Acrocorinth

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Acrocorinth
The first gate of Acrocorinth

The first gate of Acrocorinth

Creation time : 7th century BC Chr.
Castle type : Rock castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Archaia Corinthos
Geographical location 37 ° 53 '28 "  N , 22 ° 52' 25"  E Coordinates: 37 ° 53 '28 "  N , 22 ° 52' 25"  E
Height: 575  m
Acrocorinth (Greece)
Acrocorinth

Acrocorinth (Greek: Ακροκόρινθος, "Upper Corinth") is a fortified place since ancient times , which is located on a 575 m high table mountain near the ancient city of Corinth in Greece . The fortress , six kilometers southwest of today's Corinth , was the Acropolis and the highest point of the ancient city.

history

West walls and entrance
View over the fortress to the north

People probably came to Acrocorinth as early as the Neolithic Age , at least for a time. The high plateau was chosen, which provided sufficient drinking water through freshwater springs and strategically dominated the surrounding area. The Isthmus of Corinth and its fertile plains could be monitored from the Acrocorinth . The choice of this location turned out to be extremely suitable, as the fortress, which was later expanded, served the population and their rulers until the late Middle Ages.

The oldest finds came to light in the area of ​​the Temple of Aphrodite . These are two fragments of a late Helladic psi figure (SH III A; 14th century BC), two shards of Protogeometric Kylikes (around 1000 BC). and an early Iron Age hand - made cattle figure made of terracotta (10th century BC), but no architectural fragments were found from this period. In the 8th century BC The flourishing Corinth gained political and economic independence. The first fortifications of Akrokorinth to the time of the tyrannical ruler of the family of Cypselidse back (657 / 6-582 / 1 v. Chr.). The oldest building under the temple of Aphrodite also dates from this time.

In the 4th century the fortification was further expanded. After the battle of Chaironeia and the establishment of the Corinthian League , 337 BC. A Macedonian garrison was set up on Acrocorinth . During the Diadoch Wars , 315 BC occupied Chr. Cassander , the Acropolis before in his father's hand Polyperchon was. 308 BC It was conquered by Ptolemy I and 303 BC. Finally Demetrios I Poliorketes . Now it remained in the hands of the Antigonids for 60 years . 253/2 BC The Macedonian governor Alexandros of Corinth fell away and only when he was in 245 BC. Died after the marriage of the widow Nikaia of Corinth with Demetrios II. Acrocorinth again in Macedonian possession. 243 BC BC Aratos of Sikyon , the strategist of the Achaean League , managed to climb the walls of Acrocorinth with four hundred men on a summer night and finally to take it. He handed it to us in 224 BC. Chr. Antigonus III. Doson , who reinstalled a Macedonian crew.

After Titus Quinctius Flamininus at the Battle of Kynoskephalai in 197 BC. After Macedonia was defeated, the Greek cities were regained their autonomy. When the order to leave the Achaean League was not followed, Roman troops moved in. Although the city was surrendered without a fight, the Roman consul Lucius Mummius left the city and Acrocorinth in 146 BC. Completely destroy. 44 BC Chr. Founded Julius Caesar , the city again. Acrocorinth, however, was strategically of no interest and has not been restored. The city continued to grow until the 6th century, and from the 3rd century the castle regained importance. So in 267 the Heruli and 395 the West Goths plundered the city under Alaric I.

The strong earthquakes in 357 and 521 caused further damage to the fortification. When the Slavs conquered the Balkans in the 6th to 8th centuries, large numbers of Slavs came to Greece and also settled near Corinth and perhaps also on Acrocorinth. The mountain was probably also inhabited from the 7th to 9th centuries. The fortifications were renewed in the Middle Byzantine period . In 995 the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel crossed the Isthmus of Corinth . However, when he heard of the approaching Byzantine emperor Basil II , he retreated and so Acrocorinth was spared.

During the Second Crusade , the Norman Roger II of Sicily sacked Corinth in 1147 and Acrocorinth was handed over to him by the Byzantine commander without a fight. In 1203 Leon Sgouros , the archon of Nauplia , conquered Corinth and Acrocorinth. In 1205 the crusaders Otto de la Roche and Gottfried I von Villehardouin conquered the lower town. Acrocorinth could not be taken at first and was now besieged. At the beginning the defenders could still be supplied with food from the outside and inflicted great losses on the attackers with surprise attacks over two years. In support of the siege and to hit back by failures Built James II. Of Avesnes , according to the Chronicle of Morea Castle Montesquieue or Mont Escouvé 1.25 km south-west of the main entrance of Acrocorinth. In 1208 the siege had an effect. In order not to starve to death or fall through the hands of the Franks, Leon Sgouros is said to have mounted his horse and jumped at full gallop into the depths and died. Michael I Komnenos Dukas Angelos inherited Akrocorinth and put his half-brother Theodoros I Komnenos Dukas as administrator. When the food ran out, he had to hand over the castle to the Franks and so it came into the possession of the Principality of Achaia .

