Pistiros

Pistiros (Ancient Greek, Πίστιρος) was an inland Ancient Greek emporion, or trade center, in Ancient Thrace. It is located near the modern city of Vetren, in the westernmost part of the Maritsa River valley, at 42°14'36.78"N 24°5'28.55"E.

The identification of the site as Emporion Pistiros, a name known from ancient sources, is largely based on an ancient Greek inscription, known as the Vetren inscription, discovered nearby in 1990 (see below). The emporion sustained intensive relations with the main economic centers in Aegean Thrace, including Thasos, Maroneia, and Apollonia, and flourished in the 4th century BC.

Pistiros was founded in the 3rd quarter of the 5th century BC. This would place her founding during the reign of the first kings of the Odrysian kingdom: Teres I, or Sitalkes. The city was most likely founded by colonists from the coastal city of Pistyros. The location of the emporion offered many strategic advantages. In addition to the site's proximity to lumber sources and copper, iron, and gold mines, it was situated on the Hebros River, which was navigable for small boats, and was at the intersection of several major roads.

Archaeological excavations have uncovered the eastern fortification wall with a gate, towers, and a bastion, built of stone blocks on the model of Thasian fortification systems, as well as stone-paved streets, buildings with stone bases, and a well-constructed sewer system. The excavations suggest the following phases of the site:

The co-existence between the Greeks and Thracians rendered them allies to a certain extent. The grave inscriptions of Greeks originating from Apollonia and Maroneia, discovered in Pistiros, and the names incised on pottery (graffiti) both of Thracians and Greeks, prove that the people from Pistiros were not ethnically homogeneous. Adjacent to the territory of emporion Pistiros were the Bessoi, the keepers of the Dionysian sanctuary in the Rhodopes. The oath taken in Dionysos’ name by King Cotys I and his successor, according to the Vetren inscription (see below), represents additional proof for the significance of that cult in the official ideology of the Odrysian state. The excavations have produced a great deal of evidence regarding cult practices in Pistiros. Among the artifacts discovered are preserved or fragmented clay altars with various forms and decorations (several of them preserved in situ), cult zoomorphic figurines made of clay or stone, clay anthropomorphic figurines, and miniature objects and portable hearths (pyraunoi).

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