Most Recent Visit: May 2021 The founding of the settlement of Sicyon is attributed to the mytho-historical figure Aegialeus, who gave the city its original name, Aigialeia. At other points during the early history of Sicyon, it was apparently also called Telchinia after the mythological Telchines and Mekone, a reference to the poppies that grow…
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Continued from Argos Part I Just across the street to the east is the archaeological area of Argos’ agora. The agora has the same hours as the theater and is included in the admission ticket. Though it may generally be open. Two guys seemed to be there watching over things and acknowledged me when I…
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Most Recent Visit: May 2021 The area of the present day and ancient city of Argos seems to have been one of the longest continually inhabited locations in Greece, frequently attributed as one of the most ancient cities and with archaeological evidence suggesting habitation dating back to the 8th millennium BCE. Argos was said to…
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Continued From Sanctuary of Asclepius Part II East of the Tholos and south of the west end of the Enkoimeterion stands the remains of the temple to Asclepius, one of the central and most important structures of the sanctuary. The temple was constructed around 375 BCE, during the height of the building program at the…
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Continued From Sanctuary of Asclepius Part I Heading west from the Katagogion, one comes to the southern area of the actual sanctuary. The southernmost of these buildings is the Greek baths. These were constructed around 300 BCE and were fed from a spring on Mount Kynortion. The baths likely served a religious purpose in providing…
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Most Recent Visit: May 2021 Not to be confused with the Sanctuary of Asclepius, which today is the site that many think of as Epidaurus (or Epidauros), the city of Epidaurus was located about 8 kilometers to the northeast of the sanctuary, on the coast of the Saronic Gulf. Today, the archaeological remains are within…
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Most Recent Visit: May 2021 Near the narrowest part of the Corinthian Isthmus, less than a kilometer from the eventual site of the Corinthian Canal, the site known today as Isthmia began life as a localized sanctuary site. The name Isthmia is a modern description of the specific site, as the entire area of the…
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Continued From Corinth Part II The northeast corner of Corinth’s forum is a bit messier and less orthogonal than the rest of the fairly rectilinear forum. Though during the Roman period it was covered over and the area was largely an open space, presently the remains of some elements of the Sacred Spring are now…
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Ancient Odessus (also called Odessos, Odesopolis, and Odyssos), the precursor to the bustling Black Sea port city of Varna in present-day Bulgaria, was originally founded by Greek colonists from Miletus in the first half of the 6th century BCE. Prior to the arrival of the Greeks, the area was inhabited by Thracian populations dating back…
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Continued from Serdica Part I Out in front of the hotel that makes up the western part of the building complex enclosing the Church of St. Geroge, where we left off, is another set of excavations, the Sveta Nedelya Square excavations. These were ongoing when I visited in 2017, and seem to still be presently…
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