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Rhamnous Archaeological Site is an ancient Greek settlement situated in Attica region of Greece on a mountains overlooking the Euboean Strait. In the ancient times it was known for its sanctuary dedicated to Nemesis, goddess of vengeance. Thousands of very angry people came here to pray to an ancient deity in hopes she will take care of their enemies. The site of Rhamnous Archaeological Site was destroyed in 399 AD by a Byzantine Emperor Arcadius. Christian ruler issued a decree that closed this pagan religious complex and the settlement was eventually abandoned in the early medieval times. One of the most prominent structures on a Rhamnous site are two temples that stand side by side. The smaller and older temple dedicated to Themis was constructed in the 6th century. In the ancient times the city government used the sanctuary as the official treasury of the settlement. Another temple was dedicated to goddess Nemesis in the mid- 5th century. It contained the statue of the deity, but after the closure of this temple, it was destroyed. Archaeologists managed to rescue several pieces of the original and reconstruct it. The head of Nemesis is currently held in the British Museum in London, UK. Most of the walls of both temples were queried by the locals after Rhamnous was abandoned.
Designation
The name of the municipality comes
from the plant "ramnos" (thorny shrub, common name: lemongrass,
scientific name: Rhamnus, family: Ramnoides, Rhamnaceae), which
grows to this day in the area of the municipality.
Location
of the ancient municipality
The municipality of Ramnounta was a
municipality of Paralia. The archeological site of Rhamnous is
located in the valley of Limikos, near the area of Marathon and
Grammatiko, a short distance from the sea.
The 19th century
researchers Iakovos Rizos Ragavis and Dionysios Sourmelis also
confirm the timeless existence of the municipality in this area.
Excavations in Rhamnous
The first exploratory excavation in
Rhamnous was made by the Dilettanti in 1813, while in 1880 Dimitrios
Filios carried out excavations. Between the years 1890-1892, a team
of archaeologists led by Valerios Stai continued the excavation
work, which discovered the sanctuary of Nemesis, the fortress and
many burial precincts. In 1958 a brief excavation was carried out by
Efthimios Mastrokostas, while from 1975 until today the
archaeological site of Rhamnous is excavated and studied
systematically with funding from the Athens Archaeological Society,
headed by the archaeologist and academician Vassi Pedamikoi.
The archeological site of Rhamnous
The archeological site of
Rhamnous occupies a hill 30 meters high which is located very close
to the sea between two bays. Its walled part covers an area of 230
by 270 meters. Within the walls are preserved the high school, the
theater, sanctuaries and the citadel of Rhamnous. The main gate of
the fortress is still to the south of the fortress, but there are
other, smaller gates. The construction of the walls is made of local
marble, from the nearby bay of Agia Marina. Within the boundaries of
the walls, the temples of Nemesis stand out, while outside the
walled place of worship, traces of houses are preserved. There is
also a temple of Amfiaraos (Amfiareion), but also several burial
precincts, such as that of Menestidos. Rhamnous, although the most
well-preserved ancient municipality of Attica, is one of the most
isolated archaeological sites. In recent years, there have been
phenomena of abandonment of the archaeological site.
The
participation of the municipality in the ancient Parliament
The
municipality, the existence of which is confirmed by various
inscriptions, as a member of the Aiantida tribe, participated with 8
deputies in the ancient Parliament of 500, during the first period
(508 - 307/306 BC). During the second period (307/306 - 224/223 BC)
the municipality was also represented with 8 deputies while in the
third period (224/223 - 201/200 BC) it was represented with 13
deputies in the House of 600. During the fourth (201/200 BC -
126/127) and the fifth period (126/127 - 3rd century) the number of
deputies-representatives of the municipality is unknown.
The
inhabitants of Rhamnous
The citizen of ancient Rhamnous was
called Ramnousios. The ancient city of Ramnounta dominated two ports
of strategic importance for ancient Athens, which correspond to the
creeks in front of the present-day villages of Sesi and Agia Marina.
Monuments
The understanding of Rhamnous's history had been
greatly improved by the work of Jean Pouilloux, who studied the
fortress and the inscriptions from the area.
Acropolis and
fortress of Ramnountos
The center of the municipality was
fortified from the fourth century BC. and the citadel dates back to
around 413 BC. These fortifications were manned by teenagers, who
were serving their term in the second year.
In 295 BC. the
municipality was conquered by Demetrius I of Macedonia, but soon
returned to the Athenians. Shortly afterwards, it became the base of
Ptolemy's allied forces during the Chremonidean War (268 or 267-261
BC).
