Amfissa
Encyclopedia
Amfissa is a town and a former municipality in Phocis
, Greece
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi
, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is also the capital of the regional unit of Phocis. Amfissa was known as Salona (Greek: Σάλωνα, ˈsalona) in the Middle Ages
.
Amfissa sits on the northern edge of the farmlands of the Crissaean plain, and lies between two mountains; Giona
to the west and Parnassus
to the east. The town itself is surrounded by an olive
forest, and located south of Lamia
, northwest of Livadeia
and Delphi
, 13 km (8 mi) north of the port of Itea, 30 km (19 mi) north of Desfina
, northeast of Naupactus
and east of Lidoriki
. The town has access to Greek National Road 27
, and the GR-48
links it to Lidoriki.
verb αμφιέννυμι (amfiennymi), meaning 'surround', as it is surrounded by the mountains Giona
and Parnassus
. In Greek mythology
, Amfissa
, the daughter of Macar, son of Aeolus
, and mistress of the god Apollo
, gave her name to the city.
During the Latin occupation in the 13th century a fortress was built above the city, and first it and then the city came to be called Salona.
There are three folk etymologies given for the name, none of which are correct:
In 1833, the initial name of the city, Amfissa, was brought into use once more.
and was the chief town of Ozolian Locris
, a region inhabited by the ancient Greek
tribe of Locrians
; the largest and most renowned town of Locris
, beautifully constructed and located one hundred and twenty stades away from Delphi
. Pausanias
, in his work Description of Greece, mentions the existence of the tombs of Amfissa and Andraemon
, and the temple of Athena
on the acropolis
of the town, with a standing statue of bronze, which was said to have been brought from Troy
by Thoas
. The Amfissians celebrated mysteries in honor of the "anaktes
boys", who might be the Dioskouroi
, the Curetes
or the Cabeiri
(10.38). In Amfissa there were also the tomb of Gorge, wife of Andraemon, and the temple of Asclepius
.
Findings of several excavations revealed that the town had developed its commerce with Corinth
and towns of the northwestern Peloponnese
at the end of the 8th century BC. Amfissa was organised as polis
in the 7th century BC and flourished in arts and trade, which lasted for three centuries. Parts of the walls of the ancient acropolis of the town date back between the 7th and the 6th century BC. In 653 BC, people from Amfissa migrated to Southern Italy and founded the town of Epizephyrian Locri
. Amfissa's calendar differed from that of the other Ozolian towns, while four of the months' names known are Argestyon, Panigyrion, Amon and Pokios. Its coins had the head of Apollo on the one side, and the inscription "ΑΜΦΙΣΣΕΩΝ" (Amfissians'), a spear-head and a jaw-bone of Calydon
ian boar, and either a star or grapes on the other.
Following the Greek defeat by the Persians in the battle of Thermopylae
, the Persian troops invaded Phocis
, Ozolian Locris, Doris
and Boeotia
. It is then that Amfissa, due to its strong acropolis, received Phocians seeking for safety. During the Peloponnesian War
, Amfissa fought on Sparta
's side, drifting the other towns of Ozolian Locris in this way. The town's form of government
was oligarchic
, similar to that of Sparta, but, during the Pericles
' era in Athens
, some unsuccessful attempts to establish democracy
took place. Ten of the archon
tes of Amfissa have been known through inscriptions found at Delphi: Theagenes of Menandros, Voriadas, Charixenus, Aristodamus of Damon, Dorotheus, Euarchus, Archedamus, Aristodamus of Epinicus, Charixenus and Aristarchus.
In 426 BC, Spartan general Eurylochus
, on his way to Naupactus
, arrived to Delphi and sent a herald to Amfissa, in order to detach them from Athens and make the Amfissians leave him pass through their lands. The latter were the first to give him hostages and also persuaded the other Locrian cities to do the same, as they were alarmed at the hostility of the neighbouring Phocians. After the Peloponnesian War the Amfissians were allies to Thebes
. In 395 BC, the Thebans encouraged the Amfissians to collect taxes from territories claimed by both Locris and Phocis; in response, the Phocians invaded Locris, and ransacked Locrian territory and its metropolis, Amfissa. As a result, the Amfissians and the rest of Locrians, along with the Thebans, attacked Phocis, and the Phocians, in turn, appealed to their ally, Sparta. These conflicts led to the Corinthian War
, with the Amfissians on the side of Athens, Argos
, Corinth
and Thebes.
