Lychnidos
Lychnidos ( ancient Greek Λυχνιδός Lychnidós or Λύχνιδος Lýchnidos ; Latin Lychnidus / Lycnidus / Licnidus ) was an ancient city on Lake Ohrid . It is the predecessor of today's Ohrid in North Macedonia .
Geographical location
Lychnidos was on the higher of the two city hills in what is now the city of Ohrid. It extended from the hilltop, on which the medieval fortress of Tsar Samuil is located today , in a south-westerly direction over the place Plaošnik down to the lake shore. It takes up part of the old town and is therefore largely built over.
A fertile plain extends northeast of the settlement hill, which was already relatively densely populated in ancient times and has probably been used for agriculture since the Copper Age .
Lychnidos was an important station on the Roman Via Egnatia , which connected the eastern bank of the Adriatic with Byzantion (later Constantinople ). The northern route of this road led from the Shkumbin valley, over the pass Qafë Thana (today Albania ), crossed the Black Drin (near today's Struga ) and then ran on the northeast bank of the lake to Lychnidos. From there it went on to Herakleia Lynkestis , where it reunited with the southern route that passed by Lake Prespa .
prehistory
The fish-rich lake, the fertile plains and the strategically favorable location attracted settlers early on. Excavations revealed evidence of various cultures from the Neolithic to the Iron Age . Dolno Trnovo (city area of Ohrid) is a Neolithic site from the 4th – 3rd centuries. Millennium BC BC Lakočeresko Gradište and Koselsko Gradište belong to the Bronze Age . In Gorenci to evidence found from the Iron Age. On the shores of Lake Ohrid, individual pile dwelling villages were also found, such as that of Gradište from the 1st millennium BC. BC (see: Ohrid # cultural institutions ).
history
The first inhabitants of the region that can be historically classified were the Illyrian Encheleans . They lived in the 8th and 7th centuries BC The region around Lake Ohrid. They were later followed - when exactly is unknown - the likewise Illyrian Dassaretes , under whose invasions the neighboring Macedonia in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Chr. Suffered repeatedly. Philip II of Macedonia was able to convince the Illyrians around 355 BC. The Lynkestis snatched away and extended its influence to the shores of Lake Ohrid. In the epoch of Hellenism , the settlement of Lychnidos developed into a city in which Greek colonists also settled. For a long time, however, the area around Lychnidos remained a disputed region between the Illyrians and the Macedonians . At the turn of the 3rd to the 2nd century BC BC Lychnidos was the center of the vast mountainous region of Dassaretia , which stretched from the Devoll River in the west to the borders of the Lynkestis in the east and was bordered by the Dardaner area in the north .
When Macedonia in 148 BC When it became a Roman colony, Lychnidus also came under Roman rule . Dassaretia remained a free commune (lat. Libera gens Dassaretiae ) until the early imperial period . Lychnidos was their seat of government and trading center. The political authorities of the Dassaretes immortalized themselves in numerous inscriptions.
In late antiquity Lychnidos became a bishopric. The bishop Dionysus of Lychnidos is attested as a participant in the Synod of Serdica in 343. He is the only known metropolitan in the city. On May 29th and 30th, 526 Lychnidos was badly damaged by an earthquake. Many residents perished. The further fate of the city is unknown. Since that date, no more inscriptions have been written over the city of Lychnidos. It was probably not re-established as the Slavic ( Bulgarian ) city of Ohrid until three centuries later .
Buildings
General
During the Hellenistic period, the city extended over the fortress hill southwest to the lake shore. With the conquest by the Romans, the city was expanded: in addition to the theater, an agora , a grammar school , a buleuterion , a basilica and numerous temples were built, all of which have only been sparsely preserved. During the Roman period, Lychnidos grew eastwards to the Deboj hill . In the early Christian era, around seven churches were built in the city, indicating that the region was a religious center.
theatre
The theater is arguably the most famous remnant of the ancient city. It was made around the year 200 BC. Built in BC. It is the only Hellenistic theater in all of Macedonia. Comedies, tragedies and dramas were performed here during the Hellenistic period. With the Romans came gladiator and animal fights.
In the three upper rows of seats there are some inscriptions with personal names, which probably served as a seat reservation during performances. A total of twelve rows of seats in the auditorium (lat. Cavea ) have been preserved.
Early Christian basilica
The three-aisled church was built in the second half of the 5th century and houses a baptistery and a room known as the catechumenum . It has numerous floral and animal mosaics, especially in the baptistery. It was largely destroyed in the earthquake in 526. The excavation work began in 1961 and ended years later.
literature
- Fanula Papazoglu (ed.): Inscriptiones Lyncestidis, Heracleae, Pelagoniae, Derriopi, Lychnidi. (= Inscriptiones Graecae, Vol. 10: Inscriptiones Graecae Epiri, Macedoniae, Thraciae, Scythiae, Part 2: Inscriptiones Macedoniae, Fasc. 2: Inscriptiones Macedoniae septentrionalis). Berlin 1999. ISBN 3-11-016489-2 .
- Fanoula Papazoglou: Les villes de Macédoine à l'époque romaine . Athènes 1988. ISBN 2-86958-014-2 .
- Ilona Opelt: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . Vol. 79, pp. 83-86. Bonn 1989. Link: Inscriptions from Lychnidus - O (c) hrid on Uni-koeln.de (PDF; 127 kB).
Web links
- Archeology history of Ohrid (English) [Note: Link broken]
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Lihnidos on Soros.org.mk (English), last accessed on March 13, 2011
- ↑ Lychnidos, Ohrid ( Memento of the original from January 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Theatrum.de (German), last accessed on March 13, 2011
- ↑ Polyconchal early Christian basilica near Imaret on Soros.org.mk (English), last accessed 13 March 2011
Coordinates: 41 ° 7 ′ 0 ″ N , 20 ° 48 ′ 0 ″ E