Tanagra
Mycenaean cemetery of chambered tombs, in use between 1400 - 1200 BC. The written clay urns that were used as sarcophagi are unique in mainland Greece. Some are decorated with mourning and burial scenes. It was the hometown of the poet Corinna. The ancient city was located at Grimada, 2 km south of Schimatari and 4 km southeast of the village of Vratsi. The ancient theater and part of the fortification at a considerable height, which is cut by the water network, was revealed. Richly endowed were the tombs found in the city cemetery from the Geometric (9th - 8th century BC) to the Hellenistic times (3rd - 1st century BC). Among the findings, the so-called "Tanagraia", clay female figurines from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC stand out in a wide variety of variations. Perhaps the seat of a bishopric in early Byzantine times. Remains of an early Christian basilica were found, saving parts of a mosaic floor. Christian inscriptions of the end of the 4th century (where a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity is mentioned) and the 5th century.
The finds are exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Thebes.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou