A Tour of the Walls of Ancient Thasos
The earliest circuit was demolished by order of Darius (491-2), the second by Kimon (464-3); the excisting wall, on the old foundations throughout, dates mainly from a reconstruction in 412-411 BC. Two styles of masonry, polygonal and aslar, can be distinguished. From the modern landing-place at Limenas one can first visit the ancient Naval Harbour, which, although silted up, still shelters small caiques. The two moles , one protected by walls forming a marine extension of the enceinte, have been raised to the level of the water, in which can been seen the foundations of a large round tower at the angle of the S mole.
Fragment of a clay sima from the Archaic Prytaneion (Town Hall) of Thasos. 540-525
B.C., Thasos Archaeological Museum.
From this harbour a path, following the lines of the walls, leads N. One soon reaches two ancient gateaways which afforded access to the shore between the two harbours. Each gate is adorned with an Archaic bas-relief, contemporary with the date of the circumvallation (494 BC), after which they can been called the Chariot Gate and the Gate of Semele-Thyone. The first relief represents Artemis in her chariot, the horses of which are help by Hermes; the second is a multilated group of Hermes and the Graces.
Inland of the gate an ancient quarter has been uncovered by removing most of the Roman remains to slow the growth of the town between 8C and 5C BC.
The path ascends gradually inland (E) and we see, submerged in the sea, the remains of the moles of the Commercial Harbour. The constructions on the promontory are of medieval date. Thasopoula, the small island to the N, now inhabited only by birds, has slight ancient and medieval remains. The path now bears S along the walls, here of admirable polygonal blocks, to a wood of holm oaks, amid which (below right) is the cavea of the Greek Theatre. The remains were tidied up in 1957 to show the surviving architectural members of the 4C BC, recovered from the late remodelling of the orchestra (by the Romans for wild beast shows).
Climbing, following the scarp (the walls here has been destroyed) to the Acropolis, a ridge with three summits. The first is known by inscriptions to have held a Sanctuary of Pythian Appolo (the god who told the Parians to colonise Thasos). The existing remains except from parts of the foundations are of the Geonoese Citadel, dating partly from a reconstruction by Tedisio Zaccaria (c 1310) and in part from the Gattilusi era. At the S angle is the guard-room, built of ancient materials; near by, in the outer wall, is an elegant relief of funeral feast (5C or 4C BC).
The wal now runs SW through remains of medieval village to a high terrace of fine construction on which are the foundations (all that survives) of the 5C Temple of Athena, identified in 1958 by the discovery of sherds dedicated to Athena Polyouchos. The path now descends to a little col where there is a rock-hewn Sanctuary of Pan, with a worn Hellinistic bas-relief of the god piping to his goats. Just beyond this a high rock forming the third summit commands an extensive view of Samothrace and the mainland.
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The ancient theatre of Thasos
One can descend steeply to the SW by a secret Stairway hewn from the rock in the 6C BC, until one regains the line of the walls. Having passed a tower, one notes a large stone on which is carved an Apotropaion, two enormous eyes to protect the enceinte from the Evil Eye. Just before reaching a sharp bend in the wall to the W, one can come to the Gate of Parmenon, with its lintel still in place; nearby is a block signed with the name of the craftsman: 'Parmenon made me.' One passes through a gate and descends. On reaching level ground one can turn away from the town to see the Gate of Silenus, an unusual oblique postern, with a colossal mutilated bas-relief of Silenus holding a kantharos; below is a niche for votive offerings. The sculpture, which is of Ionian workmanship and unique for its style and size, survives from the earliest circuit. Beyond a tower with embrasures is the Gate of Dionysos and Hercules. An archaic inscription still in place records that these two gods were the patron divinities of Thasos. The relief of the archer Hercules is in Constantinople; that of Dionysos is missing. One can go on to the Gate of Zeus and Hera, which has 5C bas-reliefs in the Archaic manner: before the seated Hera stands Iris; before Zeus, Hermes. A few metres away, in the midst of olive trees through which one can glimpse the sea, is the fine Roman Sarcophagus of Poliades. The line of the walls continues NW, crossing the village square to reach tha harbour.
