Avlemonas castle (Kythera) Avlemonas - Αβλέμονας

Avlemonas, Venetian octagonal bastion of 16th c, guarding bay at Avlemonas, Kythera
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Latitude: 36.225300
Longitude: 23.080700
Confidence: High

Place ID: 362230FAvl
Time period: M
Region: Attica
Country: Greece
Department: Islands/Kythera
Mod: Avlemonas

- IDAI gazetteer ID

Modern Description: One large area of quarrying is visible to the landward side of the coast-road just before it enters Avlémonas. Avlémonas has grown up around a tiny natural cove which was once a principal port of the island. It was just out to sea from here that Lord Elgin's ship, Mentor, carrying a consignment of the Parthenon sculptures en route for London, sank and had to be raised from the sea-bed in 1803. There is a fine, octagonal, 16th century Venetian fortress on the promontory which guards the entrance to the port. The picturesque harbour is dominated by the 18th century Cavallini mansion, with an elaborate sundial over its entrance: this building served as the Austro-Hungarian consulate in the early 19th century. The fact that the clear waters of these bays are sometimes referred to as Loutra Aphroditis, or ‘Baths of Aphrodite', is witness to the persistent tradition that the goddess's remarkable birth happened nearby.
Herodotus's words, quoted above, could suggest that Avlémonas might be, in origin, a Phoenician settlement – perhaps the site of the ancient port which bore the name of ‘Finikounda'. But evidence of a Phoenician presence has always been characteristically elusive, and may simply derive from the fact that Kythera was famous in classical antiquity for the production of purple dye from the murex shell – an industry and trade that was particularly associated with the Phoenicians.
Wikidata ID: Q17606372
Trismegistos Geo: 3356

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)


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