{{Infobox ancient site , name = Rondini Square , native_name = , alternate_name = , image = AtheneOudheid.JPG , alt = , caption = Map of Piraeus and Athens, showing the

Long Walls Although long walls were built at several locations in ancient Greece, notably Corinth and Megara, the term ''Long Walls'' ( ) generally refers to the walls that connected classical Athens, Athens' main city to its ports at Piraeus and Phalerum, ...

(Μακρὰ Τείχη akra tei̯kʰɛː that once connected the two urban centres , map_type = , map_alt = , map_size = , coordinates = , location =

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

Athens 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 ...

, region =

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

, type = Arcaheological site , part_of = , length = , width = , area = , height = , builder = Hippodamus and others , material = stone , built = 493 BC , abandoned = , epochs = Classical Period , cultures = Greek , dependency_of =

, occupants = , event = , excavations = , archaeologists = , condition = Ruined , ownership = Private , management = Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attika, Piraeus and Islands , public_access = Visible from road , website = , notes = Rondini Square is an archaeological site which forms part of the ancient city of

, in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

History

Themistokles built the walls and city gates of Piraeus in 493 BC and according to

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 ...

this marked the foundation of the city of Piraeus.

Hippodamus Hippodamus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Μιλήσιος, ''Hippodamos ho Milesios''; c.480 BCE, 480–408 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosophe ...

planned the street pattern of Piraeus using the scheme of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

comprising simple mathematical proportions to create

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. In a city with a grid system, the block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are th ...

s. These formed the building plots and streets of the Piraeus port of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

. Hippodamus divided Piraeus into three parts: the commercial

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

, the

naval station A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

, the

sacred space A sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, holy place or holy site is a location which is regarded to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a Sacred natural site, natural feature may accrue through tradition or ...

and the

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

s. Around these elements were located the private spaces comprising houses and workshops.Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attica, Piraeus and Islands, interpretation information located at the site

Morphology

Rondini Square was an area of ancient houses and shops and it was uncovered in 1980 when excavations for the Piraeus

Courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

revealed a large section of an urban block of the ancient city. The block shows the remains of residential buildings from the late Classical Period to the early

Byzantine Period 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

with the best preserved houses dating from the

Roman Period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The excavations revealed houses from the original plan of Hippodamus, as well as narrow alleys, which formed secondary passages with a width of 2 to 3 metres. These are sited to the north and south of the block. The excavations also revealed the ancient central street of Piraeus known as the

Plateia Plateia or Platia (''πλατεία'') is the Greek word for town square. Most Greek and Cypriot cities have several town squares which are a point of reference in travelling and guiding. In traditional societies like villages and provincial commu ...

Odos which correlates with the modern street called Iroon Politechniou, and which runs along the east side of the archaeological site. In the centre of the block are two Roman houses, one of which has a

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

of 610.50 square metres in extent and another which has a floor plan of 628.26 square metres with a central

peristyle In ancient Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rare ...

. The rooms of the second house are located around a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

. Originally, the houses had single-room workshops along the eastern side of the block, with access from the street. In the fourth century the second house had multiple occupants and was used like an

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

building.

Archaeological finds

The excavations for the Piraeus courthouse also revealed coins, household equipment, imported

amphora 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 ...

e, and measures and weights made out of marble and lead. The excavations also revealed a couple of sekomata, used for

measuring Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared to ...

the volume of liquids. A marble fragment from first century BC was found and this comprises text in

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 ...

which lists the maximum prices for items offered for sale in the ancient ephthopoleia (tripe-shop). During the Roman period earlier material was re-used in the buildings, including fragments of sculptures from a funerary

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

, a

herm (sculpture) A herma (, plural ), commonly herm in English, is a sculpture with a head and perhaps a torso above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. Hermae were so called either becaus ...

and a

statuette A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

of Kybele.

Gallery

File:The Piraeus and the Long Walls of Athens.jpg, The Piraeus and the Long Walls of Athens. File:Rondini Square, Piraeus, photo 1.jpg File: Rondini Square, Piraeus, photo 2.jpg File: Rondini Square, Piraeus, photo 3.jpg File: Rondini Square, Piraeus, photo 4.jpg

References

Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Piraeus Buildings and structures completed in the 5th century BC Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Athens