Larissa Cremaste () was a town of Ancient Pelasgia-East Phthiotida area of less importance than

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

Pelasgiotis Pelasgiotis () was an elongated district of ancient Thessaly, extending from the Vale of Tempe in the north to the city of Pherae in the south. The Pelasgiotis included the following localities: Argos Pelasgikon, Argyra, Armenium, Atrax, Crannon ...

, and was situated in the district of

Achaea Phthiotis Achaea Phthiotis () or simply Phthiotis () was a historical region of ancient Thessaly, Thessaly, in ancient Greece. It lay in southeastern Thessaly, between Mount Othrys and the northern shore of the Pagasetic Gulf. Inhabited by , it was origina ...

, at the distance of 20 '' stadia'' from the

Maliac Gulf The Malian or Maliac Gulf () is a gulf in the western Aegean Sea. It forms part of the coastline of Greece's region of Phthiotis. The gulf stretches east to west to a distance of , depending on the definition, and is very shallow, with a maximum ...

, upon a height advancing in front of

Mount Othrys Mount Othrys ( – ''oros Othrys'', also Όθρη – ''Othri'') is a mountain range of central Greece, in the northeastern part of Phthiotis and southern part of Magnesia. Its highest summit, ''Gerakovouni'', situated on the border of Phthiotis ...

. It occupied the side of the hill, and was hence surnamed Cremaste, as "hanging" on the side of Mt. Othrys, to distinguish it from the more celebrated Larissa, situated in a plain.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

also describes it as well watered and producing vines. It it not to be mixed with the modern city of Larissa (Capital of Thessaly -Modern Greece). Larissa is actually a name meaning Fort, which justifies the fortification later discovered by archaiologists in that area. The same writer adds that it was surnamed ''Pelasgia'' as well as ''Cremaste''.

History

From its being situated in the dominions of

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

, some writers suppose that the Roman poets give this hero the surname of ''Larissaeus'', but this epithet is perhaps used generally for Thessalian. Larissa Cremaste was occupied by

Demetrius Poliorcetes Demetrius I Poliorcetes (; , , ; ) was a Macedonian Greek nobleman and military leader who became king of Asia between 306 and 301 BC, and king of Macedon between 294 and 288 BC. A member of the Antigonid dynasty, he was the son of its founder, ...

in 302 BCE, when he was at war with

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

. It was taken by Lucius Apustius in the first war between the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

, 200 BCE, and again fell into the hands of the Romans in the war with

Perseus of Macedon Perseus (; – 166 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 179 until 168BC. He is widely regarded as the last List of kings of Macedonia, king of Macedonia and the last ruler from th ...

in 171 BCE.

Archaeological remains

The ruins of the ancient city are situated upon a steep hill, from the modern town of Pelasgia, which was renamed to reflect the ancient surname. The walls are very conspicuous on the western side of the hill, where several courses of masonry remain.

William Gell Sir William Gell FRS (29 March 17774 February 1836), pron. "Jell", was a British classical archaeologist and illustrator. He published topographical illustrations of Troy and the surrounding area in 1804. He also published illustrations show ...

says that there are the fragments of a Doric temple upon the acropolis, but of these

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

makes no mention. The only available plan of the ancient remains was made in 1912 by

Friedrich Stählin Friedrich Stählin (8 April 1874, Nördlingen, Germany – 22 June 1936, Erlangen, Germany) was a German Classical Philologist and teacher. He studied the Classical Greek language Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek la ...

, showing that a considerable city wall enclosed both the hilltop acropolis and a large section of the eastern slope of the hill. Stählin identified two larger gates in the lower fortifications and a

postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often placed in concealed locations, allowing inconspicuous entrance and exit. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a s ...

in the outer wall of the acropolis. Much of the picture is reconstruction, such as the traces of a ''

diateichisma The ''Diateichisma'' ({{langx, el, διατείχισμα, , cross wall) was an addition to the city walls of Athens constructed in the 280s BC. The ''Diateichisma'' was built after the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC). It was 900m long and built ...