During the Third Sacred War
, 356 - 346 BC, the Amfissians, who were allies of the Thebans, cultivated part of the Crissaean plain, which belonged to Delphi, and founded potteries in Kirra
. In 339 BC, the Athenians offered golden shields to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi with inscriptions insulting to the Thebans, who provoked the deputy of Amfissa to oppose to this offer. Then Aeschines
, the Athenian deputy, contradicted the Amfissians, introducing their illegal actions in the sacred lands of the Oracle of Delphi before the Amphictyonic League
, which called Philip II of Macedon
to interfere. In 338 BC, Philip attacked and destroyed Amfissa, expelling large parts of its population and giving the area to Delphi, which is known as the Fourth Sacred War. Later in the same year, under the motivation of Demosthenes
, a confederation of the Athenians and the Thebans was organized against the Macedon
ians, which the Amfissians and the rest of the Ozolian Locrians joined.
The Amfissians managed to rebuild their town and give to it its former power, but in 322 BC it was sieged by Alexander of Aetolia
. In 279 BC, four hundred Amfissian hoplite
s joined the Greek forces which defended Delphi against the Gaul
s. Later, the Amfissians and the Aetolians tightened their old affiliation, and in 250 BC, Amfissa joined the Aetolian League
as friend and relative of the Aetolians. In 245 BC, Aratus
, the strategos
of the Achaean League
, attacked and damaged Amfissa, but the two leagues allied with the Roman
general Titus Quinctius Flamininus
against Philip V of Macedon
, and after their win over the Macedonian
king, Titus proclaimed Amfissa, among other cities, as an independent and tax-exempt polis, capital of Ozolian Locris, with its own Boule
, Ecclesia
and coins. But when the Aetolians realised that Rome was to rule the Greek cities and asked Antiochus III the Great
of Syria
for help, the Roman general Manius Acilius Glabrio
seized Lamia
and advanced to Amfissa, where he conquered the Crissaean plain and besieged the town in 190 BC. The Amfissians, being confident for the power of their acropolis and their walls, defended the city, but the fall of Amfissa to the superior forces of the Romans was likely to happen. Then, Manius Acilius was replaced by Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus
, and the people of Amfissa ran into the acropolis. Athenian deputies intervened and prevented Amfissa from the siege, achieving a truce between the two sides.
In the period between 174 and 160 BC, Amfissa had been damaged several times during the hostilities which took place between the pro-Roman Aetolians and the nationalists of the town. When Octavian
founded the town of Nicopolis
, in memory of his victory over Antony
and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium
, he drove Aetolians to populate it but the parts of them moved to Amfissa. That is why Pausanias says that the Amfissians were ashamed of calling themselves Ozolians, thus they claimed Aetolian descent, a fact that was a misconception of Pausanias, because some people of Amfissa in his times were indeed descendants of Aetolian refugees. In that period, Plutarch
mentions, in the work Parallel Lives
, a physician from Amfissa named Philotas (Marcus Antonius 28). During the 2nd century, Amfissa was a prosperous town which expanded outside its walls, having a population of 70,000 people in 180 BC according to Pausanias, while during the reign of Diocletian
, Amfissa is said to have a splendid aqueduct.
, Amfissa was devastated by several foreign peoples who invaded Greece
, like the Visigoths under Alaric I
and the Huns
. In 451, the town probably had an episcopical seat and in 530, Justinian I
fortified the towns around the Crissaean plain and fixed the fortress of Amfissa. Hierocles
in his Synecdemus
mentions Amfissa as one of the towns of the eparchy
of Hellas within the Byzantine Empire
, which was under the rule of the vice-consul of Athens.
Since the middle of the 9th century, new invaders, the Bulgars
, raided the region of Phocis and sieged Amfissa several times, but the most raging was in 996, when Samuel of Bulgaria destroyed the town and slaughtered its people. in 1059, Scythian tribes sieged Amfissa for one more time and forced the Amfissians to hide in caves of the region to avoid the massacre. In 1147 the Normans
arrived to the Crissaean plain but left Amfissa unspoilt, maybe due to the town's decline.
