Echinus or Echinos () was 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 ...
town of
Acarnania
Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...
. Legend has it that it was founded by a
Greek mythological figure named
Echinus. It is mentioned by the poet
Rhianus, and appears in the list of cities of Acarnania transmitted by
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
, who places it between
Heraclea and
Actium. The site of Echinus is near the modern town of
Vonitsa
Vonitsa () is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. The beach town is situated on the south coast of the Ambracian Gulf, and is dominated by a Venetian fortress on a hill. Von ...
, probably the ''kastro'' (or castle) of Profitis Elias.
[.]
See also
*
List of cities in ancient Epirus
This is a list of cities in ancient Epirus. These were Greece, Greek poleis, komes or fortresses except for Nicopolis, which was founded by Octavian. Classical Epirus was divided into three regions: Chaonia, Molossia, Thesprotia, each named after ...
References
Sources
*
*
Populated places in ancient Acarnania
Cities in ancient Epirus
Former populated places in Greece
{{AncientEpirus-geo-stub