Antikyra

Coordinates: 38°23′N 22°38′E / 38.383°N 22.633°E / 38.383; 22.633
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other cities of the same name, see Antikyra (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Antikythera.
Antikyra
Αντίκυρα
UTC+3 (EEST)
Vehicle registrationΒΙ
Websitewww.antikyra.gr

Antikyra or Anticyra (

port on the west coast of the Gulf of Antikyra named after it. That gulf is a north-coast bay of the Gulf of Corinth. The settlement was made basically on a floor and beach fringing the northeast side of the mountainous Desfina Peninsula. Inscriptional evidence in the region proves that it has been continuous under the same name since classical Greece
. Pausanias, an ancient writer, believed that at the beginning of the classical period it had two names, Antikyra and an earlier, Homeric name. Considering that the archaeology from that specific location dates only from the Geometric period, Pausanias' belief about the earlier antiquity of the site is suspect.

However, tombs from Medeon across the gulf date to the Middle Helladic (Middle Bronze Age) period, and the Desfina Peninsula as well as the Pleistos river valley were populated during the Mycenaean Period (Late Bronze Age). Although Antikyra does not appear in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships, which is almost a sine qua non for protohistoric Bronze Age antiquity, the southwest fringe of the Desfina Peninsula is known to have been the Mycenaean port area for settlements of the peninsula. It is considered likely by some that Pausanias' earlier settlement, under whatever name, was located there.

Be that as it may, Antikyra has had a long and continuous history since then, not even being abandoned after total destruction and transportation of all its population, whereas Medeon across the gulf did not even get through the Hellenistic Period. Besides export and import, Antikyra's Its main product has been

black and white hellebore
, which grow naturally in the area. The ancients used compounds extracted from them widely as purgatives to treat several diseases, but the side effects are severe and toxic, sometimes inducing psychosis. In one historical incident it appears to have been weaponized as a poison. Antikyra's use of their own product gave them a certain reputation among the ancients as wild men. Currently the communities of the gulf have adopted the metals business, notably aluminum, after a plant was constructed beneath Medeon across the gulf.

Antikyra was destroyed and rebuilt during the 4th- and 3rd-century BC wars of Macedonia and Rome and following a 7th-century AD earthquake. During the 14th century, it was held by Catalan mercenaries. Politically it was a primary port of ancient Phocis. in modern times it became a municipality of Boeotia, along with Distomo and Arachova. During the Kallikrates reform of 2011, which sought to decrease governmental substructure by combining municipalities, it was made a unit of the new unified municipality of Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra.

Etymologies of the identifying names

Antikyra has been (erroneously) identified with the

Latinized as Anticyra. During its period under the Catalans, it was known as Port de Arago. Under the Ottomans, it became known as Aspra Spitia (Greek: Άσπρα Σπίτια) for its white houses[5] but its former name was restored in the early 20th century. Under the former BGN/PCGN standard, it was romanized
as Andikira in America and the United Kingdom until 1996.

Demography of the unit and of the village

It is necessary for understanding of the demography to distinguish between the new municipal unit and the village itself of Antikyra. The Antikyra unit includes the Kephali Peninsula to the south and a strip of the southwest coast of the gulf. To the north the unit does not infringe on the traditional Paralia Distomou ("Distomo Beach"), but it does include a large portion of mountainous terrain to the west of the Distomo-Antikyra Road and the valley it follows.

Antikyra's municipal unit has an area of 23.4 square kilometres (9.0 sq mi). Its population in 2015 was 1,346, with a median age of 43.5 years (not favoring either old or young). Males outnumbered females slightly, not enough to indicate any sort of trend. The population was unremarkable, probably no different from any random population of Greece. Historically, after experiencing an influx 1975-2000, the population declined slightly 2000-2015. In 2015 the population density was a sparse 57.5 persons per square km, but the inclusion of uninhabited and uninhabitable terrain must lower the density from a maximum in the village itself.

The traditional village of Antikyra is located only on the NW coastal shelf of the gulf, not including the Kephali Peninsula or any of the mountainous terrain. It appears as a pleasant and prosperous maritime community on the beach. Certainly no vessels other than small boats can anchor there, of which there are a multitude. There is a deep-water harbor on the southern angle of the Kephali Peninsula, and deep water across the gulf under the site of Medeon, near which modern docks have been constructed.

The village offers an area of about 0.354 square kilometres (0.137 sq mi). The population in 2015 was 699, giving a higher density than the unit of 1975 persons per square km. This is probably close to the maximum such a small area can support. The settlement therefore is more of a rural coastal village placed on the beach out of the way of the main town at Paralia Distomou. There is an archaeological answer as to why a classical population should prefer it, as is explained in a previous section. It is closer to the ancient port at Steno on the south side of the Kephali Peminsula. Until the construction of the aluminum factory, modern roads and tunnels through Boeotia had diminished the value the ancient Gulf of Antkyra had as a port.

