Ramnous

Ramnous is an archeological site located close to Marathon, in Greece. The site, at the seaside, can be visited.

History of the site

According to an old legend, before the Battle of Marathon, Persians brought with them an enormous marble part to make of it a memorial with their victory, which they believed some. However, Némésis, or a divine punishment, saw the things differently. The Greeks gained the famous battle in 490 after J-C: Agoracritos, a pupil of Phidias, carved the statue of Némésis itself of this very great piece of marble, and it was set up in Ramnous.

The dème of Ramnous draws its name from the bushes of Bourdaine which pushed in the surroundings. The colony consisted of a fortress, public buildings, sanctuaries, houses and cemeteries.

An Athenian garrison was stationed permanently in Ramnous, in the small enclosure in top of the hill, to supervise navigation. The extension of the fortification, downwards, encircled the small theater, the gymnasium, a small sanctuary of Dionysos, a certain number of other public buildings, and dwellings. The old road passed between immense monuments and finished with the door of the fortress.

At the beginning of Ve century, the sanctuary of Némésis was built in the south. The vast temple of Ve century was a doric Hexastyle . Inside, the statue of Némésis was on a basis decorated with reliefs, with the furnace bridge just opposite.

THEMIS, the personification of justice and equity, was adored in a small temple not far: its statue, works of the local sculptor Chaerestratos, remained intact. Another sanctuary, smaller, was dedicated at the origin to the local hero and to physicist Aristomachos, but its worship was gradually supplanted in Ve century before the J-C by most known Amphiaraos, which was venerated with Oropos and shared same the attributes.

Christianity was prevalent, the order was given in 399 after J-C to destroy the temple. But the remainders of the sanctuary and the fortress never were entirely buried under the ground, and consequently remained visible with the travellers and people of the corner.

Images

External bonds

Rhamnous - Hellenic Ministry off Culture

Random links: