The ancient Potidaion or Poseidion, as the geographer Claudius Ptolemy called it in Roman times, was located in the current capital of the island of Karpathos, at the mouth of the bay of Pigadia. During Hellenistic times it was the port of the city of Karpathos to which it belonged as an appendage (ktoina), one of the three ancient cities of the island (the others were Arkesia and Brykous). During the Roman and early Christian times, Potidaion flourished.
The oldest traces of habitation in the area are between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. A particularly important find for this period is a stone figurine of a female deity that dates back to around 3000 BC and is now in the British Museum.
In the Minoan and then in the Mycenaean times, an important settlement developed on the coastal plain southwest of the current building of the Prefecture. Its oldest phase is placed in the Middle Minoan/Late Minoan IA period, while a recent excavation brought to light for the first time building remains and three furnaces belonging to its latest, Mycenaean phase (Late Helladic IIIA-IIIB). A Mycenaean acropolis may have existed on the hill of Bounos, above the port of Pigadia, where the surviving remains are connected to the Hellenistic acropolis. The cemetery of the settlement was located in the southwest, at the locations of Anemomyloi, Skopi and Makelli, where a tomb of the Late Helladic IIIA/IIIB period was discovered in 1949 with a number of vases.
The Potidaion of historical times was probably limited to the plain area around the port. The archaeological remains and findings known to date are not older than the Hellenistic period. During this period the cities of Karpathos had been incorporated into the Rhodian state as its municipalities. The city of Karpathos, to which the "ktoina of Potidaea" belonged, is mentioned in the inscriptions as the municipality of Karpathiopolitans. The acropolis of the Hellenistic Potidaeus, where according to epigraphic evidence there was a sanctuary of Athena Lindia and a sacrifice, was located on the hill northeast of the current port, while the necropolis must have spread on the surrounding slopes, as shown by the discovery of sporadic graves. A monumental tomb carved into the rock is also preserved at the site of Myli, southwest of Pigadia, while two sanctuaries of a rural character carved into the rock exist on the outskirts south of Pigadia. The important role played during the Hellenistic times by the "Ktoina Potidaion" with its citadel for the defense of the entire island, is evidenced by an honorary resolution honoring the Carpathian Hieron of Pamphylida, because together with the inhabitants of Potidaion, he repelled the 2nd p. .X. h. attack by Cretan pirates.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou
During Roman times, with the favorable conditions that prevailed with the Pax Romana and thanks to its natural port, Potidaion seems to have experienced significant development, so that Claudius Ptolemy characterizes it in the 2nd century. m. X. as a city. The development continued in early Christian times (4th-6th century AD), as shown by at least three basilicas that have been uncovered so far. One of them was located at the southwestern foot of the acropolis and is not visible today. The other two were discovered on the western beach of Pigadia Bay. The first can be visited, in the location of Afotis, and the second is still being excavated, in the location of Vrontis.
In the turbulent centuries that followed, Potidaion seems to have been abandoned and its inhabitants retreated to Aperi, where the city of Karpathos is located. The area around the port began to be systematically inhabited again in the last decades of the 19th century. Since 1894, Potidaion has been the capital of the island.
The preserved antiquities on the hill of the acropolis of Potideo date back to Hellenistic times and are located on the western slope of the hill, towards the port. Among them are an inscription, part of a fortification wall as well as parts of retaining walls.
In the modern cemetery, in the amphitheater that closes it from the sea side, there is a built-in inscription-honorary resolution for the emperor Trajan, savior and benefactor of the municipality of Karpathiopolita and the village of Potidaea. Lower on the same side, visible from the sea side, isostructural masonry wall, probably of the 4th c. p. X., which is considered to have had a fortification character. On the contrary, the walls that survive on the highest part of the slope and are built with polygonal structures are monumental.
In the northernmost part of the slope there is an underground rainwater collection tank, plastered internally with hydraulic mortar. Similar reservoirs are known from the acropolises of the other ancient cities of Karpathos. Another underground cave structure with a bricked rectangular entrance is visible further north-east. Also according to oral testimonies, walls were also found during the construction of buildings at the southwestern foot of the acropolis. Today, however, no traces of them are preserved.
The early Christian basilica of the acropolis must have been located in the same area, from which the architectural members and stone bathing pool that today are concentrated in the district square come from.
Source: MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND SPORTS
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