Karthaia

Karthaia was one of the four ancient Greek city-states on the island of Keos (today Kea or Tzia) in the Cyclades. It is located on the southeastern coast of the island.

The site was inhabited continuously for c. 1,300 years, approximately from the 8th century BC (Geometric period) till the 6th century AD (Late Antiquity). From that time on Karthaia remained abandoned. The ruins of the acropolis, town-centre and fortifications of ancient Karthaia have been preserved for centuries on the Aspri Vigla hills, Pindar’s “narrow ridge of land“.

Two valleys, of the Kalamitsis on the east and the Vathypotamos on the west, and the sea on the south define the site completely, creating a closed unit with a beautiful natural landscape, a refuge for important populations of various species of bird-life, and a place conducive to a variety of endemic pharmaceutical and aromatic plants.

Even today, Karthaia can be approached by land only on foot, walking for more or less an hour along cobbled paths, which in most cases follow the lines of ancient pathways, or by sea, by small boat, anchoring in the same place as the craft of previous periods, without the aid of modern harbour facilities.

The acropolis of Karthaia is surrounded by walls more than 2 kilometers long and dated to the 6th-4th centuries BC. On its lowest part two artificial terraces were constructed in order to create the necessary space for temples and public buildings.

On the lower terrace, closer to the sea, there is the temple of Apollo Pythios dated to c. 530 BC. According to ancient texts it was the most important sacred building of the ancient city-state. On the terrace in front of the temple there were many dedications offered to the god, mainly statues, and the decrees of the Deme of Karthaia were put there on display.

On the upper terrace there is a smaller temple from c. 500 BC dedicated to Athena, according to some scholars. Marble architectural sculptures of this temple represented scenes of an Amazonomachy, scraps of which are kept in the Archaeological Museum of Ioulis.

A classical monumental marble building, a Propylon (mid-5th century BC) marked the main entrance to this terrace and to the acropolis. A sloping stone-paved way, dated to the first half of the 5th century BC, ascended to it from the west. On the eastern side an impressive Late Archaic flight of stairs partly carved in the bedrock led to a path (“processional way”) which connected the upper to the lower plateau.

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Wikipedia