'' dividing the settlement, with many segments of the wall apparently missing at the time of Stählin's visit. Stählin noted no remains predating the Classical period, with most of the standing ruins being Medieval (see below). No archaeological excavation or examination has been conducted of the ancient city since Stählin's visit, but a small late-Classical

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

was discovered in 2006 just northeast of the

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

Harbour settlement at Agios Konstantinos

During rescue excavations prompted by the expansion of the national highway

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

Larisa Larisa may refer to: * Larisa (Argos), ancient and medieval acropolis of Argos, Greece * Larisa (Caria), town of ancient Caria, Turkey * Larisa (Ionia), town of ancient Ionia, Turkey * Larisa (Lydia), town of ancient Lydia, Turkey * Larisa (T ...

in the early 2000s, considerable remains of an urban harbour settlement was found at the hill of Ayios Konstantinos, 4 km south of the ancient city, next the shore of the Maliac gulf. This settlement was probably the harbour of ancient Larissa, and situated in a protected bay of the Euboean Gulf, it must have been an important node in the local trade network. The remains have been dated to the Classical period, and appears to have been abandoned in the 4th century BC. It consists of a lower town at the beach protected by a fortification wall that extents to the adjacent hilltop where they enclose a small acropolis. A Late Hellenistic to Roman cemetery later occupied the site, which appears to have been completely abandoned at this point.

Modern situation

The visible ruins of the Classical-

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

period are partially covered by the masonry of the medieval settlement of Gardiki. The most well-preserved part of the medieval city is the hill-top keep which had been constructed on top of the previous

, with a large cistern at its centre. The ruins of a church, the co-called ''Frangoekklisia'' (the "Frankish church") was visible immediately west of the ancient city wall by the early 20th century, but nothing of it remains today. Most of the visible remains on the site are now quite overgrown with shrubland, making it hard to discern most of the antiquities. An early Christian basilica, Ayia Dynamis, with preserved mosaics was uncovered in 1981 about 5 km to the south close to the harbour settlement of ancient Larissa. The site of ancient Larissa Cremaste is easily accessible for visitors, with signs directing from the national highway through the nearby village of Pelasgia. The hill-sides, however, are quite steep and covered in prickly shrubs, making the acropolis more difficult to reach.

Notes

:Still visible today immediately north of the road-side ().

References

{{reflist, refs= {{DGRG, title=Larissa {{cite book, last=Stählin, first=Friedrich, date=1924, title=Das hellenische Thessalien: Landeskundliche und geschichtliche Beschreibung Thessaliens in der Hellenistischen und römischen Zeit, location=Stuttgart {{cite thesis, last=Papageorgiou, first=Panagiota, date=2015, title=Η παλαιοχριστιανική βασιλική της θέσης "Αγία Δύναμις" στην Πελασγία Φθιώτιδας, location=Volos, doi=10.26253/heal.uth.6437 , url=https://ir.lib.uth.gr/xmlui/handle/11615/47199, type=masterThesis {{cite conference, title=Η έκφραση της Κλασικής πόλης στη Θεσσαλία. Το παράδειγμα της Πελασγίας, last1=Stamoudi, first1=Ekaterini, date=2008, publisher=Περιφέρεια Θεσσαλίας, book-title=1ο Διεθνές Συνέδριο Ιστορίας και Πολιτισμού της Θεσσαλίας: πρακτικά, 9-11 Νοεμβρίου 2006, Λάρισα, pages=139–151, location=Larisa {{cite journal, last1=Papastamatopoulou, first1=Aristea, date=2019, title=Ένας υστερορρωμαϊκός καμαροσκεπής τάφος σε μια άγνωστη κλασική πόλη της Αχαΐας Φθιώτιδας, url=https://www.themata-archaiologias.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/tafos-ach-phio-tha-2019-3-3-368-379.pdf, journal=Themes in Archaeology, volume=3, issue=3, pages=368–379, access-date=2021-01-08 Populated places in ancient Thessaly Cities in ancient Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece Former populated places in Greece Achaea Phthiotis