Calydon was a Greek quoted of Étolie. The site of Calydon is easily locatable. It extends between two heights forming, with others, a projection in the south of the Arakynthos. Leaving the trunk road, after having crossed the bridge on the Evinos, one reaches, by a path, the sanctuary of Laphrion , located at the top of a rock headland visible good.

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The site of Calydon

In the North-East compared to the sanctuary, two hills meet, constituting a small coll inflecting respectively towards south-east and towards the west, they draw a small small valley covered of olive-trees and traversed by a torrent.

Another torrent, passing to the west height of the sanctuary, goes up towards Arakynthos, and delimits the Western part of the low city. The wall climbs until the top of the western hill which corresponds to the Acropole, then skirts the peak, coarsely of is in west and goes down well beyond the collar while curving towards the south. The Eastern hill is almost entirely encloses by the enclosure whose two ends were to be closed again in the small valley.

Entry of the fortress

The main entrance was at the point where the sacred way succeeded, i.e. with three hundred meters in the north of Laphrion.

The principal door, in the south of the city, is not very visible, being given its bad condition of conservation and because of the vegetation; it is hardly if one can recognize the entry which measured nearly five meters broad and were defended by two square towers.

Second door

While turning to the North-West and while following the part of rampart which skirts the torrent, one arrives to one second door, much more visible. This entry, definitely directed towards the North-West, oblique compared to the curtain which, in this place, measures 2,50  m thickness.

It is defended by a cusp of almost four meters of face, which is immediately on the right when one enters. The whole of construction is preserved as well as possible on three sat large apparatus. The opening of the gate measures 2,50  m broad outside and 3  m inside. In the corridor a rectangular cavity of 2,80  grows hollow; m length, formed by a withdrawal of one meter compared to the table of the oven wall of left when one enters and limited inside by a one meter thickness wall.

Each Piédroit has a round niche located at approximately 0,30  m of outside. That of right-hand side measures 0,80  m length, that of left makes only 0,40  m, because it is stopped by the rectangular cavity. The point of meeting is marked of a seven depth centimetres rabbet. The niches could correspond to the site of the systems of verrouillage.
With the other angle of the cavity, as with the angle of the left oven wall compared to the entry, we find a double rabbet; a third finally underlines the angle of the cavity, as with the angle of the left oven wall compared to the entry, one finds a double rabbet; a third, finally, underlines the angle of the interior end of the corridor.

No trace of rabbet is found, neither on the oven wall of right-hand side, inside like outside, nor on the angle of the cusp. This absence of rabbet could let suppose that the left part of the door suffered large damage, and it difficult to say if another wall were also interior side.

North-eastern acropolis and enclosure

Only the northern wall of the acropolis and the north-eastern part of the urban enclosure present a relative good state of conservation.

The wall rises sometimes with four meters in height, on ten sat large almost regular rectangular apparatus. The northern rampart of the acropolis, a length of 250  m, is defended by a system combining the orthogonal towers and the projecting ones. One counts five turns and at least four projecting, but the wall is not without gap. The distance between the turns is variable; it increases gradually west in is, with a minimum of 20  m for a maximum of 50  Mr. the turns all are marked in their angles of a double rabbet.

The material used for the construction of the rampart is a very friable local sandstone, faded in addition by the maritime climate. Thus, the state of decay in which often this fortress appears made think of a rough work. However, this judgment is contradicted by an closer examination. Indeed, the apparatus, where one can appreciate best, (with the northern wall of the acropolis) rectangular, almost regular and is laid out in pseudo-isodomic bases, thus confirming the esthetic concern of the manufacturers.

In spite of the wear of the stone, appears clearly the strong embossing of the Parements external of the Courtine and the turns, when the wall is well preserved. It should be remembered that the angles of the turns and the north-western door are underlined double quite visible rabbets in spite of the disintegration of the stone. The provision of the two doors which we examined is not without interest. If the main entrance of south-west is simply defended by two square towers, on the other hand, the north-western door is more judiciously located, with a site using the broken nature of the ground. Defense is more effective, because it obliges the enemy to make use of an approach ramp skirting the curtain, the Bastion striking it then face.

The curtain, where it is best preserved, is three meters thickness; it consists of a double facing with a Emplecton makes ground and large stones.

The wall, towards the east

However, when one leaves the walls of the acropolis, at the junction point of the Diateichisma, the wall enclosing of the city, which continues towards the east, is less thick. It is one meter wide, but always consists of two facings of which the thickness varies between 0,40 and 0,60  m, which leaves the place to tiny a emplecton, made up of ground and small stones. This wall lays out, approximately every five meters, of interior buttresses which could be intended to increase the solidity of the work, while allowing the installation of a covered way.

This part of the rampart does not have another mode of flanking only of that offered by four projecting. The fortifications of Calydon were undoubtedly high at various periods, according to the urban expansion: their plan is irregular, it did not have there probably a homogeneous program. The northern wall of the acropolis strong thickness, using a combination of turns and the projecting ones, could, not without to have undergone some rehandlings, to correspond to the one of the oldest parts of the enclosure. The north-eastern wall is thickness much lower, but it is reinforced by buttresses, and uses as mode of flanking only the projecting ones. It is doubtless of late construction.

However, in spite of this heterogeneity, their dilapidation and their old and recent destruction, the vestiges still let appear, in the style of masonry, the effort of esthetics of the project superintendents.

Identification of the site, legends and history

The site, which was known under the name of “Kastro de Kurtaga”, was identified by Leake in 1809.

This localization of Calydon is not currently disputed any more. The sanctuary was excavated jointly by the Greeks and the Danes, of 1925 with 1932. It is during these excavations that the various temples located on the headland were put at the day and studied.

The city, according to the legend, would be rather old. The name of Calydon evokes the Oinos heroes, Tydée and Méléagre. Homère counts it among the étoliennes cities.

The Evinos, which runs near, evokes Héraclès. It is there that the hero killed the frontier runner of the river, the Centaure Nessos.

Calydon however had little importance in the history, whereas it could have played a part of sentinel at the entry of the Golfe of Corinth. At the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War, she was not regarded any more as a town of Étolie, in consequence of the Achaean occupation.

It is only starting from 369 av. J. - C. that it will be attached to the Ligue étolienne. It was completely emptied of its inhabitants by Auguste which, after its victory of Actium, in 31 after J. - C., sought to populate Nicopolis d' Épire.

The sanctuary of Artémis was stripped, its treasure and the statue of the goddess was deposited in a temple of Patras.

See too

• Calydon

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