The wider area of Farkadon from Prehistory to the Roman times: an overview
The wider area of Farkadon from Prehistory to the Roman times: an overview
KOLOBOTSIOS, G.,1 Dr.KOUTSADELIS, C.2
1. Ephorate of Antiquities of Trikala, [email protected]
2. Ephorate of Antiquities of Trikala, [email protected]
The wider area of Farkadon preserves vestiges of constant human occupation since the 6th millennium BC. The Neolithic site of "Plateia Magoula" at Zarko is one of the most important early agricultural settlements of Greece, which has delivered some of the earlier evidence of cremation in Europe. The site of "Asvestaria", near Petroto, attests to the continuity of occupation throughout the Bronze Age and the presence of the Mycenaean culture in western Thessaly, while the nearby town of Oechalia is
mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of the Ships of the Iliad. The area flourished during the Classical and Hellenistic period, during which it was part of Hestiaiotis, one of the four administrative divisions of the Thessalian tetrarchy, but declined in the Roman period. Following the flow of the Pineios river, there are still visible the remains of the ancient cities of Pelinna (near Petroporos), Farkadon (near Klokkotos), Fayttos (near Zarko) and Atrax (near Pineias), of which those of Pelinna are the most impressive. The archaeological site of Pelinna will become better accessible and more intelligible to the wider public through a major project that is currently implemented by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Trikala and funded by the National Strategic Reference Framework 2014-2020.