At a distance of 30 kilometers from Kalamata, at the western foothills of Mount Ithomi near the current village of Mavrommati, Ancient Messini, one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, spreads over a large area. Kalamata, στους δυτικούς πρόποδες του όρους Ιθώμη κοντά στο σημερινό χωριό Μαυρομμάτι, απλώνεται σε μια μεγάλη έκταση η Ancient Messini, ένας από τους πιο σημαντικούς αρχαιολογικούς χώρους της Ελλάδας.
The Ancient Messini ανασκάπτεται και αποκαλύπτεται σταδιακά από την εποχή της Επανάστασης και λόγω μεγέθους, αλλά και σπουδαιότητας, δίνει θαυμαστές πληροφορίες για το ένδοξο παρελθόν της. Πρόκειται για ένα σπάνιο αρχαιολογικό χώρο, όπου ο επισκέπτης εντυπωσιάζεται στη θέα των ναών, των σπιτιών, των τειχών και των δημόσιων κτιρίων, που σώζονται σε τόσο μεγάλο ύψος και καλή κατάσταση.
History
The Ancient Messini was built in 369 BC. by the Theban general Epaminondas, after the battle of Leuctra, in which he defeated the Spartans, invaded Laconia and freed the Messenians from Spartan rule.
The specific location for the foundation of Ancient Messina is said to have been chosen after the discovery of the spot where the testament of Aristomenes, a Messenian hero, was made through the mediation of priests and diviners.
The city took its name from the mythical, Prodorian queen of the country, who was the daughter of the Argive king Triopas and the wife of Lacona Polykaon. According to Pausanias, Messina was deified around the 10th century BC. and gradually he was proclaimed one of the main deities of the city.
The layout of Ancient Messina followed the so-called hippodamian system, where all the buildings have the same orientation and the space is divided into horizontal and vertical axes.
The Ancient Messini Ancient Messina remained the cultural center of Messinia until 395 BC, when Alaric's Goth raid is supposed to have dealt the decisive blow to the city.
The Monuments in Ancient Messini
The wall that surrounded the Ancient Messini has a total length of 9 kilometers. It protected the city from all directions, except for the northeast, where Ithomi stood like a natural fortress. It had two monumental gates the Arcadian Gate the Arcadian (or Megalopolis gate) and the Laconian, which is not preserved. Today it is best preserved on its northern side.
the Arcadian (or Megalopolis gate) and the Laconian, which is not preserved. Today it is best preserved on its northern side.
Between the Theater and the Agora of Ancient Messinathe Fountain of Arsinoe was revealed, who was the daughter of the mythical king of Messinia Leucippus and the mother of Asclepius. The Fountain received water from the Klepsydra spring, includes various reservoirs and seems to have been used at least until the 6th century AD.
Immediately to the east of the fountain begin the limits of its market of Ancient Messina, a huge square screened by arcades. In this market, the excavations of which are ongoing, the political life of the ancient city mainly took place.
The Asclepion was its most prominent place of Ancient Messina, center of the city's public life, which operated alongside the market. More than 140 pedestals for bronze statuettes of mainly political figures and five platforms surrounded the Doric temple, the foundations of which dominate the center of the Asklepiion.
The Stadium and the Gymnasium belong to the most impressive buildings in terms of preservation of Ancient Messina. The Stadium includes 18 stands with 18 rows of seats, separated by staircases and surrounded by Doric arcades.
Most of the finds from the excavations are kept at Museum of Ancient Messina, the two-story building before the entrance to the archaeological site.
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