Elis (city)

Coordinates: 37°53′29″N 21°22′30″E / 37.89131°N 21.37493°E / 37.89131; 21.37493
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Elis
Ἦλις
Remains of the theatre of Elis
Elis is located in Peloponnese
Elis
Elis
Shown within Peloponnese
RegionPeloponnese
Coordinates37°53′29″N 21°22′30″E / 37.89131°N 21.37493°E / 37.89131; 21.37493
Part ofAncient Elis

Elis (

Arcadia. Just before the Peneius emerges from the hills into the plain, the valley of the river is contracted on the south by a projecting hill of a peaked form, and nearly 500 feet (150 m) in height. This hill was the acropolis of Elis, and commanded as well the narrow valley of the Peneius as the open plain beyond. The ancient city lay at the foot of the hill, and extended across the river, as Strabo says that the Peneius flowed through the city;[2] but since no remains are now found on the right or northern bank, it is probable that all the public buildings were on the left bank of the river, more especially as Pausanias
does not make any allusion to the river in his description of the city.

Elis is mentioned as a town of the

Aetolian
followers appear to have settled on the height which later formed Elis's acropolis as the spot best adapted for ruling the country. From this time it was the residence of the kings, and of the aristocratic families who governed the country after the abolition of royalty. Elis was the only fortified town in the country; the rest of the inhabitants dwelt in unwalled villages, paying obedience to the ruling class at Elis.

Soon after the

Pisatis, and Triphylia, contained four tribes. This is in accordance with the fourfold ancient division of Hollow Elis, and with the twice four townships in the Pisatis. Pausanias in his account of the number of the Hellanodicae says that there were 12 Hellanodicae in 103rd Olympiad, which was immediately after the Battle of Leuctra, when the Eleians recovered for a short time their ancient dominions, but that being shortly afterwards deprived of Triphylia by the Arcadians, the number of their tribes was reduced to eight.[7]

When Pausanias visited Elis, it was one of the most populous and splendid cities of Greece. By the mid-19th century, however, nothing of it remained except some masses of tile and mortar, several wrought blocks of stone and fragments of sculpture, and a square building about 20 feet (6.1 m) on the outside, which within is in the form of an octagon with niches. With such scanty remains it would be impossible to attempt any reconstruction of the city, and to assign to particular sites the buildings mentioned by Pausanias.[8]

Strabo says that the gymnasium stood on the side of the river Peneius; and it is probable that the gymnasium and agora occupied the greater part of the space between the river and the citadel.[9] The gymnasium was a vast enclosure surrounded by a wall. It was by far the largest gymnasium in Greece, which is accounted for by the fact that all the athletes in the Ancient Olympic Games were obliged to undergo a month's previous training in the gymnasium at Elis. The enclosure bore the general name of Xystus, and within it there were special places destined for the runners, and separated from one another by plane-trees. The gymnasium contained three subdivisions, called respectively Plethrium, Tetragonum, and Malco: the first so called from its dimensions, the second from its shape, and the third from the softness of the soil. In their Malco was the senate-house of the Eleians, called Lalichium from the name of its founders: it was also used for literary exhibitions.

The gymnasium had two principal entrances, one leading by the street called Siope or Silence to the baths, and the other above the

Silenus, and the tomb of Oxylus. On the way to the theatre was the temple of Hades
, which was opened only once in the year.

The theatre must have been on the slope of the acropolis: it is described by Pausanias as lying between the agora and the Menius, which, if the name is not corrupt, must be the brook flowing down from the heights behind the old town. Near the theatre was a temple of Dionysus, containing a statue of this god by Praxiteles.

On the acropolis was a temple of Athena, containing a statue of the goddess in gold and ivory by Pheidias. On the summit of the acropolis are the remains of a castle, in the walls of which Ernst Curtius noticed, when he visited in the 19th century, some fragments of Doric columns which probably belonged to the temple of Athena.

In the immediate neighbourhood of Elis was Petra, where the tomb of the philosopher Pyrrho was shown.[10]

The acropolis of Elis is now called Kalokaspoi in Greek and the

Venetians
, who occupied the area in the Middle Ages, transformed this name into Belvedere.

Notable people

References

  1. ^ Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 12.371.38
  2. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p. 337. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  3. ^ Homer. Iliad. Vol. 2.615.
  4. ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 11.54.
  5. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p.336. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  6. ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. Vol. 3.2.27.
  7. ^ Pausanias (1918). "9.5". Description of Greece. Vol. 5. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.- 6.
  8. ^ Pausanias (1918). "23.1". Description of Greece. Vol. 6. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library. et seq.
  9. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p. 337. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  10. ^ Pausanias (1918). "24.5". Description of Greece. Vol. 6. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elis_(city)&oldid=1210348317"