Anaktoroupolis | olkas.net

Name

Anaktoroupolis

Current Name

Nea Peramos

Ancient Name

Oisymi

Medieval Name

Alektryopolis (10th cent.) – Alektoropolis (11th – 13th) – Eleftheropolis or Anaktoroypolis (13th – 14th)

History of the name

The city was known as Oisymi during antiquity. In the years of Filippos II (356-336 BC) it is renamed Imathia. During the byzantine era, Anaktoroupolis lies on a low hill North-East of Oisymi. In the 10th century it is mentioned as Alektryopolis, in the 11th – 13th as Alektropolis, while in the 13th – 14th century as Eleftheropolis or Anaktoropolis.

Country

Greece

Geopolitical Unit

Macedonia

Administrative subdivision

Prefecture of Kavala, Municipality of Paggaion.

Location

Anaktoroupolis is built on the side of a hill on the neck of Vrasidas peninsula in the Eleftheres Gulf.

Foudation Date

As far as the foundation of the castle is concerned, many dates have been suggested. The most recent research supports that the castle is dated to the middle byzantine period (9th – 10th cent.), it was repaired in the 12th -13th cent. and it was reconstructed in the years of Andronikos III ( first half of 14th century).

Current condition

Nowadays, Anaktoroupolis is an open-to-the-public archaeological site in the south of the current settlement of Nea Peramos.

History

In the third quarter of the 7th century, Oisymi is founded by Parian colonists from Thasos. In the years of Filippos II (356-336 BC) the city was renamed Imathia and turned into a Macedonian colony. During the byzantine period, in the North-East of Oisymi and on top of a low hill, developed Anaktoroupolis which was an bishopric of the Metropolis of Filippoi in the 9th century. According to an inscription, in the 12th century the city was surrounded by a fortress. The city seems to continue existing after the conquest of the area by the Ottomans. Its acreage is about 15000 square meters.
Probably its fortress was used as naval base in order to protect the shores from pirates and other invaders.
In the middle of the 14th century, Anaktoroupolis becomes the headquarters of pirate Alexios from Vithinia. In 1357 it passed on as a privilege from the emperor Ioannis V, along with other cities of the area, to the brothers Alexios and Ioannis who were the founders of Monastery of Pantokrator on Mount Athos. At the end of the same century, Anaktoroupolis is taken over by Ottomans and its downfall begins.
In the 18th century, the traveler Cousinery, finds the castle completely abandoned and impervious. Nonetheless, he pins down the existence of a Turkish village in the area, with the name Lefter, the modern village of Eleftheres. Today, this small village has turned into a town.

Description

Anactoropolis is a fortified city – castle in which a small chuch of 3.90X2.60 m., with an extended semi-circular apse where a narthex was later added, was discovered. The remnants that were found in the area relate this small church with the Episcopal church of byzantine Anaktoroupolis. About 50 m. from the narthex a square cistern was found, probably winepress and consecutive burials.
On the West side of the fort, excavation research has brought to light seven cist-graves which probably belong to the cemetery. Coins dated to the era of Alexios III (1195-1203) were found in one of the tombs, which in combination with the evidence of the pottery led to dating the tombs in the 12th century.
Ceramics of the same and the next century was gathered from a well which was traced on the northern foot of the hill. The well stood on an older, probably early Christian, cistern. Furthermore, a single nave church dated to the 11th-12th century was excavated on the nearby hill of ancient Oisymi.
Finally, an excavation conducted to the interior of the central tower, brought to light pieces of glazed pottery from the 13th century.

Harbor

North of the current settlement there is a modern harbor facility which is a station for fishing boats and serves the connection of Nea Peramos with Thasos by sea, mainly for the transportation of liquid fuels to the island.
A low wall along the beach which ends to the North-West corner of the castle has remained from the byzantine Anaktoroupolis and has been identified as a breakwater.

Fortification

The forting enclosure which runs the hill and its shape is a non-defined trapeze with 540 m. length. The wall, as thick as 2 m. is reinforced at some places with cylinder, rectangle and polygon towers while in a later phase, the eastern part was reinforced with the construction of a proteichisma. In the interior of the castle, there is a wall that expands from East to West which was used as a second defense zone and probably is a remnant from the early Christian phase of the fortification.
Excavation work on the western wall brought to light one of the castle’s gates. It was originally constructed as a single gate, but later on it was restored and become double. This gate was supported on both sides by two strongly built towers. Two more gates, one towards the inner land and one towards the port, provided access to the interior of the castle.
In the South-East corner of the hill, on its highest point, there stands the central tower of the fortress. It was firstly built with a polygon shape while later its floor plan was squared.
In general, the existence of four building phases of the fortification was figured out. The first phase is dated to the 9th-10th century and the second to the 12th-13th century according to a ceramicoplastic inscription in the walls (1167-1170) which records the erection of the walls by the commander of the byzantine navy, the Great Duke Andronikos Kontostefanos, during the reign of Manuel I. The third phase of the walls is placed at the middle of 14th century, while the last one at the postbyzantine era.

Medieval Sites

The whole castle is a place with archaeological interest open for visitors.

Textual Sources

• Γρηγορᾶς Νικ., Ρωμαϊκή Ιστορία, XIII, τομ. Β’, εκδ. Βόννης , σ. 746
• Καντακουζηνός, ΙΙ, 277, στ.16-20
• Καντακουζηνός, ΙΙΙ, 114, στ.20-25

Bibliography

• ΑΔ
• Collart P., Philippes – Ville de Macédoine depuis ses origins jusqu’ a la fin de l’ époque Romaine, Paris 1937, σ. 81 – 87.
• Ευγενίδου Δ., Κάστρα Μακεδονίας και Θράκης. Βυζαντινή Καστροκτισία, Αθήνα 2003, σ.82 – 85.
• Ζήκος Ν., Ανακτορούπολη. Καινούριες ιστορικές πληροφορίες και αρχαιολογικά δεδομένα, Πρακτικά Β’ Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου Βαλκανικών Ιστορικών Σπουδών: Η Καβάλα και τα Βαλκάνια. Η καβάλα και το Αιγαίο, (Καβάλα, 15 – 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2005), Καβάλα 2009, τομ. Γ’, σ. 19 – 40.
• Κακούρης Ι., Ανακτορούπολη. Ιστορικές πληροφορίες και αρχαιολογικά δεδομένα, Πρακτικά Α’ Τοπικού Συμποσίου: Η Καβάλα και η περιοχή της, (Καβάλα, 18 – 20 Απριλίου 1977), Θεσσαλονίκη 1980, σ. 249 – 262.
• Καραγιάννη Φ., Οι βυζαντινοί οικισμοί στη Μακεδονία μέσα από τα αρχαιολογικά δεδομένα (4ος-15ος αιώνας),Θεσσαλονίκη 2010, σ.142 – 143.
• Lemerle P., Philippe et la Macédoine orientale, Paris 1945, σ. 201,206,210,256 – 259, 267 – 268.
• Τσούρης Κ., Νεάπολις – Χριστούπολις- Καβάλα. Διορθώσεις – Προσθήκες – Παρατηρήσεις στην οχύρωση και την ύδρευση, ΑΔ 53 (1998), Μέρος Α’, Μελέτες, σ. 425, 444 – 446.