URBAN AND RURAL LANDSCAPE IN EARLY AND MIDDLE BYZANTINE ATTICA (4TH – 12TH C. AD) by ELISSAVET TZAVELLA A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham November 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The present study synthesiszes archaeological and historical evidence concerning Attica (Greece), the hinterland of Athens, in the Early and Middle Byzantine periods (4th-12th c.). Although the Byzantine monuments of Attica have been thoroughly studied, no coherent picture of how these relate to broader patterns of occupation and land usage has thus far been presented. In the main, the period under discussion is generally interpreted in three ways: Regarding Late Antiquity, research has often focused on the transition from paganism to Christianity, and to the characterisation of Attica as a ‘stronghold of paganism’. During the so-called ‘Dark-Ages’, Attica is most often presented as being ‘desolate’. Regarding the Middle Byzantine period, archaeological research is dominated by architectural and art- historical study of churches. The present study presents Attica within wider trends which took place in the Byzantine Empire, and which caused its transformation in terms of demography, settlement pattern, administration, road networks, economy, defense and ecclesiastical institutions. After a detailed catalogue and interpretation of all available archaeological material, Attica appears less ‘exceptional’ in Late Antiquity, less ‘desolate’ in the ‘Dark- Ages’, while in the Middle Byzantine period, emergence of a strong local elite matches the erection of monuments of high artistic quality. Στους αγαπημένους μου ...Μα μες στη ζάλη την πολλή δεν είδαν πως οι Άγιοι ήταν μόνο ζωγραφιστοί κι η ερημιά μεγάλη Acknowledgments My first and foremost thanks are directed to my supervisor, Dr Archibald Dunn, for generous offer of his expertise and for constant help and support. His suggestions both about general aims and questions of my topic, as well as specific issues, were extremely helpful. Professor Leslie Brubaker and Dr Ruth Macrides, from the Center of Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham, were valuable guides at specific occasions, and I would like to express to them my gratitude for their support. The topic of the present thesis originates from a research idea kindly offered to me by Dr Charalambos Bakirtzes, to whom I express my gratitude, about studying Byzantine burials in Attica. The present study is an expansion of this idea. Permissions for material study from rescue excavations in Kantza, Marathon and Menidi were granted by the B’ Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. I am greatly indebted to the Ephor, Mrs I. Tsirigoti-Drakotou, as well as to Dr X. Arapoyanni, current Ephor of the ΛΗ’ Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, for grant of these permits. Moreover, I am grateful to Dr M. Cosmopoulos for his permission to visit archaeological sites in the Oropia which were identified and published through the Oropos Survey Project, and to Professor Hans Lohmann (University of Bochum) for generous provision of original photos and site plans of his survey at Ovriokastro. Financial support for the completion of my studies was granted in 2009-2010 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and in 2010-2011 by the School of Humanities of the University of Birmingham. To both bodies I offer my gratitude. During 2009 and 2011-2012 my studies were supported financially through my job as a contract archaeologist at the 25th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities at Corinth. My research benefitted immensely from discussions with Professor Hans Lohmann, Professor Konstantinos Tsouris (University of Thrace), Eleni Gini-Tsophopoulou (1st Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities), Dr Guy Sanders (ASCSA), Dr Myrto Veikou (Hellenic Open University), Ploutarchos Theocharides (10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities), and many more colleagues who generously shared their knowledge with me. In my site visits in Attica I was often accompanied by Conor Trainor, who I would like to thank for offer of a trained archaeological eye, but more importantly for his constant and generous help, encouragement and advice. My mother was similarly willing to accompany me in many of these visits, sharing with me impressions of the Attic landscape. Visits of not easily accessible sites were conducted also with the company of Orestis Raptis, Babis Doukas, Maria Thoma and Robert Pitt. I thank them all for their assistance. My deepest thanks go to friends and colleagues who shared with me the beautiful and difficult moments of this long way. To my parents and my brother I offer my final and warmest thanks for their constant support and encouragement, as well as for illuminating discussions, throughout the long course of this research. Without them, realisation of this study would not have been possible. Contents CHAPTER A: SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND AND AVENUES OF ENQUIRY ................... 