On April 23, 1358 Robert of Taranto entrusted the Florentine Niccolò Acciaiuoli for his services to the Corinth castellan, which included eight other castles and Acrocorinth as a hereditary barony . When Niccolò Acciaiuoli's son Nerio I Acciaiuoli died in 1394, the castle passed to his daughter Francesca Acciaiuoli and her husband Carlo I Tocco the following year . This ceded it to Theodor I. Palaiologos , the despot of Morea and another son-in-law of Nerios I. When the Ottomans advanced against Theodor I, he saw only one way to protect the land from their access: He sold it in 1400 to the Order of Malta in Rhodes . Acrocorinth came into the possession of the knightly order. But as early as 1404, when the danger was over, he bought it back.

In 1458 Sultan Mehmed II conquered Acrocorinth. In 1463 the Venetian Bartoldo II. D'Este tried to wrest the castle from the Ottomans. The attempt failed, however, and Bartoldo was seriously injured and died in the fight. In 1612 Vaqueras, the commander of the Order of Malta, was able to take the fortress and only released it when he received a ransom. On August 9, 1687, the Venetians took the castle without resistance. Two attempts to recover it in 1689 and 1692 failed. In 1715 the Ottoman Grand Vizier Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha besieged Akrocorinth. After 13 days of massive bombardment, the castle was stormed. There was pillage and massacre. 200 Rhomean residents were sold into slavery.

The Ottoman rulers were expelled during the Greek War of Independence . In 1821 Christian Arvanites from Megara occupied the castle. However, it was soon recaptured. On January 14th, Jul. / January 26, 1822 greg. After negotiations with the rebels, the Turkish occupation handed the castle over to the Greeks and withdrew. But in July of the same year it was briefly held by Ottoman troops. In 1827 it was finally handed over to the Greeks. The fortress then lost its strategic importance. A new city arose next to the ancient settlement destroyed by earthquakes and the fortress of Acrocorinth was left to decay.

Acrocorinth was first extensively studied in 1896 by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens .

The fortress

Plan of the fortress
The Frankish tower on the west summit

The facility comprises two peaks of the 575 m high rock massif. Small springs arise between these, which supplied the settlement with water. The relatively large area could be ideally defended by cleverly combining the advantages of the location with the wall systems. There is practically only one entrance to the west of the fortress, which was fortified by a triple defensive wall with three strong gates. There is a deep, uneven ditch in front of the first gate. The striking wall system with a total length of almost two kilometers shows how the builders adapted to the natural composition of the mountain and incorporated it into their defense.

In the north, east and south, steep scree and rock slopes protect the facility. Nevertheless, a continuous protective wall encompasses the entire settlement. There are also additional walls in the west. In the northern part of the fortress wall there are three smaller gates, which probably served as side gates.

The oldest building still visible is on the eastern summit. Here stood the temple of Aphrodite , in whose sanctuary supposedly many temple prostitutes worked. The elements still visible, however, come from a Byzantine chapel that was built on the foundations of the temple.

On the opposite summit are the ruins of a Franconian tower, which was later expanded and expanded by the Venetians and the Ottomans. Inside the castle, there are numerous buildings from different eras, especially at the foot of the western summit. These include a Venetian church, Ottoman dwellings, wells and small mosques, and a Byzantine cistern .

Since the buildings and walls were often built with the help of ancient stones from the ruins, it is sometimes difficult to assign them to a specific time.

Numerous sections of the wall and buildings were restored to preserve the complex. The Peirene Fountain, located between the peaks, was restored in 1930. In 1965 and 1966 the bridge over the moat and the guard house at the first gate were restored. In the 1970s, the focus was on maintaining the first two gates and the sections of the wall next to them. Further measures, such as replacing the wooden bridge at the entrance, were carried out from 1993 to 1995.

literature

  • Petros G. Themelis: Ancient Corinth, the site and the museum - brief illustrated archaeological guide . Editions Hannibal, Athens.
  • E. Karposini-Dimitriadi: The Peloponnese - A traveller's guide to the sites, monuments and history . Ekdotike Athenon, Athens 1997, ISBN 960-213-013-X .
  • Else Höffer: Acro-Corinth . In: Reclams Universum: Moderne Illustrierte Wochenschrift 27.2 (1911), pp. 1021-1023.
  • Reinhold Bichler : Acrocorinth . In: Siegfried Lauffer (Ed.): Lexicon of historical sites - from the beginnings to the present . CH Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-33302-8 , pp. 91-93 .

Web links

Commons : Acrocorinth  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catherine Morgan : The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary: The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary , Princeton 1999, ISBN 978-0876619384 , pp. 262, 309, 334, 471
  2. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius : History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 39
  3. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 52
  4. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 209
  5. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 145
  6. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 209
  7. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 232
  8. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 242
  9. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 397
  10. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 458
  11. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , p. 463
  12. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. , Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07951-2 , pp. 472-3
  13. ^ GR Schilling: Historical anthology for Germany's sons and daughters, page 49. Berlin 1835. , queried on January 13, 2012