Troizen Tourist Attractions
|
|
The ancient city of Troizen, on the north coast of the Argolid peninsula opposite the island of Póros, was closely linked with Athens.Troizen was believed to be the birthplace of the Attic hero Theseus. Here too Hippolytos, son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyte, was dragged to death by his horses when he rejected the love of his stepmother Phaidra (cf. the "Hippolytos" of Euripides). When Athens was evacuated in 480 B.C. in face of the Persian threat many refugees, particularly women, fled to Troizen. The town continued to exist into Christian times.The site was excavated by French archeologists in 1890 and by a German team in 1932.The village of Trizína (commonly known as Damalá) can be reached from Náfplion via Ligourió, Trakhiá and the coastal villages of Fanári and Kalóni, turning right 9km/6mi beyond Kalóni into a side road (3km/2mi); or from Galatás (opposite Póros), going 7km/4.5mi west and then taking a side road on the left (3km/2mi).
Troizen (Trizina) - Site
From the village of Trizína a footpath leads in 25minutes to the scattered ancient remains of Troizen. After crossing the line of the town walls and passing through the much overgrown town center, with the remains of a temple of Athena Soteira and a number of churches, we come to a road fork, with a large stone known as the "Stone of Theseus". This is the stone under which Theseus's father hid his weapons, and which the young Theseus was able to raise so as to recover the weapons. The road to the right leads to the sanctuary of Hippolytos, with the remains of buildings of the fourth and third centuries B.C. The temple of Hippolytos (late fourth century B.C.) had 6 x 11 columns. To the northwest are a peristyle building of some size which is interpreted as an Asklepieion or a sacred refectory, a small temple of Aphrodite Kataskopia (?) and a Byzantine episcopal church (11th C.), with the bishop's palace adjoining. To the southwest are some foundations which may belong to the tomb of Phaidra.The road to the left at the fork leads to a Roman vaulted building and, after a left-hand bend, a Hellenistic tower which was rebuilt in the Frankish period. The road continues to the "Devil's Bridge" over an ancient aqueduct, which no doubt originally drew water from the spring on the other side.