The fortified citadel of Rhamnous encloses a high hill
in the area, about 28 meters high, while the walls of the fortress
are about 2.30 to 2.70 meters wide. The walls were made of local
marble from the area of modern Agia Marina. The fortress of
Rhamnous was mentioned, in various later times and with the names
Tavrokastron or Ovriokastron or Linikon or Ellinikon. There was also
a significant number of buildings outside the walls of the fortified
area.
The sanctuaries of Nemesis
In Ramnountas there are two sanctuaries of
Rhamnous Nemesis (the small and the big). According to a
mythological version, the goddess Nemesis was the mother of the
beautiful Helen, who was born from an egg left by the
swan-transformed Zeus in the womb of Leda. The first evidence of the
cult of Nemesis in this municipality dates back to 499 BC, although
it is possible that the cult begins even earlier. Around 430 BC. The
temple dedicated to the deity was built, which was one of the last
examples of polygonal construction. Next to it was another temple of
Nemesis and Themis.
The two temples of Nemesis are located
very close to each other, in an area towards the road between
Rhamnous and Marathon, about 630 meters south of the later city. In
modern times, the remarkable work of John Peter Gandy's was the
first attempt, in 1813, to document the area. As a pioneer with
rudimentary discipline, he records in the notes and drawings a lot
of information that would otherwise have been lost.
The
sanctuary of Nemesis was created during the Archaic era in a walled
area. During the first years it coexisted with the surrounding
settlement but later the sanctuary was isolated and the houses and
the rest of the infrastructure were scattered in the surrounding
area. The sanctuary of Nemesis continued to flourish during the
Roman period as it received tributes from Roman emperors.
Small temple of Nemesis and Themis
The first, the smallest,
temple of Nemesis and Themis, dates from the end of the 6th century
BC, and was built with stone from Poros and laconic tiles and was
probably destroyed by the Persians between 480-479 BC. At the
beginning of the 5th BC. century this small temple was rebuilt in
Doric style (6X12: dimensions 6.15 X 9.9 meters) on the earlier
ruins, where the goddesses Themis and Nemesis were previously
worshiped, as indicated by votive inscriptions on two marble seats
of the 4th BC century located on the atrium of the sanctuary. The
first was the personification of the right series and the last,
revenge for the offenders. The temple was built of local dark marble
and was covered with terracotta tiles. The walls of the nave as well
as the square of the atrium of the sanctuary are in a lesbian
polygonal style of masonry. The small temple probably later served
as the treasury of the large temple and to house various cult
statues. This construction was maintained until the 4th century AD.
Statue of Themis
During the excavations of 1890, under
Valerios Stai, in the nave of the small church was found the statue
of Themis of Rhamnous (also known as: Themis (National
Archaeological Museum no. 231) which is kept today in the National
Archaeological Museum of Athens. The goddess Themida wears a
high-waisted tunic, richly pleated robe and sandals. The head is
inlaid and the right hand was added by a separate piece of marble.
Themis, daughter of Heaven and Earth, was a goddess of justice and
in Rhamnous she was worshiped in the same temple as Nemesis. On the
front of the pedestal there is an inscription according to which the
statue, which was made by Hairestratos from Ramnountas, was a
tribute of Megacleus to Themis. This is a work, around 300 BC. and
is located at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Great temple of Nemesis
The construction of the largest temple of
Nemesis began between the years 460-450 BC. and continued until the
years 430-420 BC. It was built as a Doric temple pavilion, during
the reign of Pericles, when the Parthenon was built in Athens. It is
believed that it was designed by the architect Kallikrates, who had
also designed the temple of Hephaestus in Athens, the temple of
Poseidon at the cape of Sounio and the temple of Mars in Acharnes.
The stereo's responsibility and the lower level of the platform
were made of local black marble, while the rest was made of white
marble.
The Peloponnesian War must have stopped the
completion of the temple, from 431 BC. and the carvings of the
columns were not carved, while parts of the pillar remained
unfinished, causing damage to the protective marble which was more
easily destroyed at the corners and upper surfaces. There were no
sculptures on the pediments, nor were the metopes decorated with
sculptural decoration. The roof, however, was decorated with
sculpted capes.
