Atalanti (Gulf of Atalanti)
| Atalanti (Αταλάντη) | ||
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| Waters | Gulf of Evia , Aegean Sea | |
| Geographical location | 38 ° 40 '26 " N , 23 ° 5' 43" E | |
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| length | 2.05 km | |
| width | 1.2 km | |
| surface | 1.6 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 123 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Atalanti ( pronunciation : [ ataˈlandi ], Greek Αταλάντη ( f. Sg. )), Atalantonisi ( Greek Αταλαντονήσι ( f. Sg. )) Or Talantonisi ( Greek Ταλαντονήσι ( f. Sg. )), Is an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Atalanti in Greece .
geography
The island is about 1200 m east of the coastal town of Skala . It consists of three hills, the middle and the highest reaching a height of 123 m. The island has a length from north to south of about 2.05 km and a maximum width of 1.2 km. At the northern tip in about 150 m distance is the islet of Agios Nikolaos ( Greek Άγιος Νικόλαος ) (1.6 ha) with a church dedicated to St. Nicholas . To the west about 140 m away is the islet Prasonisi ( Greek Πρασονήσι = green island ).
designation
The island was named after the mythical huntress Atalante and has had the name since at least the 5th century BC. The city of Atalanti was probably named after the island , although there is also the possibility that the name passed from the city to the island.
history
In 431 BC During the Peloponnesian War , Athens occupied the island of Atalanti and turned it into a fortress. From here they wanted to fight the city of Opus, allied with Sparta , and prevent pirate raids on the opposite Euboea . 426 BC However, the base was destroyed by an earthquake and Atalanti, which was originally a peninsula, was separated from the mainland. According to Strabo , Atalanti was not separated from the mainland, but divided into two parts in the middle. Habbo Gerhard Lolling suspected that Prasonisi was built at this time and reported the remains of walls from the shipyards and the fortification walls. A tsunami flooded the country and a trireme is said to have been thrown from a shipyard over the fortification wall as a result of the flooding. Thucydides reported that the Athenian walls were partially destroyed and two ships were washed ashore, with one ship breaking. 421 BC After the Peace of Nicias the island Atalanti was handed over to Sparta.
When the Galatians invaded in 279 BC The Lokrians, who lived near the island of Atalanti, sent an army of 700 foot soldiers under the leadership of Meidias to Thermopylae . 192 BC Herodorus of Kios landed on Atalanti with 30 light merchant ships and an infantry of 600 men. His job was to wait for the arrival of the Roman army and then come to the aid of the city of Chalkida and defend it against the Romans.
With the beginning of the Greek Revolution in 1821, Atalanti served as a refuge and base for the Greek freedom fighters. At the end of 1821 an Ottoman army led by Omer Vryoni and Kiose Mehmet devastated the city of Atalanti and took the inhabitants prisoner. Those who managed to escape fled to the island of Atalanti and from then on lived in tents or huts. In 1822 the plague spread to the island. In 1824 the Ottoman fleet landed on the island, demolished the houses and imprisoned the refugees.
An early Christian church at one end of the island was destroyed in the earthquake of 1894. In 1910 there were still 4 churches on Atalanti, none of which remained. Later a church was built on the islet of Agios Nikolaos, which still exists today.
Flora and fauna
In 1977 it was decided to restore the ecological balance on Atalanti through targeted hunting. Certain species were also introduced there. The island's vegetation today consists mainly of olive trees and pistachios . Cretan wild goats , pheasants , partridges , rabbits , quail , woodcock , song thrushes and blackbirds populate the island. There are several fish farms around the island .
literature
- Siegfried Lauffer : Greece. Lexicon of Historic Places. , Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-4144-3 , p. 648
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thucydides , The Peloponnesian War , 2, 32 ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Diodor , Bibliothéke historiké , 12, 44. ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké , 12, 59 ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Pliny the Elder , Historia naturalis , 2, 90 ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Seneca , Naturales quaestiones , 6, 24 ( online ) (en)
- ^ Habbo Gerhard Lolling, The island of Atalante at Opus in communications from the German Archaeological Institute in Athens , Volume 1, 1876, p. 253 ( online )
- ↑ Strabon , Geographica , 1, 3, 20 (p. 61)
- ↑ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War , 5, 18 ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War , 5, 18 ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Pausanias , Reisen in Greece , 10, 20, 4 ( online ) (en)
- ↑ Titus Livius , From the Founding of the City - 142 Books , 35, 37 ( online ) (en)