Daphnus or Daphnous ( grc, Δαφνοῦς) was a city on the Euboean Sea, originally belonging to

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 ...

, which thus extended from the

Corinthian Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isth ...

to the Euboean sea. Its narrow territory separated the

Locri Epicnemidii Opuntian Locris or Eastern Locris was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek region inhabited by the eastern division of the Locrians, the so-called tribe of the Locri Epicnemidii ( el, ) or Locri Opuntii (Greek: ). Geography Opuntian Locris consis ...

from the

Locri Opuntii Opuntian Locris or Eastern Locris was an ancient Greek region inhabited by the eastern division of the Locrians, the so-called tribe of the Locri Epicnemidii ( el, ) or Locri Opuntii (Greek: ). Geography Opuntian Locris consisted of a narro ...

; but it was afterwards assigned to the Opuntii. The town was in ruins in the time of Strabo, who fixes its site by describing it as distant 20 stadia from Cynus and 120 from Elateia, and as having a harbour. Daphnus appears in an inscription dated to 407 BCE. Daphnus lay at the head of a pass that was one of the major arteries from northern to central Greece.

Archaeology

The site of Daphnus is near the modern village of Agios Konstantinos. The ruins of Daphnus were first noted in 1844 by Ludwig Ross. The ancient site was re-discovered in 2005-2007 during the construction of the main road above the modern town in the area of the Malian Gulf. The most important discovery is the very well preserved but previously unknown Sanctuary of

Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...

, containing a group of statues, and which has turned out to be one of the earliest Asklepieia on the Greek mainland, dating from the 5th century BC.

References

{{DGRG, title=Daphnus Populated places in ancient Phocis Populated places in Opuntian Locris Former populated places in Greece Cities in ancient Greece Ancient Greek cities