THERA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

This archaeological site (Αρχαία Θήρα/Archaia Thira) is home to the important remains of the city of Thera, founded by the Spartans in the 8th or 9th century B.C. Offering grandiose views, it occupies the hilltop cape of Mesa Vouno ("in the mountain"), 365 m above sea level. Access is by an impressive, narrow, winding road from Kamari (2.6 km) or by two footpaths, one leading up from Perissa (1.6 km), the other down from the Profitis Ilias monastery (2.4 km). The city was named after its mythical founder, Theras, a Spartan hero from Thebes. Following a drought, it was partially abandoned around 630 BC, when some of its inhabitants left to establish the Spartan colony of Cyrene in Libya. Today's remains date mainly from the Hellenistic period: around 288 BC, the Ptolemy dynasty, founded by one of Alexander the Great's generals in Egypt, took over Thera as a naval base. The town subsequently remained the only major settlement on the island. It was deserted in 726, following an eruption or an Arab raid. The 1 km route offers wide views of the sea, but is unshaded and windy.

Bas-reliefs from Artemidorus' temenos. First, the ruins of a sanctuary of Aphrodite (founded in the 8th century BC and rebuilt in the 1st century BC), then those of the temenos of Artemidorus (3rd century BC). A former elephant hunter and admiral of the Ptolemies, Artemidorus of Pergé settled in Thera as a priest of the cult of Artemis. Several divinities were honored in this sanctuary. The bas-reliefs of the eagle of Zeus, the lion of Apollo Stephaniforos ("crowned") in front of the throne of Tyche (goddess of Destiny), the dolphin of Poseidon and the portrait of Artemidorus accompanied by an inscription to keep his name immortal are all recognizable. Around the bend stands the church of Agios Stefanos (8th or 9th century), built on the site of a large 6th-century early Christian basilica. After 400 m, you reach the heart of the city, with the agora, a market square flanked by the ruins of a temple to Dionysus (3rd century BC) and the steps of three exedras (meeting places) that enjoyed fine views. Above are the remains of a barracks (3rd century BC) and a gymnasium (2nd century BC), followed by the living quarters.
Apollo and Egyptian gods. The main path continues into the southern agora with the "royal" stoa (3rd century B.C.), a 46 m-long Doric portico that housed the "founders' oath", a text obliging every family in Thera to provide a settler for Cyrene. Behind the portico, a stone engraved with a phallus can be seen in an ancient villa. This is followed by two buildings from the Roman period (1st century AD) facing each other: the thermal baths and the house of Tyche, where statuettes of the goddess were discovered. The city ends with the remains of three buildings: a small theater for 1,500 spectators (2nd century BC), the temple of Pythian Apollo (founded in the 6th century BC, then remodeled) and the sanctuary of the Egyptian gods (3rd century BC), where Ptolemy's soldiers prayed to Isis, Anubis and the Greco-Egyptian divinity Sarapis. The tour ends 300 m further on with the temple of Apollo Karneios (6th century BC), where the god of the arts was honoured, as in Sparta, as the protector of livestock.