The Agora of the Competaliasts () is an

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

archaeological site on the island of

Delos Delos (; ; ''Dêlos'', ''Dâlos''), is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Though only in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, which dates to the last quarter of the 2nd century BC. It is an

agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...

(public space and commercial center) directly adjacent to the Sacred Harbour. The bases of a square and a round marble monument, both dedicated to

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

, can be found in the center of the market square. Around these two monuments, one can see the remains of many other monuments erected by merchants, sea captains, and bankers. In the northern portion of this market, one can find the

Portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

of Philip and an Ionic temple dedicated to Hermes. In the eastern and southern portions are the remains of shops from the golden days of this Hellenic commerce center. The ground is paved with stones of

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

and there are holes in the stones where tent poles would have gone.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20031119024619/http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21121a/e211ua06.html Ancient Delos Economy of ancient Greece {{AncientGreece-stub