninus the Pius provided for its reconstruction.
The archaeological site of Sikyon includes the public buildings of the Hellenistic Agora which were discovered during the excavations, the Gymnasium, the Bouleuterion, a portico as well as an archaic temple which is identified with the temple of Artemis Limnaia or according to others, with the temple of Apollo 
The excavations at Sikyon began at the end of the 19th century (1889) with the investigations of the ancient Theatre as well as the ancient Acropolis.
During the 20th century, the archaic temple was excavated by A. Philadelpheus in 1926 and by A. Orlandos in 1937.
The excavations of the Agora and its public buildings as well as of the Theatre, the roman Baths and the surrounding area started in 1926 with Philadelpheus, continued with A. Orlandos (from 1935 to 1941 and 1951-1954) as well as the former Ephor of Antiquities, Mrs.

Archaeological site of Nemea
The Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea developed in the beginning of the 6th century B.C., with the institution of the Panhellenic Nemean Games in a region where human activity had been present since prehistoric times.
The first temple of Zeus and the first two phases of the Heroon were constructed during the Archaic period while nine "Oikoi-Treasuries" were erected in the 5th century B.C.
Castle "Larissa" at Argos
The castle lies on the prominent hill called "Larissa", overlooking the town of Argos. It was founded in the 6th century B.C.
During the Byzantine period the fortress was of essential strategic importance and in 1203 came under the control of the archon of Nafplion, Leon Sgouros.
In 1212 it was captured by Othon de la Roche and was controlled by the Greeks until 1388. Between 1394 and 1463 it was occupied by the Venetians.
In 1463 it was captured by the Turks and remained under their control until 1822, interrupted during 1686-1715, when Larissa came under the control of the Venetian admiral Morozini.
The site was liberated by the Greeks in 1822. Salvage interventions have been carried out at the foundations of the monument. The exterior circuit wall and the entrance have been consolidated by the 5th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities.

The most important monuments of the site are:
The Castle
The external horseshoe-shaped circuit wall has an entrance on the SW side and is reinforced by battlements and towers (square, round, triangular, and octagonal).
A second, interior enceinte to the south forms the smaller, upper fortress. The main architectural phase of the monument dates from the Medieval period but traces of earlier phases have also been distinguished. Small Byzantine church over the north wall of the interior fortress. 
Mycenae
Mycenae, the legendary home of the Atreides, is situated upon a small hill-top on the lower slopes of Euboea Mountain, between two of its peaks, on the road leading from the Argolic Gulf to the north (Corinth, Athens, etc.).
The site was inhabited since Neolithic times (about 4000 BC) but reached its peak during the Late Bronze Age (1350-1200 BC), giving its name to a civilization which spread throughout the Greek world.
During that period, the acropolis was surrounded by massive "cyclopean" walls which were built in three stages (ca.1350, 1250 and 1225 BC) except on its SE flank where a steep ravine provided natural defense.
In 1841, K. Pittakis cleared the "Lion Gate" and in 1876, H. Schliemann started the excavations of the "Grave Circle A" which P. Stamatakis continued in 1877, bringing to light a sixth shaft grave. From 1864 to 1902, excavations at the palace, the subterranean fountain, and many chamber tombs were conducted by Ch. Tsountas while restricted excavations were also carried out by D. Evangelides in 1909, G. Rodenwaldt in 1911 and A. Keramopoulos in 1917. Further excavations were conducted by A.B. Wace during three campaigns, in 1920-1923 on the acropolis and the tombs, in 1939 and 1950-1957 on the houses and tombs at the Lower City.
Simultaneously, from 1952 to 1955 the Greek Archaeological Society under the direction of G. Mylonas and J. Papadimitriou investigated more houses as well as "Grave Circle B", while G. Mylonas and N. Verdelis uncovered more houses. Finally, the "Cult Center" was revealed by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of Lord Taylour and was further investigated by G. Mylonas and Sp.
Iakovides of the Greek Archaeological Society in 1959 and 1969-1974. In 1950, the Restoration Service undertook works on the tomb of Clytemnestra, under the direction of An. Orlandos and E. Stikas. In 1954,€. Stikas consolidated and restored the megaron, the area south of the "Lion Gate", and the "Grave Circle B" and in 1955, the walls north of the "Lion Gate" as well as the courtyard of the palace.
Tiryns
On the edge of the Argolic gulf, at a short distance from Nauplion, the Acropolis of Tiryns rises impressively on a rocky hill (16 m). The earliest human occupation on the hill goes back to the Neolithic period (about 5000 B.C.). It was followed by successive settlements but their remains have been destroyed almost completely by the extensive construction arrangement of the Mycenaean age.
Enough evidence survived from the settlement of the Early Bronze Age (2500-2000 B.C.) to prove the existence then of a series of apsidal houses arranged around a very huge circular building (diam. 28 m) on the summit of the hill.
The building of the fortification of the hill began during the 14th century B.C. and was completed at the end of the 13th century (Late Helladic IIIB period).
The Cyclopaean walls which surround the Upper, Middle and Lower Citadel, have a total perimeter of approximately 750 m and a width between 4,50 and 7 m.
Within the walls were planned the wall-painted palace, the remaining public spaces, the Cyclopaean tunnels leading to the storehouses and the workshops. The town divided into blockhouses extended outside the walls and around the Acropolis (about 750 acres).
After the disintegration of the palatial system (about 1200 B.C.), the Acropolis continued to be used mostly as a cult place.
The site had become deserted when Pausanias visited it during the 2d century A.D.
The archaeological investigations of the ancient Tiryns are tightly linked with the name of Heinrich Schliemann who in 1876 opened the first trenches in the Acropolis and the site outside the walls. In 1884/5, during five months of extensive excavations, he uncovered, with his valuable assistant, W. Doepfeld, part of the Upper Citadel. Between 1905 and 1920, the investigations were resumed by the German Archaeological Institute on the Acropolis as in the wider surrounding area.
At the end of the '50's, excavations in the area were undertaken under the supervision of the Ephore of Antiquities, N. Verdelis.
Finally, from 1967 onwards, the German Archaeological Institute returned to the site and with further extensive excavations directed by Ulf Jantzen and Klaus Kilian, the whole of the Upper and the Lower Citadel, part of the Mycenaean town in the wider area around the walls as well as part of the Cemetery of the Iron Age were uncovered.
The finds from the excavation of Tiryns are exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum and the Archaeological Museum of Nauplion.  TOUR