In 1205, after the Fourth Crusade
and the establishment of the Latin Empire
, Boniface of Montferrat, the king of Thessalonica
, conquered the region of Central Greece
. It is then that the new governors built the powerful Castle of Salona on the hill where the ancient acropolis of Amfissa existed, while the ancient name of the town was replaced by the new name Salona, and the state was referred to as "La Sol". In 1311, the Catalans
conquered and ruled Central Greece for more than eighty years.
The region of Salona was conquered by the Ottomans
in 1394. In 1580, a huge earthquake destroyed several towns in Phocis, amongst them Salona. After a period of Venetian
rule from 1687 to 1697, Salona devolved to the Ottomans again; several foreign travellers visited the town, which had about 6,000 inhabitants at the time. Salona had lost the former splendor and nothing was left to remind the glorious past of ancient Amfissa, so as some of the visitors misbelieved that it was the town of ancient Delphi or Kirra. In the 18th century, Salona became the center of preparations for the war against the Ottoman Turks
in Central Greece, due to its strategic location and its proximity to the klepht
s of Giona and Parnassus mountains.
In the Greek War of Independence
, Salona was the first town of Central Greece to revolt under the leadership of Panourgias
, Giannis Diovouniotis, Ioannis Gouras and its bishop Isaiah, who were in cooperation with Athanasios Diakos
, Yannis Makriyannis and others originated from Phocis. On March 27, 1821, Panourgias invaded the town and on April 10 the Greeks captured the Castle of Salona, the first fortress which fell in Greek hands, and extinguished the six hundred people of the Ottoman garrison in it. On 15–20 November 1821, a council was held in Salona, where the main local notables and military chiefs participated. Under the direction of Theodoros Negris, they set down a proto-constitution for the region, the "Legal Order of Eastern Continental Greece" (Νομική Διάταξις της Ανατολικής Χέρσου Ελλάδος), and established a governing council, the Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece
, composed of 71 notables from Eastern Greece, Thessaly
and Macedonia
. Salona became the capital of Eastern Continental Greece and the regime existed until the Ottoman recapture of Greece, in 1825.
Much of the town's culture is the result of private legacies left to it; some of the benefactors were Markidis, Giagtzis and Stallos. Landmarks include the Castle of Salona, also known as the Castle of Oria, where the ancient acropolis stood, the Archaeological Museum of Amfissa, the Annunciation Cathedral with its murals by Spyros Papaloukas, several smaller museums and the district of Charmaina where the traditional bells are produced. The Municipal Library of Amfissa, which was founded in 1957, hosts, apart from its large number of books, an impressive collection of traditional paintings of Phocis. Other older sites are the Byzantine
Savior Church, built in the 11th century, the paleochristian
baptistery of the 3rd century next to the Cathedral, Lykotrypa which is a Mycenaean
tomb on the eastern edge of the town and the Folklore Museum of Amfissa. There are also a TEI (Technological Educational Institute) affiliated to the TEI of Lamia, an IEK
and a lyceum. There are ample opportunities for hiking and camping on the mountains. Amfissa contains several plateia
s, an odeon
, a chorus
, a public philharmonic, but is also known for its annual carnival
.
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Phocis
Phocis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gulf of Corinth...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is also the capital of the regional unit of Phocis. Amfissa was known as Salona (Greek: Σάλωνα, ˈsalona) in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
Amfissa sits on the northern edge of the farmlands of the Crissaean plain, and lies between two mountains; Giona
Mount Giona
Mount Giona is a mountain in Central Greece, in the prefecture of Phocis, located between the mountains of Parnassus and Vardousia. Known in classical antiquity as the Aselinon Oros , it is the highest mountain south of Olympus and the fifth overall in Greece...
to the west and Parnassus
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...
to the east. The town itself is surrounded by an olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
forest, and located south of Lamia
Lamia (city)
Lamia is a city in central Greece. The city has a continuous history since antiquity, and is today the capital of the regional unit of Phthiotis and of the Central Greece region .-Name:...
