Boeae or Boiai (), also known as Boea or Boia (Βοία), was a town in the south of

ancient Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, situated between the promontories Malea and Onugnathos, in the bay called after it Boeatic Gulf (Βοιατικὸς κόλπος). The town is said to have been founded by Boeus, one of the

Heraclidae The Heracleidae (; ) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son b ...

, who led thither colonists from the neighbouring towns of Etis,

Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; ) was a Hellenistic Greek city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Asia Minor, today's Anatolia in Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about east/inland from the coast of the Aegean Sea, and s ...

, and

Side Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side, Turkey, a city in Turkey * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, ...

. It afterwards belonged to the

Eleuthero-Lacones The League of Free Laconians () was established in southern Greece in 21 BC by the Emperor Augustus,Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos. ''Deep into Mani: Journey to the southern tip of Greece'', 21 giving formal structure to a group of cities that had been ...

, and was visited by Pausanias, who mentions a temple of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

in the forum, and temples of Aesculapius and of

Sarapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian god. A syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter, as a means to ...

and

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

elsewhere. At the distance of seven '' stadia'' from the town there were ruins of a temple of Aesculapius and

Hygieia Hygieia is a goddess from Greek mythology (more commonly spelled Hygeia, sometimes Hygiea; ; or , or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her name is the source for the word "hygiene". Hygieia devel ...

. Its site is located near the modern

Neapoli Voion Neapoli Voion or Neapolis Voion () also named Vatika () is a small town in Laconia regional unit, southern Greece. It is built near the south end of Malea peninsula, close to the Cape Maleas. It is 335 km southeast of Athens and 115 km s ...

References

Populated places in ancient Laconia Former populated places in Greece {{AncientLaconia-geo-stub