Acropolis of Kazarma
The acropolis of Kazarma (dimensions 85 X 75 m.) is situated upon a hill, 280 m. high, on the 15th km of the highway from Nauplion to Epidaurus. The walls (w. 2,50 m., pres. h. 5,20 m.) are built in the polygonal system, and date probably from the 4th century B.C. 
The fortress has four circular towers, the main gate is on the west side and a postern on the east. It was reconstructed during Byzantine times.
The acropolis of Kazarma is a relatively small defensive construction on the ancient road from Argos - Nauplion to Epidaurus.
It was probably built by the Argives and was apparently situated on the border between two ancient city-states, Argos and Epidaurus.
Sanctuaries of Apollo Deiradiotes and Athena Oxyderkes
All that has survived of the sanctuary of Apollo Deiradiotes or Pythios is a monumental staircase cut in the rock and an altar.
Remains of a Byzantine basilica are visible SE of the altar. On a higher terrace to the east, there is a rectangular building with an internal colonnade (an oracle ?) and on a third terrace, the foundations of a building with a covered cistern (Asklepieion ?).
Further south, on a lower terrace, are preserved the remains of a tholos, possibly identified as the sanctuary of Athena Oxyderkes.
Evidence of religious activity at the site exists as early as the Archaic period (6th century B.C.), but most of the surviving monuments were built during the 4th century B.C.
According to inscriptions, the sanctuary was repaired twice, in the 4th-3rd centuries B.C. and in the early Roman Imperial period (1st century A.D.).
The basilica SE of the altar was built in the Early Christian period (5th century A.D.) and was replaced by a larger church in the Byzantine period (10th century A.D.).
Today the monumental staircase and the area in front of it are used for cultural events. The site was excavated by the French School of Archaeology at Athens at the beginning of the century.
The medieval structures have destroyed the earlier buildings, leaving in place only their foundations or carvings in the rock. The finds date from the period between 8th century B.C. and the Byzantine times (10th century A.D.)
The Castle of Palamidi at Nauplion
The castle of Palamidi lies on a high hill (216m. a.s.l.) to the east of Acronauplia which was first fortified by the Venetians during the second Venetian occupation of the area (1686-1715).
It is a typical baroque fortress, based on the plans of the engineers Giaxich and Lasalle. In 1715 it was captured by the Turks and remained under their control until 1822, when it was liberated by the Greeks. Small-scale restoration work has been carried out on the walls.
The 5th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities recently restored the retaining wall of the castle and rebuilt the crumbling parts at the south end of the fortification.
The most important monuments of the site are:
The Castle.
Venetian defensive structure dated to the beginning of the 18th century. It consists of eight bastions surrounded by walls. A long stairway reinforced with small battlements starts at the foot of the NW slope and leads up to the fortress on the top of the hill. 
Church of St. Andrew, built in one of the bastions of the fortress. It is a barrel-vaulted church with the eastern half built under one of the arches supporting the walls. Its free-standing part is two-aisled.
The prison of Kolokotronis.
One of the bastions, the so-called "Miltiades" was used as the prison cell of Theodoros Kolokotronis, a hero of the Greek Revolution.
Sanctuary of Asklepios at Ancient Epidaurus
The Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus was the most celebrated healing centre of the ancient world. The cult is attested as early as the 6thcentury B.C. when the hill-top sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas was no longer spacious enough for the public worship of the Epidaurus city-state.
The authority and radiance of Asklepios as the most important healer god of antiquity, brought to the sanctuary great financial prosperity, which in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. enabled the implementation of an ambitious building program for the construction of monumental buildings for the worship (the temple and the altar of Asklepios, the Tholos, the Abaton, etc.), and later, of buildings mainly secular in character (the Theatre, the Ceremonial Hestiatoreion, the Baths, the Palaestra, etc.)
The Asklepieion survived until the end of antiquity, having experienced a second heyday in the 2nd century A.D. The French Scientific Mission to the Peloponnese was the first to conduct excavations on the site. However, all the monuments of the Asklepieion have been brought to light in systematic excavations carried out by the Greek Archaeological Society (1879-1926) under the direction of P. Kavvadias.
Additional investigations were conducted in 1942-43 on the Abaton and building E, by E. Martin and H. Metzger.
The excavations were resumed from 1948 to 1951, and have been continued since 1974, mainly in the sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas. Since 1985, complementary archaeological research has been undertaken by the Committee for the Preservation of the Epidaurus Monuments.
The first restoration works at the Asklepieion started on the Theatre in 1907, and continued in 1954-1963. In 1984, the task of rescuing the sanctuary from decay as well as improving its presentation as a whole, while organizing an instructive and controlled route for the large number of visitors, was undertaken by the Committee for the Preservation of the Epidaurus Monuments.
The restoration of the Abaton, the Tholos, the Propylon of the "Gymnasium", and the Gate of the West Parodos of the Theatre, with extensive conservation treatment of the authentic material, is in various stages of implementation.
Also, for the direct rescue of the authentic material of other monuments, Greek and Roman, conservation is currently in progress. In 1988, the Asklepieion was included in the World Heritage List.