, northwest of Livadeia
Livadeia
Livadeia is a city in central Greece. It is the capital of the prefecture Boeotia. Livadeia is located 130 km NW of Athens, E of Nafpaktos, ESE of Amfissa and Desfina, SE of Lamia and west of Chalkida. Livadeia is linked with GR-48 and several kilometres west of GR-3. The area around Livadeia...
and Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
, 13 km (8 mi) north of the port of Itea, 30 km (19 mi) north of Desfina
Desfina
Desfina is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of Phocis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi, of which it is a municipal unit. At the 2001 census, its population was 2,431. It is found in foot of mountain Kirfis in altitude 680m....
, northeast of Naupactus
Naupactus
Naupactus or Nafpaktos , is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
and east of Lidoriki
Lidoriki
Lidoriki is a village and a former municipality in Phocis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Dorida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. In 2001 the population was 4,225. Its area is 409.5 km² covering nearly one-fifth of Phocis. Lidoriki...
. The town has access to Greek National Road 27
Greek National Road 27
Greek National Road 27 is a highway linking Itea, Amfissa and Lamia. The south to north highway is divided into two sections, the Itea and Amfissa Highway and the Amfissa - Lamia Highway. It is now the only highway linking Patras and the western Peloponnese and Central, Northcentral and Northern...
, and the GR-48
Greek National Road 48
Greek National Road 48 is a highway in Western and Central Greece. It runs from 2 km south of Rio at GR-8/GR-9 , or at the beginning of the Patras By-Pass in the south up to near Levadia. It is now connected with a new bridge, the Rio-Antirio bridge and for 5 km is a joint with GR-5...
links it to Lidoriki.
Origin of the name
It is believed that the name of the city derives from the ancient GreekAncient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
verb αμφιέννυμι (amfiennymi), meaning 'surround', as it is surrounded by the mountains Giona
Mount Giona
Mount Giona is a mountain in Central Greece, in the prefecture of Phocis, located between the mountains of Parnassus and Vardousia. Known in classical antiquity as the Aselinon Oros , it is the highest mountain south of Olympus and the fifth overall in Greece...
and Parnassus
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...
. In Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Amfissa
Amphissa (mythology)
Amphissa was in Greek mythology, an incest daughter of Aeolus's son, Macareus, with his sister, Canace. Both he and his sister killed themselves.Amphissa was beloved by Apollo....
, the daughter of Macar, son of Aeolus
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
, and mistress of the god Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, gave her name to the city.
During the Latin occupation in the 13th century a fortress was built above the city, and first it and then the city came to be called Salona.
There are three folk etymologies given for the name, none of which are correct:
- It derives from the word salos (σάλος), meaning 'shake', as the region was frequently hit by earthquake,
- It is a comptroller of the word Saloniki (ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
), after which the king of ThessalonicaKingdom of ThessalonicaThe Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands.- Background :...
, Boniface of Montferrat, renamed Amfissa - It is a corruption of the term esalona (εσάλωνα), used in agriculture to mean 'inland threshing floor'.
In 1833, the initial name of the city, Amfissa, was brought into use once more.
Ancient times
Amfissa has been settled since the ancient timesAncient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and was the chief town of Ozolian Locris
Ozolian Locris
Ozolian Locris or Esperian Locris was a district inhabited by the Ozolian Locrians a tribe of the Locrians, upon the Corinthian gulf, bounded on the north by Doris, on the east by Phocis, and on the west by Aetolia.-Name:...
, a region inhabited by the ancient Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
tribe of Locrians
Locrians
The Locrians were an ancient Greek tribe in Greece. The Locrians spoke the Locrian dialect, a Doric-Northwest dialect, which indicates that they may have been relatives of the Dorians. They inhabited the ancient region of Locris in Central Greece....
; the largest and most renowned town of Locris
Locris
Locris was a region of ancient Greece, the homeland of the Locrians, made up of three distinct districts.-Locrian tribe:...
, beautifully constructed and located one hundred and twenty stades away from Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
. Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
, in his work Description of Greece, mentions the existence of the tombs of Amfissa and Andraemon
Andraemon
In Greek mythology the name Andraemon, or Andraimôn may refer to:*Son of Oxylus and husband of Dryope.*Father of Oxylus and grandfather of the precedent....
