Από την κλασική Βρέα στο μεσαιωνικό κάστρο της Βρυάς : οι αλληλοδιάδοχες οικιστικές φάσεις με βάση τις γραπτές μαρτυρίες και τα μέχρι σήμερα πορίσματα των ανασκαφών
Part of : Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη ; Vol.10, No.Α, 1996, pages 313-332
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Pages:
313-332
Parallel Title:
From classical Brea to the medieval castle of Vrya : the successive building phases as evidenced by written sources and the conclusions of excavations to date
Author:
Abstract:
The tumulus of Veria, which stands above the coast at Nea Syllata in Chal- cidice, was inhabited as far back as prehistoric times, as the surface excavations to date have shown.Behind the modern place-name Veria we ought, perhaps, to detect the an cient city of Beroea or Brea, although the earliest of the chance finds from the historic period yet to come to light go no further back than the fourth century BC.The excavations, which began in 1978, have mostly been of in the nature of rescue operations and have been confined to the flat areas to the east and, principally, the west of the mound. The scanty traces of Hellenistic and early Roman buildings identified outside the walls are not sufficient to give us specific information about the size of the city during that period. On the other hand, the two cemeteries discovered to the east and west of the tumulus and the large buildings which have come to light on the flat ground to the west are evidence that the city was highly developed during the Late Roman and Early Christian periods.There is a gap in our knowledge of the site from the seventh to the ninth century. In the late tenth or early eleventh century, the settlement revived on the naturally strong site of the tumulus, presumably within the acropolis of the ancient city. This was the Castle of Vrya to which the Byzantine sources re - peatedly refer. The fact that the Castle occupied this site is demonstrated by the traces of walls and towers long known to be located there and especially by the lengthy section of fortifications and the main gate on the west side which have come to light during the systematic excavations conducted since 1993. According to the written sources, this fortified Byzantine city flourished in the mid-Byzantine period, when it was the seat of a bishop, and was abandoned in the second half of the thirteenth century.In terms of urban organisation, we can note that the buildings are aligned along an E-W axis. The buildings of late antiquity found along the western edge of the archaeological site are of large dimensions, with carefully executed masonry, and had been used as storerooms and workshops. Among them were wine-vats and pottery kilns, and there seem also to have been some cult buildings. As we advance in history towards the main Byzantine period, so the town diminishes in size, confining itself to the foot of the tumulus, where the houses were densely arranged and successive building phases have been discovered. These Byzantine buildings, dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century, include houses, storerooms, wine-vats and workshops, with mud-built walls and small rooms opening off one another. The most interesting building is a small bath-house found outside the Castle, facing the west gate. In the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, the inhabited area to the west of the Castle must have been abandoned, and the ruined buildings used thereafter as a cemetery. Life would seem to have continued up on the tumulus inside the Castle of Vrya, now fortified, and it is there, of course, that future excavations will focus.
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Subject (LC):
Keywords:
Μεσαίωνας, Χαλκιδική, συνέδρια
Notes:
Περιέχει κατόψεις και εικόνες