Epidaurus
The theatre of The Sanctuary of Asklepios
The theatre of the Asklepieion of Epidaurus is the ideal specimen of the achievements and experience of the ancient Greeks on theatre construction. It was already praised in antiquity by Pausanias for its symmetry and beauty.
It has the typical Hellenistic structure with the three basic parts: the cavea, the orchestra and the stage-building (skene). The longest radius of the cavea is 58 m. while the diameter of the orchestra is about 20 m.
The lower of the two diazomata (sections) is divided with 13 stairways into 12 cunei (with 34 rows of benches) and the upper with 23 stairways into 22 cunei (with 21 rows of benches).
The stage-building included a main room with four pillars along the central axis, and one square room at each end. The proskenium had a facade with 14 half-columns against pillars.
Two ramps on either side led to the stage while monumental double gates stood at the two entrances.
The theatre was built in two stages.
During the first, at the end of the 4th century B.C., the orchestra, the lower diazoma and the stage-building (in its "pre-Hellenistic" phase) were constructed.
During the second, at the middle of the 2nd century B.C., the cavea was enlarged at the top, and the stage building was given its "late-Hellenistic" shape. The theatre was used for musical and poetical contests and theatrical performances. For centuries the monument remained covered by thick layers of earth. Systematic excavations started in 1881 under the direction of P. Kavvadias.
The cavea was brought to light quite well preserved apart from the tiers at the edges and the retaining walls.
On the contrary, the stage was found in ruins leveled to the ground.
At the beginning of the 20th century the gate of the western entrance and the contiguous retaining-wall were restored. Large-scale works were undertaken from 1954 to 1963 for the reconstruction of the destroyed sections and partial restoration of the monument.

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