Kassope or ''Cassope'' ( grc, Κασσώπη - ''Kassōpē'', also Κασσωπία - ''Kassōpia'' and Κασσιόπη - ''Kassiopē'') was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

cityAn Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 346 in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

. Kassope occupies a magnificent and remote site on a high platform overlooking the sea, the Ambracian Gulf and the fertile lands to the south, and with the slopes of the

Zalongo Zalongo ( el, Ζάλογγο) is a former municipality in the Preveza regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Preveza, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...

mountain to the north. It is considered one of the best remaining examples of a city built on a rectilinear street grid of a

Hippodamian plan Hippodamus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Μιλήσιος, ''Hippodamos ho Milesios''; 498 – 408 BC) was an ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosopher, who is considered to b ...

in Greece.Guide Bleu, ''Greece''. Hachette Livre, 2000. p. 627.

History

The first settlements on the site are from the Paleolithic. However the city of Kassope was founded in the middle of the 4th century BC as the capital of the Kassopaeans, a sub-tribe of the

Thesprotians The Thesprotians ( grc, Θεσπρωτοί, Thesprōtoí) were an ancient Greek tribe, akin to the Molossians, inhabiting the kingdom of Thesprotis in Epirus. Together with the Molossians and the Chaonians, they formed the main tribes of the nort ...

. It belonged to the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

. Cassope or Cassopia is mentioned in the war carried on by

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 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 conte ...

against

Alcetas II of Epirus Alcetas II ( el, Ἀλκέτας; 313–306 ВС), king of Epirus, was the son of Arybbas, and grandson of Alcetas I. On account of his ungovernable temper, he was banished by his father, who appointed his younger son, Aeacides, to succeed him. O ...

, in 312 BC. The city flourished in the 3rd century BC, when large public buildings were built. Kassope also minted its own coins. It was destroyed by Roman forces in 168-167 BCCassope page
of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture Kassope was abandoned in 31 B.C. when the remaining inhabitants resettled to Nikopolis the region's new capital.

Archaeology

The ruins of Kassope were visited and described by

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

in the early 19th century. Extensive excavations were performed by a Greek team under Sotiris Dakaris in 1952 and 1955, and in 1977-1983 by a team from the University of Ioannina together with the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...

, co-led by Dakaris, Wolfram Hoepfner, Konstantina Gravani, and

Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner (2 June 1938 Berlin - 11 August 2021 Stahnsdorf) was a German architectural historian and classical archaeologist. Schwandner received his doctorate in 1975 from the Technischen Universität München (Germany) with a the ...

. The visible remains include Cyclopean walls, an agora, a theatre, civic buildings, and private houses.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20160611190950/http://www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?ID=14713 {{Coord, 39, 08, 43, N, 20, 40, 32, E, display=title, region:GR-PV_type:landmark_source:dewiki Populated places established in the 4th century BC Cities in ancient Epirus Populated places in ancient Epirus Former populated places in Greece Archaeological sites in Epirus (region) Cities in ancient Greece

History

Archaeology

See also

References

External links