1 1. Introduction 1 2. Purpose, structure and methods of the present study 2 2.1. Purpose 2 2.2. Structure and methods 3 3. Geographical description of Attica 4 4. Geographic limits of the present study 6 5. Chronological terms used in the present study 7 6. Overview of archaeological and historical research on Early and Middle Byzantine Attica 8 6.1. Archaeological excavations 8 6.2. Studies on monumental architecture 8 6.3. Research on topography 9 6.4. Research on historical sources 12 6.5. Research on toponymics 13 7. The urban centre of Athens 14 8. Avenues of enquiry in Byzantine urban and rural archaeology 16 CHAPTER B: PRESENTATION AND EVALUATION ........................................................ 19 OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL ......................................................................... 19 B.1. The basin of Athens 19 1.1. Geographical description and main roads 19 1.2. The city wall of Athens and the extension of the city 20 1.3. Ambelokepoi 22 1.4. Tourkovounia 23 1.5. Galatsi 24 1.6. Patesia 25 1.7. Neo Psychiko 25 1.8. Phlya - Chalandri 26 1.9. Athmonon – Marousi 27 1.10. Kephisia 30 1.11. Monomati 32 1.12. Herakleion – Arakli and Koukouvaounes 33 1.13. Acharnai – Menidi 34 1.14. Liosia (Ano Liosia) 36 1.15. Kamatero 37 1.16. Nea or Kato Liosia (Ilion) – Dragoumano 38 1.17. Elaionas 38 1.18. Peristeri 39 1.19. Iera Odos and the Daphni monastery 40 1.20. Korydallos 41 1.21. Rentis 42 1.22. Peiraeus 42 1.23. Moschato 47 1.24. Tavros 47 1.25. Kallithea 48 1.26. Daphne 48 1.27. Halimous – Alimos 49 1.28. Euonymon – Trachones 51 1.29. Argyroupoli 52 1.30. Aixone – Glyphada and Elliniko 52 1.31. Halai Aixonides – Voula and Vouliagmeni 54 1.32. Anagyrous – Vari 54 1.33. Varkiza 55 B.2. Mount Hymettus 56 2.1. Geographical description and main roads 56 2.2. Kynegou Philosophon monastery 59 2.3. Gur-i-Korakut / Lithari 60 2.4. Taxiarchon Asteriou monastery 60 2.5. Kaisariane monastery 61 2.6. Kareas monastery 61 2.7. The summit of Hymettus 62 2.8. Kopanas 63 2.9. The site of Prophetes Elias 63 B.3. East Attica: The plain of Mesogeia 64 3.1. Geographical description and main roads 64 3.2. Pallene – Charvati 65 3.3. Pikermi 66 3.4. Skempthi (Agios Vasileios), Vourva 67 3.5. Araphen – Raphena 68 3.6. Loutsa and the hills to its west: Agia Kyriake, Velanideza 69 3.7. Spata and the Airport area 70 3.8. Brauron – Vraona 73 3.9. Kantza 75 3.10. Paiania – Liopesi 77 3.11. Koropi 81 3.12. Lamptrae – Lambrika 85 3.13. Markopoulo 89 3.14. Steiria and Prasiae – Porto Raphte 92 3.15. Prospalta – Kalyvia 95 3.16. Kephale – Keratea 98 B.4. Mount Penteli 102 4.1. Geographical description and main roads 102 4.2. The Davelis cave 104 4.3. Kalesia 105 4.4. The Daoù (Tao) monastery 106 4.5. The north slopes of Mt Penteli 107 4.7. Ikarion – Rapendosa – Dionysos 107 4.8. Kastri 109 4.9. Stamata – Amygdaleza 109 4.10. From Boyati (mod. Anoixi – Agios Stephanos) to the Marathon Lake 112 B.5. The Marathonian district 115 5.1. Geographical description and main roads 115 5.2. Vrana 117 5.3. The coastal part of the plain: Vrexiza, the tumulus area, Plasi 118 5.4. The town of Marathon 122 5.5. Oinoe – Ninόi 123 5.6. Trikorynthos – Kato Souli 124 5.7. Kynosoura 125 5.8. The upland and northern district of Marathon 126 5.9. Kalentze 126 5.10. Varnava 127 5.11. Kapandrite 128 B.6. The district of Oropos 131 6.1. Geographical description and main roads 131 6.2. Kalamos 132 6.3. Skala Oropou 133 6.4. Palaios Oropos 135 6.5. The coastal area to the east of Skala Oropou 137 6.6. Sykaminon 138 6.7. Aulon - Kakosalesi 139 6.8. Sphendale - Malakasa 140 B.7. Mount Parnes 141 7.1. Geographical description and main roads 141 7.2. Properties of the Church of Athens in Parnes in 1209 141 7.3. Dekeleia-Tatoi and Katsimidi 143 7.4. Belétsi 144 7.5. Kiourka 145 7.6. Varibobi 146 7.7. Agia Triada 147 7.8. The cave of Pan 148 7.9.