Modern population numbers are high compared to the past. Before about 1810 the population was consistently less than 200. The small number of villagers participating in its history is not revealed by the mere historical facts; however, often small bands are significant far beyond their numbers. After 1810 a slow expansion began, accelerating to a peak in 2000. After that the population declined and is expected to continue to decline; however, the numbers cannot predict possible future events.[6]

Geography of the maritime region

Antikyra is situated on the Bay of Antikyra (

Latin: Opus Promontorium). The municipal unit also contains the villages of Agia Sotira and Agios Isidoros
. Antikyra lies approximately 170 km from Athens.

History, prehistory, mythology

Ancient

Historically, Antikyra was an important town.

Epistrophos, the Phocian admirals, were maintained through Roman times.[9]

The name Antikyra was said to have derived from an "Antikyreos" or "Anticyreus" who cured

emetic.[16]

Antikyra was destroyed in 346 BC by

Macedon amid the Third Sacred War.[17][18] It recovered enough to quickly begin construction of a temple to Artemis with a cult statue commissioned to Praxiteles by 330 BC.[19] Antikyra was then besieged, destroyed, and rebuilt several times during the Roman Republic's Macedonian Wars. In 198 BC, it was sacked by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who choose it as winter base for his army.[20]

During the 2nd century BC, Antikyra struck autonomous bronze coins with the head of

obverse and Artemis bearing a torch and an arch on the reverse.[21]

Diktynna; the other held Praxiteles's sculpture and, according to a newly discovered inscription, was dedicated to Artemis Eileithyia.[23][24]

Medieval

Under the

county of Salona (mod. Amphissa). It became known as Aspra Spitia[7] or Asprospitia[25] under the Turks
.

Modern

Aspra Spitia's connection with the ancient Antikyra was established by

bath with a hypocaust.[26]

In 1836, after

Kallikratis reform, Antikyra was merged with its neighbors to form Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra.[29][32]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ Dicaearch.
  3. ^ Strabo
  4. ^ Eustath.
  5. ^ Cramer 1828, p. 157.
  6. ^ The numbers in this section come from "Antikyra, Greece". City-facts. 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021., which contains tables, graphical studies, and information derived from a number of specified sources.
  7. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911, p. 124.
  8. ^ Homer, Il. II.519.
  9. ^ "Σχεδίος (Μυθολ.)". Μεγάλη Ελληνική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια. Athens - Greece: "Pyrsos" Co. Ltd. 1933. p. 684.
  10. Ptolemy, Geography
    , ΙΙ.184.12.
  11. ^ Stephen of Byzantium, "Antikyra".
  12. ^ Dioscorides, De materia medica, IV.148-152, 162
  13. ^ Pliny, N.H., XXII.64, XXV.21
  14. ^ Ptolemaeus, Geogr. Hyph. ΙΙ 184. 12. Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. «Aντίκυρα»
  15. ^ Hahnemann 1812.
  16. ^ Pausanias 10.36.7
  17. ^ Diodorus Siculus, XVI.59-60.
  18. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, Χ.3.1-3.
  19. ^ Rizzo 1932, p. 13; Lacroix 1949, pp. 309–310; Corso 1988, pp. 182–184; and Rolley 1999, p. 244.
  20. ^ Polybius, XVIII.28, 45.7, XXVII.14, 16.6.
  21. ^ Sideris 2001, pp. 122–123.
  22. ^ Pausanias (1918). "{{{2}}}.{{{3}}}". Description of Greece. Vol. 10.36.8. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
  23. ^ RE,[clarification needed] “Diktynna”, col. 584-588.
  24. ^ Dasios 1997, p. 450.
  25. ^ Arrowsmith 1832, p. [page needed].
  26. ^ Sideris 2001, pp. 114–120.
  27. ^ ΦΕΚ 22Α - 18/01/1934, Government Gazette, p. 38
  28. ^ "Κ. Δεσφίνης". EETAA local government changes. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Κ. Αντικύρας". EETAA local government changes. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  30. ^ "Greece: Aluminum under Pressure", Time, 11 March 1966.
  31. ^ Proposal for the Creation of a Marine Reserve in the Corinthian Bay (PDF), Greenpeace.
  32. ^ "ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities" (in Greek). Government Gazette.

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Antikyra and Gulf of Antikyra.
Wikisource has the text of the Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.) article Anticyra.
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