Pheia (Elis)

For the genus of moths, see Pheia.

Pheia (Ancient Greek: Φειά, also Φειαί - Pheiai) was a small town and a port in Elis in the ancient country of Pisatis.[1] It was built in a natural bay at today's Agios Andreas, Katakolo. It was destroyed in the 6th century.[2] It was located on the isthmus connecting the cape of Katakolo with the mainland, near the river Iardanus.[3] During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians conquered the small town and used its ports as their base for military operations in Elis.[4] In the location of the acropolis, a castle was built in the Middle Ages which survives today, known as Pontikokastro.[3]

Archaeological Remains

The first excavations were made in 1911.[2] In 1959 Nikos Yalouris explored the underwater remains of Pheia. In 1973 the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology made a survey in the bay of Agios Andreas near Katakolo, and found the remains of the town at a depth of 5 m below sea level.[5] The archaeological remains at Agios Andreas date from the Early Helladic through the Byzantine periods.[6]The finds included the remains of buildings, pot sherds, fragments of amphorae, the remains of a Roman cemetery and a Byzantine coin.[6] Two cycladic marble figures from the Bronze Age were found on the headland, as well as finds of tombs and remains of Roman buildings on Tigani island.[7] A kouros and the remains of a painted terracotta roof are among the finds dating to the late Archaic period.[8] There is also prehistoric pottery scattered across the site.[9]

The Destruction of Pheia

Recent studies at Agios Andreas have shown that the region suffered from the effects of tsunamis several times. Pheia was destroyed in 551 A.D. by a tsunami caused by an earthquake that was known historically.[10] The earthquake was also responsible for the destruction of the city of Patras and for completing the destruction of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Strabo Geography 8.3
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 SKRIP newspaper, page 2, 3/31/1911, accessed from the Greek national library
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1  Smith, William, ed. (1857). "Pheia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography 2. London: John Murray. p. 593.
  4. ↑ Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 2.25
  5. ↑ Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Kraft, John C; Rapp, George; Gifford, John A; Aschenbrenner, Stanley E (2005). . "Coastal Change and Archaeological Settings in Elis". Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
  7. ↑ Hood, M. S. F. (1960). . "Archaeology in Greece, 1959". Archaeological Reports (The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies).
  8. ↑ Inglis, Alexander St. George (1998). A History of Elis ca. 700-362 B.C. p. 136.
  9. ↑ McDonald, William A.; Hope Simpson, Richard (July 1961). "Prehistoric Habitation in Southwestern Peloponnese". American Journal of Archaeology.
  10. ↑ Vott, Andreas; Bareth, Georg; Bruckner, Helmut; Lang, Franziska; Sakellariou, Dimitris; Hadler, Hanna; Ntageretzis, Konstantin; Willershauser, Timo (2011). "Olympia’s Harbour Site Pheia (Elis, Western Peloponnese, Greece) Destroyed by Tsunami Impact". DIE ERDE.

Coordinates: 37°39′N 21°18′E / 37.650°N 21.300°E