, and the temple of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
on the acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
of the town, with a standing statue of bronze, which was said to have been brought from Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
by Thoas
Thoas
Thoas , son of Andraemon and Gorge, was one of the heroes who fought for the Greeks in the Trojan War. He was a former suitor of Helen of Troy and led a group of forty ships for the Aetolians, one of the larger contingents. In the Iliad it states that he received his lordship because the previous...
. The Amfissians celebrated mysteries in honor of the "anaktes
Anax
' is an ancient Greek word for " king, lord, leader". It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated as "king", the other being basileus....
boys", who might be the Dioskouroi
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
, the Curetes
Korybantes
The Corybantes were the armed and crested dancers who worshipped the Phrygian goddess Cybele with drumming and dancing. They are also called the Kurbantes in Phrygia, and Corybants in an older English transcription. The Kuretes were the nine dancers who venerate Rhea, the Cretan counterpart of...
or the Cabeiri
Cabeiri
In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephaestus, centered in the north Aegean islands of Lemnos and possibly Samothrace —at the Samothrace temple complex— and at Thebes...
(10.38). In Amfissa there were also the tomb of Gorge, wife of Andraemon, and the temple of Asclepius
Asclepius
Asclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
.
Findings of several excavations revealed that the town had developed its commerce with Corinth
Ancient Corinth
Corinth, or Korinth was a city-state on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta. The modern town of Corinth is located approximately northeast of the ancient ruins...
and towns of the northwestern Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
at the end of the 8th century BC. Amfissa was organised as polis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
in the 7th century BC and flourished in arts and trade, which lasted for three centuries. Parts of the walls of the ancient acropolis of the town date back between the 7th and the 6th century BC. In 653 BC, people from Amfissa migrated to Southern Italy and founded the town of Epizephyrian Locri
Locri
Locri is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. The name derives from the ancient Greek town Locris.-History:...
. Amfissa's calendar differed from that of the other Ozolian towns, while four of the months' names known are Argestyon, Panigyrion, Amon and Pokios. Its coins had the head of Apollo on the one side, and the inscription "ΑΜΦΙΣΣΕΩΝ" (Amfissians'), a spear-head and a jaw-bone of Calydon
Calydon
Calydon was an ancient Greek city in Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus. According to Greek mythology, the city took its name from its founder Calydon, son of Aetolus. Close to the city stood Mount Zygos, the slopes of which provided the setting for the hunt of the Calydonian...
ian boar, and either a star or grapes on the other.
Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August...
, the Persian troops invaded Phocis
Phocis
Phocis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gulf of Corinth...
, Ozolian Locris, Doris
Doris (Greece)
Doris , is a small mountainous district in ancient Greece, bounded by Aetolia, southern Thessaly, the Ozolian Locrians, and Phocis; the original homeland of the Dorian Greeks...
and Boeotia
Boeotia
Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...
. It is then that Amfissa, due to its strong acropolis, received Phocians seeking for safety. During the Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
, Amfissa fought on Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
's side, drifting the other towns of Ozolian Locris in this way. The town's form of government
Form of government
A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".-Empirical and conceptual problems:...
was oligarchic
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
, similar to that of Sparta, but, during the Pericles
Pericles
Pericles was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age—specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars...
' era in Athens
Classical Athens
The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece was a notable polis of Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Hippias...
, some unsuccessful attempts to establish democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
took place. Ten of the archon
Archon
Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...
tes of Amfissa have been known through inscriptions found at Delphi: Theagenes of Menandros, Voriadas, Charixenus, Aristodamus of Damon, Dorotheus, Euarchus, Archedamus, Aristodamus of Epinicus, Charixenus and Aristarchus.
In 426 BC, Spartan general Eurylochus
Eurylochus
In Greek mythology, Eurylochus, or Eurýlokhos appears in Homer's Odyssey as second-in-command of Odysseus' ship during the return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. He was also a relative of Odysseus through marriage...
