Pheia ( or Φειά) or Phea (Φεά) was a city of

ancient Elis Elis () or Eleia (; ; Elean: ; ) is an ancient district in Greece that corresponds to the modern regional unit of Elis. Elis is in southern Greece on the Peloponnese, bounded on the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messen ...

in the

Pisatis Pisa () is a village situated to the east of Olympia, Greece, located on the northwest side of the Peloponnesus peninsula. Currently it is not politically independent but it is a community of the municipality of Ancient Olympia, in the regional ...

, situated upon the isthmus connecting the promontory

Ichthys The ichthys or ichthus (), from the Greek (, 1st cent. AD Koinē Greek pronunciation: , "fish") is, in its modern rendition, a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to ...

(now the Cape of Katakolo) with the mainland. Pheia is mentioned by

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, who places it near the Iardanus, which is apparently the mountain torrent north of Ichthys, and which flows into the sea on the northern side of the lofty mountain Skaphídi. It was built in a natural bay at today's Agios Andreas, Katakolo. It was destroyed in the 6th century.''SKRIP'' newspaper, page 2, 3/31/1911, accessed from th
Greek national library
Upon a very conspicuous peaked height upon the isthmus of Ichthys are the ruins of a castle of the Middle Ages, called Pontikokastro, built upon the remains of the Hellenic walls of Pheia. On either side of Ichthys are two harbours; the northern one, which is a small creek, was the port of Pheia; the southern one is the broad bay of

Katakolo Katakolo () is a seaside village in the municipality of Pyrgos in western Elis, Greece. It is situated on a headland overlooking the Ionian Sea and separating the Gulf of Kyparissia from the rest of the Ionian. It is west of Pyrgos. The small v ...

, which is now much frequented, but was too open and exposed for ancient navigation. The position of these harbours explains the narrative of

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

, who relates that in the first year of the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

(431 BCE), the

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

fleet, having sailed from Methone in

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...

, landed at Pheia (that is, in the bay of Katakolo), and laid waste the country; but a storm having arisen, they sailed round the promontory Ichthys into the harbour of Pheia. Thereafter the Athenians used the town and ports as a base for military operations in Elis. In front of the harbour was a small island, which

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

calls Pheias.

Archaeological remains

The first excavations were made in 1911. In 1959 Nikos Yalouris explored the underwater remains of Pheia. In 1973 the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology made a survey in the bay of Agios Andreas near

, and found the remains of the town at a depth of below sea level. The archaeological remains at Agios Andreas date from the

Early Helladic Helladic chronology is a relative dating system used in archaeology and art history. It complements the Minoan chronology scheme devised by Sir Arthur Evans for the categorisation of Bronze Age artefacts from the Minoan civilization within a his ...

through the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

periods. The finds included the remains of buildings, pot sherds, fragments of

amphorae An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

, the remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

cemetery and a Byzantine coin. Two cycladic marble figures from the Bronze Age were found on the headland, as well as finds of tombs and remains of Roman buildings on Tigani island. A

kouros Kouros (, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculpture, Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with ...

and the remains of a painted terracotta roof are among the finds dating to the late Archaic period. There is also prehistoric pottery scattered across the site.

Destruction

Recent studies at Agios Andreas have shown that the region suffered from the effects of tsunamis several times. Pheia was destroyed in 551 by a tsunami caused by an earthquake that was known historically. The earthquake was also responsible for the destruction of the city of Patras and for completing the destruction of the

Temple of Zeus Temple of Zeus may refer to: Organization *Temple of Zeus (organization), an occult religious organization Greece * Temple of Zeus, Olympia * Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens * Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus, Athens Italy * Temple of Olympian Zeus, ...

at Olympia.

References

{{DGRG, title=Pheia Populated places in ancient Elis Underwater ruins Former populated places in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Peloponnese (region)