Significant Sites of Sparta

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1 Significant Sites of Sparta

2 ‘ If Lacedaemon were ever laid waste and there remained only the foundations of the temples and public buildings, those born into a world of the far future would find it difficult to believe that the power of Sparta had deserved its reputation.” Thucydides 4th century BC

3 Spartan Reflections Paul Cartledge
“Most relevant to us is the category of the limitary sanctuary. This comprised sanctuaries that were borderline in a literal and metaphorical sense, being located on natural or artificial boundaries within or between communities. As such, they might serve a variety of purposes; to articulate the necessary organic relationship between the countryside ( the economic basis 0 and urban centre ( the political infrastructure ), or to mark ritually the symbolic passage of citizens from wild adolescence to tame civic maturity, or to establish, consolidate or promulgate a state’s claim to border territory against a neighbour- which was always the prime cause and context of ancient Greek interstate warfare. The limitary sanctuaries that concern us here are of two main sorts; first those which formed a kind of pomerium or sacred boundary around Sparta itself and, second those which served to define Spartan citizen territory, the politike, against the territory of the perioikoi. “

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5 Athena Chalkoikos Artemis -Orthia Menelaion Throne of Apollo at Amyclae

6 Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia Acropolis of Sparta
Sanctuary of Apollo at Amyklai Menelaion “ Thanks to their newly increased agriculturally derived wealth and furthur enriched spoils of war, the Spartan ruling elite of kings and aristocracy were able as well as willing to build for Orthia her first temple within a newly defined temenos. Indeed it is the building of this temple, together with those for the city- goddess Athena on what passed for the Akropolis of Sparta and for Menelaus and Helen jointly at the Menelaion site a little way east of Eurotas, that signalled both materially and spiritually the emergance of the Spartan polis.” Cartledge P Spartan Reflections

7 Problems of Evidence Early building materials were timber which was not preserved Stone buildings, usually religious in nature were built over in successive periods of history The nature of Spartan society placed little value on luxurious living and ornate public buildings Surrounding mountains provided a natural fortress from invasion, therefore there was no need to build city walls. Political discussions took place in the open air to allow for large numbers. Only written evidence of a Spartan infrastructure comes from a non Spartan , Pausanius, a Greek traveller of the 2nd century AD

8 Sanctuary at Artemis Orthia
Pausanius on the Sanctuary; “ Limnaeum ( marshy ) is sacred to Artemis Orthia. The wooden image there they say is that which once Orestes and Iphogenia stole out of the Tauric land , and the Lacedaemonians say that it was brought to their land because there also Orestes was king.” “The temple of Artemis at Limnai [in Lakedaimonia], at which the Messenians [historically] are reputed to have outraged the maidens who had come to the sacrifice, is on the boundaries between Lakonia and Messenia, where both peoples held assemblies and offered sacrifice in common; and they say that it was after the outraging of the maidens, when the Messenians refused to give satisfaction for the act, that the war took place. And it is after this Limnai, also, that the Limnaion, the temple of Artemis in Sparta, has been named." -Strabo 8.4.9

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10 Excavations at Artemis Orthia
Located on the west bank of the Eurotas river, the sanctuary consisted of a wall enclosing an altar and a small temple The Sanctuary was first founded in the 10th century with a simple altar, but was enlarged in the 9th century built with stones. The temple suffered great destruction by flood at the beginning of the 6th century but was soon rebuilt. The large archaic temple which is preserved today consisted of a cella and pronaos with two Doric columns at the East side In the Roman period a theatre was built to accommodate the visitors who came to watch the ritual flogging at the altar. At the same time , they built an oblong altar close to the temple. The sanctuary was excavated by the British Archaeological school at Athens under R M Dawkins No restoration work has yet been undertaken on the site

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12 Finds at Artemis Orthia
Clay masks and ivory carvings from the site of Artemis Orthia

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17 Significance Many inscriptions were found bearing dedications by victors ( boys ) who won contests in honour of Artemis. The earliest dates from 4th century BC Small finds were dominated by lead figurines and clay masks A wide range of carved ivory and bone objects dated to the archaic period including ivory plaques and combs. They can be interpreted as votive offerings and probably having an apotropaic character during religious ceremonies The evidence of these arts demonstrated that until well into the 6th century, Sparta did not conform to the later image of a society devoid of aesthetic culture

18 Acropolis of Sparta “ There is a sanctuary built here of Athena of the city, who is also called Athena Chalkioikos. According to the story it was Tyndareos who started the building of this sanctuary, and when he died his sons wanted to finish the building from the spoils of Aphidna …..it was the Laconians many years afterwards who erected the temple and the bronze statue, which was made by a local man Gitiadas.” Pausanius