At some point, after the initial construction, the
temple of Nemesis was severely damaged at its eastern end and its
upper parts and then repaired. This damage, as in other temples in
the area and the destruction of various monuments in Athens is
believed to have been caused by armies of Philip V of Macedonia,
during raids in 200 BC. The marble sections used to repair the
temple of Nemesis are different from the originals and the equipment
is quite different, suggesting that the repairs were made during the
Roman period, when interest in the old classical temples was
renewed. The central part of the entablature, at the eastern end of
the temple, bears the inscription of the municipality of Rhamnous
towards the deified Libya, which may be connected with the repairs.
This reconstruction must have been costly, as significant
replacement work was carried out at the eastern end of the temple,
in parts concerning the frieze, the cornice, perhaps the drum, the
cornice collector, the capes, and perhaps part of the sign, the
tiles and the roof. Unlike other temples in Attica that had been
destroyed, the temple of Nemesis had not been stripped of useful
parts or had been removed in its entirety for transport to Athens.
Instead, it was proudly restored as an important local monument.
Statue of Nemesis
The nave of the great temple housed the
dominant cult object, the statue of Nemesis, which was a sculpture
of Agoracritus, a student of Pheidias, made of a piece of Parian
marble and which was about 4 meters high. The Roman historian and
connoisseur of Varron rates it as the best example of Greek
sculpture. He estimated that it may have been the work of
Agoracritus, although according to Pausanias, others attributed it
to his own teacher Pheidias. It is said that it was originally a
statue of the goddess Aphrodite which was rejected by the main
builder of the work and had been turned into a statue of Nemesis in
order to be sold for the temple in Rhamnous, provided, however, that
it was never returned to Athens.
Later, in the early 19th
century, on the ruins of the ruined great temple, a marble head was
discovered by the British architect John Peter Gandy (1787–1850)
from a cult statue of Nemesis of the same size as the one mentioned,
which had perforations for fixing gold , which is now an exhibit in
the Collection of the British Museum. This head seems to have
stylistic similarities with the sculptures of the gable of the
Parthenon of the years 440-432 BC. Many members of the original
statue have been recovered and reconstructed from the hundreds of
fragments found scattered after the destruction of the image of
worship by the early Christians, and this allowed the identification
of a total of eleven Roman copies, on a smaller scale, of the
original statue. The base of the statue, about 90 points in height
and 240 points in width, has also been rebuilt. On the three sides
of the base, the scene unfolds with a representation that shows the
presentation of the beautiful Eleni to her mother Nemesis, by Leda.
Other worship traditions
In Rhamnous there were also
sanctuaries of Aphrodite the Hegemon, Dionysus, Zeus the Savior,
Athena Sotira and the heroes Arigetis and Aristomachos. Comedies and
other theatrical events were held in honor of Dionysus, while as
part of the sacred ceremonies to Nemesis, torchlight races were also
held.
Burial monuments
Many burial monuments have been
recovered from various burials along the road between Rhamnous and
Marathon.
Tomb relief of Hieron and Lysippus
A
characteristic find is the tomb relief in Pentelic marble,
approximately between the years 325-300 BC, which was found in
Rhamnous. It depicts a mature, bearded man based on bacteria and a
young woman who silently shake hands, united and after death. The
special beauty of the woman with her slender features, her slender
figure and the elegance of her posture refer to statues of
Praxitelos. It belongs to a tomb temple from the burial precinct of
Hierocles. The pediment with the names of the dead, Hieros, son of
Hierocles, from Rhamnous and Lysippus, is located in Rhamnous. There
is also the base of the temple with an epigram, which refers to
Jerome and his four brothers who died before him. The tomb relief is
located at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Roman period
During the Roman period, around
the year 46, tributes were made to the sanctuary which included the
worship of the deified Libya, wife of the Roman emperor Augustus and
to the also deified emperor Claudius. During the 2nd century, Herod
the Atticus offered as dedications the busts of the emperors Mark
Aurelius and Leucius Verus, as well as a statue of the student of
Polydecion. The cult of Nemesis in Ramnounta officially ended with
the decree of the Byzantine emperor Arkadi in 382, who ordered the
destruction of any surviving polytheistic temples in the
countryside.
Celebrities from Rhamnous
There were various
well-known citizens from the municipality of Rhamnous, such as
Demetrios Ramnousios, Dimeas Ramnousios, Dikaidis Ramnousios,
Diodoros Ramnousios, Diognitos Rhamnous and others. Among the best
known, who had some kind of relationship with the municipality or
its area were also:
Ifikratis, was born in 418 BC (he had
joined the municipality).
Antifon Rhamnous, was born in 480 BC
(he had joined the municipality).