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Modern Description: Port of Thessalian Thebes and a harbour with intense mercantile activity. There was a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore (Demetrion) here. The city declined in the Late Hellenistic period (1st century BC). Many graves have been excavated in its environs.
In Early Christian times it was the largest port in Thessaly (some anchorages are visible). The Early Christian city, in its heyday from the 4th till the 7th century, extended over the coastal plain, on the site of ancient Pyrasus. It was destroyed by fire in the late 7th century. Justinian additions (6th century) to the wall that surrounded the acropolis of ancient Pyrasus can be seen. Ruins of public and private buildings (including the bishop's palace) have been uncovered, as well as nine large basilicas, near the main street of the Early Christian city, which led to the harbour. These have extensive marble and mosaic floors, and finely carved sculpted decoration. The three-aisled basilica dedicated to Saint Demetrios was the episcopal church (late 5th or early 6th century). The basilica of Elpidios is dated to the same period. That of High Priest Peter, the largest and most luxurious (earliest phase late 4th or early 5th century) was part of a major ecclesiastical complex. Parts of its mosaic floor (6th century) are preserved. Outside the walls is the cemetery basilica (second half of 5th or 6th century). A mosaic floor in the Martyrdom basilica (AD 431). A host of inscriptions and graves have been found in excavations. Ruins of very large Early Christian buildings in the vicinity of the airport.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nea_Anchialos
Wikidata ID: Q583647
Trismegistos Geo: 38164
Manto: 9720419

Info: Archaeological Atlas of the Aegean

(Archaeological Atlas of the Aegean, Ministry of the Aegean)

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