19 Excavations Excavations began at the end of the last century under the guidance of American and Greek archaeologists while since 1905 digging has been carried out by the British school at Athens. New excavations have begun five years ago, mainly at the area of the theatre and the shops The various monuments on the site have not yet been restored yet but there is a plan for the drawing and conservation of the ancient theatre with the financial support of the European Union

20 Important Finds The finest exhibit is the marble Lacedemonian warrior which may well represent Leonidas, the heroic king of Sparta

21 The Bronze Statuette of a Trumpeter Dedicated to Athena, from the Acropolis of Sparta. Circa 500 BCE Height 0.13 m Archaeological Museum of Sparta

22 The Statue of Leonidas Found in the Temple of Athena Chalkioikos
The Statue of Leonidas Found in the Temple of Athena Chalkioikos. From shortly after 480 BCE Archaeological Museum of Sparta, Greece

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24 Significance The remains of the sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos on top of the Acropolis is one of the most important cult sites of the town. A late archaic and early classical stoa was found, as were contemporary enclosure walls   The Temple, which was constructed on the plans of the architect Vathykles from Magnesia, had its interior decorated with bronze sheets The Temple of Athena and the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia are the only two remains of the early archaic and classical period. The Bronze Statuette of Athena    Dedicated to the Patron Goddess of the city circa 450 BCE, this statuette was discovered during excavations in the Temple of Athena Chalkioikos, on the Acropolis of Sparta.    In her raised right hand the Goddess held her spear, while the now missing shield covered her left side. She wears an Attic helmet with uplifted cheekpieces. The extant remains of the theatre and shops are Roman although evidence of an earlier theatre built on the same site goes back to 200 BC. Since Spartans held no theatre it is believed largely to have been used for political assemblies and sporting events. Like many ancient cities the polis activity took place in open spaces, allowing the larger assemblies

25 The Menelaeon ‘…the story is that Menelaos and Helen are buried here.” Pausanius

26 Excavation Situated 5km southeast of Sparta on top of Mt Parnon, above the eastern bank of the Eurotas river, the area was known as Therapne in ancient times. In 1889 Mycanaean pottery sherds, were discovered by Gk archaeologist Tsountas Excavations were conducted by the British Archaeological School at Athens in 1909 under R Dawkins and most significantly in under Dr H Catling, who identified the sanctuary as Late Mycenaean.

27 Significant finds From the geometric period a foundation of the sacred peribolus( enclosed court ) and altar were excavated From the archaic period ( 500 BC ) the remains of the first monumental building, consisting of a small cella ( inner room of the temple ) made of rectangular porous stones was excavated. The monument was surrounded by a broad terrace with a ramp leading up from the west side From the classical period it appears there was construction of a large crepidoma( stone base of the temple ) on which a cella was built, in the shape of a pyramid To the north of the monument a classical cistern, built to provide water supply to the shrine, has been excavated. In Catling’s excavation of the “ Great Pit’ on the north east side of the shrine large quantities of votives, including small Laconian vases, terracottas, iron objects, lead and bronze items were discovered, two of which bear dedicatory inscriptions The significance of this site is that it shows continuous use from 8th century BC through to 2nd century AD.

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30 Bronze statues from the shrine of Menelaion

31 Sanctuary of Apollo at Amyclae
“The older tripods are said to be a tithe of the Messenian War. Under the first stood an image of Aphrodite, and under the second an Artemis; these and the reliefs [on the tripods] are by Gitiadas, but the third is by Kallon of Aigina; Kore, daughter of Demeter, stands under it. Aristandros of Paros and Polykleitos of Argos made, respectively, the woman with the lyre, supposedly Sparta, and the Aphrodite "beside the Amyklaian." These tripods are larger than the others, and were dedicated from the spoils of the victory at Aigospotamoi. ”Pausanias

32 Spartan Reflections “ By far the most important of these limitary sanctuaries in the immediate environs of Sparta was that of Apollo and Hyakinthos, located at Amyclae…Significantly it was here at the Amyklaion and not in Sparta town that the Spartans principal “ national “ religious festival was celebrated.”

33 Excavations The sanctuary was excavated in 1890 by Gk archaeologist Tsountas. Later excavations were carried out By Furtwaengler and Feichter in 1904 Many architectural parts from the throne of Bathykles were recognised and published bt Prof Delivorrias in 1968

34 Significant Finds The site of Amyklae flourished in almost all the periods from Archaic to Roman The most important festival the Hyakinthos took place at Amyklae The Throne of Apollo included an altar, which surrounded on three sides the colossal column shaped statue of the god. It was decorated with relief representations and plastic composition The tomb altar of the local god Hyakinthos was used as the pedestal of the statue Architectural parts of a composite style, both Doric and Ionic are held in the Sparta Museum It is believed to be the work of Bathykles, an artist from Magnesia, dated to the archaic period Also located here are the tripods from the war against the Messenians

35 Significant finds Ionic Capital from the Temple of Apollo