, on his way to Naupactus
Naupactus
Naupactus or Nafpaktos , is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, arrived to Delphi and sent a herald to Amfissa, in order to detach them from Athens and make the Amfissians leave him pass through their lands. The latter were the first to give him hostages and also persuaded the other Locrian cities to do the same, as they were alarmed at the hostility of the neighbouring Phocians. After the Peloponnesian War the Amfissians were allies to Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
. In 395 BC, the Thebans encouraged the Amfissians to collect taxes from territories claimed by both Locris and Phocis; in response, the Phocians invaded Locris, and ransacked Locrian territory and its metropolis, Amfissa. As a result, the Amfissians and the rest of Locrians, along with the Thebans, attacked Phocis, and the Phocians, in turn, appealed to their ally, Sparta. These conflicts led to the Corinthian War
Corinthian War
The Corinthian War was an ancient Greek conflict lasting from 395 BC until 387 BC, pitting Sparta against a coalition of four allied states; Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos; which were initially backed by Persia. The immediate cause of the war was a local conflict in northwest Greece in which...
, with the Amfissians on the side of Athens, Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, Corinth
Ancient Corinth
Corinth, or Korinth was a city-state on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta. The modern town of Corinth is located approximately northeast of the ancient ruins...
and Thebes.
During the Third Sacred War
Third Sacred War
The Third Sacred War was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians...
, 356 - 346 BC, the Amfissians, who were allies of the Thebans, cultivated part of the Crissaean plain, which belonged to Delphi, and founded potteries in Kirra
Kirra, Phocis
Kirra , is a village in Phocis, central Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Itea. It is also sometimes called Adrastea. Kirra is part of a Trifecta starting in the north with Delphi, descending south to the Gulf of Corinth to Itea, which is the main city on the water in that area, and then...
. In 339 BC, the Athenians offered golden shields to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi with inscriptions insulting to the Thebans, who provoked the deputy of Amfissa to oppose to this offer. Then Aeschines
Aeschines
Aeschines was a Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators.-Life:Although it is known he was born in Athens, the records regarding his parentage and early life are conflicting; but it seems probable that his parents, though poor, were respectable. Aeschines' father was Atrometus, an...
, the Athenian deputy, contradicted the Amfissians, introducing their illegal actions in the sacred lands of the Oracle of Delphi before the Amphictyonic League
Amphictyonic League
In the Archaic period of ancient Greece, an amphictyony , a "league of neighbors", or Amphictyonic League was an ancient association of Greek tribes formed in the dim past, before the rise of the Greek polis...
, which called Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
to interfere. In 338 BC, Philip attacked and destroyed Amfissa, expelling large parts of its population and giving the area to Delphi, which is known as the Fourth Sacred War. Later in the same year, under the motivation of Demosthenes
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
, a confederation of the Athenians and the Thebans was organized against the Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ians, which the Amfissians and the rest of the Ozolian Locrians joined.
The Amfissians managed to rebuild their town and give to it its former power, but in 322 BC it was sieged by Alexander of Aetolia
Aetolia
Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania.-Geography:...
. In 279 BC, four hundred Amfissian hoplite
Hoplite
A hoplite was a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Hoplites were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in a phalanx formation. The word "hoplite" derives from "hoplon" , the type of the shield used by the soldiers, although, as a word, "hopla" could also denote weapons held or even...
s joined the Greek forces which defended Delphi against the Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
s. Later, the Amfissians and the Aetolians tightened their old affiliation, and in 250 BC, Amfissa joined the Aetolian League
Aetolian League
The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika...
as friend and relative of the Aetolians. In 245 BC, Aratus
Aratus of Sicyon
Aratus was a statesman of the ancient Greek city-state of Sicyon and a leader of the Achaean League. He deposed the Sicyonian tyrant Nicocles in 251 BC. Aratus was an advocate of Greek unity and brought Sicyon into the Achaean League, which he led to its maximum extent...
, the strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of the Achaean League
Achaean League
The Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...
, attacked and damaged Amfissa, but the two leagues allied with the Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
general Titus Quinctius Flamininus
Titus Quinctius Flamininus
Titus Quinctius Flamininus was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece.Member of the gens Quinctia, and brother to Lucius Quinctius Flamininus, he served as a military tribune in the Second Punic war and in 205 BC he was appointed propraetor in Tarentum...
against Philip V of Macedon
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of Rome. Philip was attractive and charismatic as a young man...
