ARCHWAY DOOR
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Massive circular fortified gateway dating from the century B.C. There are also 9.5 km of ancient Messène ramparts.
This massive 4th-century BC gate (Αρκαδική Πύλη/Arkadiki Pyli) guards a pass above Archea Messini. The road passes through a circular enclosure 18.9 m in diameter made of large rectangular limestone blocks. But only one vehicle can pass at a time, as a collapsed lintel 5.6 m long partially blocks the way. This was the start of the ancient road between Messene and Megalopolis (47 km to the northeast), still an important Arcadian city. This fortified passage is the most impressive and best-preserved of the ancient Messene walls. It's also a good vantage point from which to observe the rest of the ramparts. 9.5 km of the 3 m-thick walls, built shortly after the city's foundation in 369 BC, remain. Right next to the gate, a section rising towards Mount Ithomi preserves two square towers. And below, 1 km to the west, the road to Petralona crosses another section with four towers. Remains of funerary monuments from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD can also be seen on the north side of the gate. And in the circular enclosure, Hermaic stelae from the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC have been discovered (on display in the Archaeological Museum): the gate was placed under the protection of Hermes, messenger of the gods, but also god of Trade and Travellers. On site, a niche that housed a stele bears an inscription (Κόιντος Πλώτιος Ευφημίων Επεσκεύασεν) indicating that the gate was restored by a certain Quintus Plotius during the Roman period.
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