Agios Andreas is a small settlement in the municipality of Pyrgos near the town of

Katakolo Katakolo () is a seaside village in the municipality of Pyrgos in western Elis, Greece. It is situated on a headland overlooking the Ionian Sea and separating the Gulf of Kyparissia from the rest of the Ionian. It is west of Pyrgos. The small v ...

, in

Elis Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is situated on the site of ancient Pheia, at a bay opposite the islet of Ichthys or Tiganonisi and the island of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

. Agios Andreas is located 13 kilometers northwest of Pyrgos and approximately 2 km from the port of Katakolo. It owes its name to an old church, now ruined, dedicated to

Andrew the Apostle Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

, who is said to have passed from the place on his journeys. The church was built on the ruins of an ancient temple, which was rebuilt in 1930.

History

The ancient town of Pheia occupied the site of the modern village of Agios Andreas, most of which today lies submerged in the sea. Dating back to Homeric times, it is mentioned twice by

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

(''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', VIII.135, ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', XV.297, 298),

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

in his ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' (II.25), in

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

's ''

Hellenica ''Hellenica'' () simply means writings on Greek (Hellenic) subjects. Several histories of the 4th-century BC Greece have borne the conventional Latin title ''Hellenica'', of which very few survive.Murray, Oswyn, "Greek Historians", in John Boardma ...

'' (3, 2, 30),

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

's ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...

'' (VIII.343), as well as the works of

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

and Pausanias. Pheia was sunk by an earthquake in the 6th century AD, the same which largely destroyed the city of

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

, and which is credited with the final ruin of the

Temple of Zeus Temple of Zeus may refer to: Organization *Temple of Zeus (organization), an occult religious organization Greece * Temple of Zeus, Olympia * Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens * Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus, Athens Italy * Temple of Olympian Zeus, ...

at Olympia and probably with the formation of Lake Agoulinitsa (in

Epitalio Epitalio (, before 1927: Αγουλινίτσα – ''Agoulinitsa'') is a town and a community in Elis, Greece. It was the seat of the former municipality of Volakas, which was merged into the municipality of Pyrgos under the major administrat ...

). In

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

times, a fortress, Pontikon or Pontikokastro, was built on the site of the ruined ancient

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

. Archaeological excavations in the area were undertaken in 1957 by Nikos Gialouris, and the findings are exhibited in the

Archaeological Museum of Olympia The Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας) is one of the principal museums of Greece, located in Olympia. It is overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and, as of 2009, is direc ...

. They include ''

ostraca An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...

'' from prehistoric up to Roman times, clay lamps, bowls, cylixes, amphorae, columns, an

Archaic Archaic may refer to: * Archaic Period (several meanings), archaeological term used to refer to a very early period differing by location *Archaic humans, people before ''homo sapiens'' * ''Archaic'' (comics), a comic-book series created by write ...

-era ''

kouros Kouros (, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculpture, Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with ...

'' from

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

, and

Cycladic The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate in ...

statues, all testimonies to the site's role as a major port. An extensive Roman-era cemetery was also found on the islet of Ιchthys or Tiganonisi. However, most of the graves were found looted. After the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, the castle was conquered by the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

Crusaders who established the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thes ...

in ca. 1205. Known as ''Beauvoir'' in French, ''Belveder'' in Italian and ''Bellovidere'' or ''Pulchrumvidere'' in Latin, it originally formed part of the princely domain of Achaea, and along with the fortress and princely mint of

Glarentza Glarentza (), also known as or Clarenia, Clarence, or Chiarenza, was a medieval town located near the site of modern Kyllini, Elis, Kyllini in Elis (regional unit), Elis, at the westernmost point of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. ...

it was one of the two major sites from which Elis was governed. Beauvoir was granted in 1289 to

Hugh, Count of Brienne Hugh, Count of Brienne and Lecce ( 1240 – 9 August 1296) was the second surviving son of Count Walter IV of Brienne and Marie de Lusignan of Cyprus. Life His father, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon in Palestine, was murdered in 1244 in Cairo, ...

, in exchange for his half of the

Barony of Karytaina The Barony of Karytaina or of Skorta was a medieval Frankokratia, Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, centred on the town of Karytaina (; ; ) in the mountainous region known as Skorta. H ...

, but Hugh soon exchanged it with

John Chauderon John Chauderon (; died 1294) was the Baron of Estamira and Grand Constable of the Principality of Achaea, the strongest of the principalities of Frankish Greece. He succeeded his father, Geoffrey Chauderon, Baron of Estamira and Grand Constable ...

for lands in

Conversano Conversano (Bari dialect, Barese: ) is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. It is southeast of Bari and from the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast, at above sea level. The counts of Conversan ...

. By 1303, however, it had returned to direct princely control. During

Ferdinand of Majorca Ferdinand of Majorca (; 1278 – 5 July 1316) was an ''infante'' of the Kingdom of Majorca; he was born at Perpignan, the third son of King James II. He was Viscount of Aumelas and Lord of Frontignan from 1311 and claimed the title of Pr ...

's attempt to seize the Principality in 1315–16, Beauvoir was captured and held by his forces until after his defeat and death in the

Battle of Manolada The Battle of Manolada was fought on July 5, 1316, at Manolada, on the plains of Elis in the Peloponnese. The two leaders were Louis of Burgundy and the ''infante'' Ferdinand of Majorca, both of whom claimed the Principality of Achaea in right o ...

. Beauvoir ceased to play an important role thereafter, and is scarcely mentioned in the subsequent periods of Ottoman and Venetian rule. In 1391 it was taken over by the

Navarrese Company The Navarrese Company (; ) was a company of mercenaries, mostly from Navarre and Gascony that fought in Albania and Greece during the late 14th and early 15th centuries, in the twilight of Frankish power in the dwindling remnant of the Latin Empire ...

, in 1427 by

Constantine Palaiologos Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus (; 8 February 140429 May 1453) was the last reigning List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 23 January 1449 until his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople on 29 M ...

, and after that by

Thomas Palaiologos Thomas Palaiologos (; 1409 – 12 May 1465) was Despot of the Morea from 1428 until the fall of the despotate in 1460, although he continued to claim the title until his death five years later. He was the younger brother of Constantine XI Palai ...

. It was burned down by the Turks in 1470.

References

External links

EIE.gr
– Page on Archaeology of the City of Athens in the National Hellenic Research Foundation website

Sources

* {{cite book , last = Bon , first = Antoine , title = La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe , year = 1969 , language = French , publisher = De Boccard , location = Paris , url = http://cefael.efa.gr/detail.php?site_id=1&actionID=page&serie_id=BefarA&volume_number=213&issue_number=1 Populated places in Elis Pyrgos, Elis

History

See also

References

External links

Sources