, and after their win over the Macedonian
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
king, Titus proclaimed Amfissa, among other cities, as an independent and tax-exempt polis, capital of Ozolian Locris, with its own Boule
Boule (Ancient Greece)
In cities of ancient Greece, the boule meaning to will ) was a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city...
, Ecclesia
Ecclesia (ancient Athens)
The ecclesia or ekklesia was the principal assembly of the democracy of ancient Athens during its "Golden Age" . It was the popular assembly, opened to all male citizens over the age of 30 with 2 years of military service by Solon in 594 BC meaning that all classes of citizens in Athens were able...
and coins. But when the Aetolians realised that Rome was to rule the Greek cities and asked Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...
of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
for help, the Roman general Manius Acilius Glabrio
Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC)
Manius Acilius Glabrio was a consul of the Roman Republic in 191 BC. He came from an illustrious plebeian family whose members held magistracies throughout the Republic and into the Imperial era....
seized Lamia
Lamia (city)
Lamia is a city in central Greece. The city has a continuous history since antiquity, and is today the capital of the regional unit of Phthiotis and of the Central Greece region .-Name:...
and advanced to Amfissa, where he conquered the Crissaean plain and besieged the town in 190 BC. The Amfissians, being confident for the power of their acropolis and their walls, defended the city, but the fall of Amfissa to the superior forces of the Romans was likely to happen. Then, Manius Acilius was replaced by Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus
Scipio Asiaticus
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus was a Roman general and statesman. He was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio and the older brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus...
, and the people of Amfissa ran into the acropolis. Athenian deputies intervened and prevented Amfissa from the siege, achieving a truce between the two sides.
In the period between 174 and 160 BC, Amfissa had been damaged several times during the hostilities which took place between the pro-Roman Aetolians and the nationalists of the town. When Octavian
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
founded the town of Nicopolis
Nicopolis
Nicopolis — or Actia Nicopolis — was an ancient city of Epirus, founded 31 BC by Octavian in memory of his victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium the previous year. It was later the capital of Epirus Vetus...
, in memory of his victory over Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...
, he drove Aetolians to populate it but the parts of them moved to Amfissa. That is why Pausanias says that the Amfissians were ashamed of calling themselves Ozolians, thus they claimed Aetolian descent, a fact that was a misconception of Pausanias, because some people of Amfissa in his times were indeed descendants of Aetolian refugees. In that period, Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
mentions, in the work Parallel Lives
Parallel Lives
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
, a physician from Amfissa named Philotas (Marcus Antonius 28). During the 2nd century, Amfissa was a prosperous town which expanded outside its walls, having a population of 70,000 people in 180 BC according to Pausanias, while during the reign of Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
, Amfissa is said to have a splendid aqueduct.
Middle Ages
In the early Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Amfissa was devastated by several foreign peoples who invaded Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, like the Visigoths under Alaric I
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
and the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
. In 451, the town probably had an episcopical seat and in 530, Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
fortified the towns around the Crissaean plain and fixed the fortress of Amfissa. Hierocles
Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)
Hierocles or Hierokles was a Byzantine geographer of the sixth century and the attributed author of the Synecdemus or Synekdemos, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each...
in his Synecdemus
Synecdemus
The Synecdemus or Synekdemos is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian but prior to 535, as it divides the 912 listed cities in the Empire...
mentions Amfissa as one of the towns of the eparchy
Eparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
of Hellas within the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, which was under the rule of the vice-consul of Athens.
Since the middle of the 9th century, new invaders, the Bulgars
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
, raided the region of Phocis and sieged Amfissa several times, but the most raging was in 996, when Samuel of Bulgaria destroyed the town and slaughtered its people. in 1059, Scythian tribes sieged Amfissa for one more time and forced the Amfissians to hide in caves of the region to avoid the massacre. In 1147 the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
arrived to the Crissaean plain but left Amfissa unspoilt, maybe due to the town's decline.
In 1205, after the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
and the establishment of the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
, Boniface of Montferrat, the king of Thessalonica
Kingdom of Thessalonica
The Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands.- Background :...
, conquered the region of Central Greece
Central Greece
Continental Greece or Central Greece , colloquially known as Roúmeli , is a geographical region of Greece. Its territory is divided into the administrative regions of Central Greece, Attica, and part of West Greece...
