Ancient Eliki’s excavation site

Known also as Helike, this ancient city near Aegio and the Selinus river lies today in the Municipality of Diakopto, where the idyllic village of Eliki is today. The old settlement was apparently destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, with much ruins having sunk into the sea. Many ancients such as Siculus, Homer, Marcus Aurelius and of course Pausanias have referred to the city in their writings. The Temple of Elikonian Poseidon and others were noted at the site, which was officially discovered by archaeologists only in 2001. The site unveils evidence of destroyed buildings from the Classical era, as well as parts of the coastal Roman highway. Excavations of Eliki are also ongoing in the nearby village of Rizomylos. Before becoming submerged in eternal silence, the state was also a great cultural and religious centre, which minted its own currency. The Achaeans who settled there, ousting the Ionians, continued the worship of Poseidon.This place is probably identified, based on the findings and the ancient sources, with the sanctuary of Eliconius Poseidon of the Geometric and Archaic Times. An arched geometric temple of 710 BC has been excavated at the site. about. It is a brick altar of 760 – 750 BC, which was the “center” of worship before the construction of the arched temple, as well as the tiling of a later temple of 550 BC. The findings that have come to light so far help us to outline aspects of 8th century society. In Eliki, there was a prosperous society that followed the developments in the rest of Greece, in which a class of nobles – warriors led. In 2004 the arched church of the 8th c. e.g. and the tiling of the temple of the 6th BC. century and was the first time we excavated places of worship in the city, which we know from ancient writers that was destroyed in 373 by the great earthquake.