Pellana, Lakonia

Greece :

Pellana is a village in the Municipality of Pellana in the Prefecture of Laconia. It is located near the foot of Taygetos and is 24 km from Sparta and 224 km from Athens. It has a real population of 423 inhabitants (2001).

Very close to the village is the archeological site of ancient Pellana, with remains of early Helladic, Mycenaean and Hellenistic times. From the ancient Pellana the village received, in 1932, its modern name (its old name was Kalivia). [1]


History

Pellana has been inhabited since the early Helladic period, while during the Mycenaean period large vaulted tombs were built that show the power and wealth of the lords of the area.

During the 4th or 3rd c. BC, when Sparta was in great danger, he built the citadel of Pellana. The traveler Pausanias in Laconian mentions the wall but also the sanctuary of Asclepius and the Pellanida spring. He also reports that a young girl fell into the Pellanidae and disappeared, while her veil later emerged from another source. [2]

Archaeological site
Mycenaean cemetery

In Pellana, at Spilies (750m. From the center of the village), a Mycenaean cemetery was excavated from time to time, from 1926 to 1995. There are some of the most impressive (but looted) Mycenaean vaulted tombs. [2] The largest of the vaulted tombs is a basilica of early Mycenaean times (around 1500 BC) [3] and its dome is over 10 meters in diameter. Its roof has collapsed and is now protected by a metal roof. In the other tombs there are deep pits in the ground, which served as storage places for the bones of the dead, when there was a lack of space in the chamber. [4]
Acropolis (Paleokastro)

At the top of Paleokastro hill, recent excavations have revealed remains of early Helladic times (around 2500 BC). It is probably an palace building. On the slopes of the hill, early Helladic tombs with burials have been discovered, as well as part of a settlement of Mycenaean, classical and Hellenistic times. A monumental paved road from the Mycenaean era has also been found, with later maintenance, which must lead to an important building, perhaps a Mycenaean palace. [3] In Byzantine times it belonged to a tank (cistern). [4]

According to the excavator Theodoros Spyropoulos, archaeologist and curator of antiquities of Sparta, in this citadel was the Homeric Lacedaemon, where during the epic Menelaus and the Beautiful Helen had their palace. [3] The opposite view considers the location of Pellana quite remote, in relation to the important archeological sites of Menelaus and Vafeios. [2]

In the acropolis of Pellana there are parts of a wall of the Hellenistic era and remnants of the years of Frankish rule. [3]

Footnotes

INE, Renamed of the Settlements of Greece, Kalivia - Pellana. Retrieved 11/18/2009.
Mee & Spawforth (2001), p. 229
Website of the Ministry of Culture.

Mee & Spawforth (2001), p. 230

Sources

Pellana of Laconia, Ministry of Culture. Retrieved 11/18/2009.
Mee, Christopher & Spawforth, Anthony (2001). Oxford Archaeological Guides - Greece, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-288058-6.

External links

Website for the village and the archeological site. Retrieved 11/18/2009.

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