. It is then that the new governors built the powerful Castle of Salona on the hill where the ancient acropolis of Amfissa existed, while the ancient name of the town was replaced by the new name Salona, and the state was referred to as "La Sol". In 1311, the Catalans
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
conquered and ruled Central Greece for more than eighty years.
Ottoman era
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1394. In 1580, a huge earthquake destroyed several towns in Phocis, amongst them Salona. After a period of Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
rule from 1687 to 1697, Salona devolved to the Ottomans again; several foreign travellers visited the town, which had about 6,000 inhabitants at the time. Salona had lost the former splendor and nothing was left to remind the glorious past of ancient Amfissa, so as some of the visitors misbelieved that it was the town of ancient Delphi or Kirra. In the 18th century, Salona became the center of preparations for the war against the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
in Central Greece, due to its strategic location and its proximity to the klepht
Klepht
Klephts were self-appointed armatoloi, anti-Ottoman insurgents, and warlike mountain-folk who lived in the countryside when Greece was a part of the Ottoman Empire...
s of Giona and Parnassus mountains.
In the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
, Salona was the first town of Central Greece to revolt under the leadership of Panourgias
Dimitrios Panourgias
Dimitrios Panourgias , a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence, was born Dimitrios Xiros in the village of Dremissa, Phocis.- Early life :...
, Giannis Diovouniotis, Ioannis Gouras and its bishop Isaiah, who were in cooperation with Athanasios Diakos
Athanasios Diakos
Athanasios Diakos , a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence and a national hero, was born Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas in the village of Ano Mousounitsa, Phocis.-Early life:...
, Yannis Makriyannis and others originated from Phocis. On March 27, 1821, Panourgias invaded the town and on April 10 the Greeks captured the Castle of Salona, the first fortress which fell in Greek hands, and extinguished the six hundred people of the Ottoman garrison in it. On 15–20 November 1821, a council was held in Salona, where the main local notables and military chiefs participated. Under the direction of Theodoros Negris, they set down a proto-constitution for the region, the "Legal Order of Eastern Continental Greece" (Νομική Διάταξις της Ανατολικής Χέρσου Ελλάδος), and established a governing council, the Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece
Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece
The Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece was a provisional regime that existed in eastern Central Greece during the Greek War of Independence.- Background :...
, composed of 71 notables from Eastern Greece, Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
. Salona became the capital of Eastern Continental Greece and the regime existed until the Ottoman recapture of Greece, in 1825.
Culture and sites of interest
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
Savior Church, built in the 11th century, the paleochristian
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
baptistery of the 3rd century next to the Cathedral, Lykotrypa which is a Mycenaean
Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
tomb on the eastern edge of the town and the Folklore Museum of Amfissa. There are also a TEI (Technological Educational Institute) affiliated to the TEI of Lamia, an IEK
IEK
I.E.K. or IEK is a public or private Institute of Vocational Training in Greece.-Public and private I.E.K.:Public and private I.E.K...
and a lyceum. There are ample opportunities for hiking and camping on the mountains. Amfissa contains several plateia
Plateia
Plateia or platia is the Greek word for town square. Most Greek and Cypriot cities have several town squares which are a point of reference in travelling and guiding...
s, an odeon
Odeon (building)
Odeon is the name for several ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions. They were generally small in size, especially compared with a full-size ancient Greek theatre....
, a chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, a public philharmonic, but is also known for its annual carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
.
Historical population
| Year | City population | Municipality population |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 7,156 | - |
| 1991 | 7,189 | 9,469 |
| 2001 | 6,946 | 9,248 |
Notable people
- Alexandros Delmouzos, educator
- Christos Karouzos, archaeologist
- Aspasia Papathanasiou, actress
External links
Primary sources
- PausaniasPausanias (geographer)Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
, Description of Greece, online at Perseus ProjectPerseus ProjectThe Perseus Project is a digital library project of Tufts University that assembles digital collections of humanities resources. It is hosted by the Department of Classics. It has suffered at times from computer hardware problems, and its resources are occasionally unavailable... - Galaxidi Chronicle
Secondary sources
- Petros Kalonaros, History of Amfissa, 1997