Amphicleia or Amphikleia ( grc, Ἀμφίκλεια) or Amphicaea or Amphikaia (Ἀμφίκαια) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

town in the north of

ancient Phocis Phocis was an ancient region in the central part of Ancient Greece, which included Delphi. A modern administrative unit, also called Phocis, is named after the ancient region, although the modern region is substantially larger than the ancient o ...

, distant 60 stadia from

Lilaea In Greek mythology, Lilaea or Lilaia (Ancient Greek: Λίλαια) may refer to two different women: * Lilaea, a Naiad of a spring of the same name. She was the daughter of the river god Cephissus. The ancient ''polis'' of Lilaea, and the modern ...

, and 15 stadia from Tithronium. It was destroyed by the Persian army of Xerxes in his invasion of Greece (480 BCE). Although

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

calls it Amphicaea, following the most ancient traditions, the

Amphictyonic League In Archaic Greece, an amphictyony ( grc-gre, ἀμφικτυονία, a "league of neighbors"), or amphictyonic league, was an ancient religious association of tribes formed before the rise of the Greek '' poleis''. The six Dorian cities of coasta ...

gave it the name of Amphicleia in their decree respecting rebuilding the town (346 BCE). It also bore for some time the name of Ophiteia (Ὀφιτεία), in consequence of a legend, which Pausanias relates. The place was celebrated in the time of Pausanias for the worship of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

, to which an inscription refers, found at the site of the ancient town. The site of the ancient town is occupied by the cemetery of the modern town of

Amfikleia Amfikleia ( el, Αμφίκλεια, before 1915: Δαδί - ''Dadi'') is a town and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amfikleia-Elateia, of which it is a municipal uni ...

. It is also the site of a medieval tower (Paliopyrgos), which has been built with extensive reuse of

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...

from the acropolis of Amphicleia.

References

Cities in ancient Greece Ancient Greek cities Populated places in ancient Phocis Former populated places in Greece {{AncientPhocis-geo-stub