DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0103
TOWN OF BELESTINA. REMAINS OF PHERAI. 95
The origin of this town boasts the highest antiquity; according
to the testimony of Apollodorus,1 it was founded before the Argo-
nautic expedition, by Pheres, son of Kretheus, who was grandfather
of Jason of Iolkos. It was a place of considerable strength and im-
portance,1 and the fertility of the adjacent country made no small
addition to its wealth. Its acropolis was placed on an eminence of
moderate height, which rose from the Hyperian fountain. It has
preserved hardly an}r traces of antiquity; one single block of stone
alone remains of the vast bulwarks by which the tyrant Alexander
was defended in all his cruelties and iniquities. It is surprising how
completely the remains of this town have been destroyed; a few
scattered blocks of stone, and some Doric frusta, are the only an-
tiquities remaining. We enjoyed a view from this spot, which over-
looks the town and its luxuriant gardens, with the rich level of the
Pelasgic plain,3 and lake Boebeis,* extending to Mount Pelion ; the
summit of which, dotted with its aerial villages, peeps over a ridge
of hills that enclose the plain on the side of Magnesia, and the coast
of Demetrias.
Belestina, like the Pherai of old, is situated in the midst of trees
and gardens;5 Pagasai was its port;6 from which, according to
Strabo,7 it was distant ninety stadia.
We stopped near the beautiful margin of the Hyperian fountain,
where a wide-spreading platanus, with its dense foliage, protected us
from the torrid rays of the sun, and enabled us to enjoy some hours
of grateful refreshment. The frustum8 of a Doric column served
us as a table; which, with some other remains, indicates the site of
a temple.
B. 1. c. 14. • SiePolyb. and Livy, passim. ' Strabo, b. 9. p. 436.
* Homer says that Pherai w as near Lake Boibeis :
Oi h topctf £y£ao>7o ira^m B9i/3i;iJa Xijxnjy.—Iliad, 2. v. 71 I.
* Polyb. b 17. p. 756. Livy, b. 33. c. 6.
6 Harpocrat. Lexic. in v. Uaya<rxs, p. 272. ' B. 9. p. 436.
8 Three feet four inches and a half in diameter; breadth of fluting, six inches.
The origin of this town boasts the highest antiquity; according
to the testimony of Apollodorus,1 it was founded before the Argo-
nautic expedition, by Pheres, son of Kretheus, who was grandfather
of Jason of Iolkos. It was a place of considerable strength and im-
portance,1 and the fertility of the adjacent country made no small
addition to its wealth. Its acropolis was placed on an eminence of
moderate height, which rose from the Hyperian fountain. It has
preserved hardly an}r traces of antiquity; one single block of stone
alone remains of the vast bulwarks by which the tyrant Alexander
was defended in all his cruelties and iniquities. It is surprising how
completely the remains of this town have been destroyed; a few
scattered blocks of stone, and some Doric frusta, are the only an-
tiquities remaining. We enjoyed a view from this spot, which over-
looks the town and its luxuriant gardens, with the rich level of the
Pelasgic plain,3 and lake Boebeis,* extending to Mount Pelion ; the
summit of which, dotted with its aerial villages, peeps over a ridge
of hills that enclose the plain on the side of Magnesia, and the coast
of Demetrias.
Belestina, like the Pherai of old, is situated in the midst of trees
and gardens;5 Pagasai was its port;6 from which, according to
Strabo,7 it was distant ninety stadia.
We stopped near the beautiful margin of the Hyperian fountain,
where a wide-spreading platanus, with its dense foliage, protected us
from the torrid rays of the sun, and enabled us to enjoy some hours
of grateful refreshment. The frustum8 of a Doric column served
us as a table; which, with some other remains, indicates the site of
a temple.
B. 1. c. 14. • SiePolyb. and Livy, passim. ' Strabo, b. 9. p. 436.
* Homer says that Pherai w as near Lake Boibeis :
Oi h topctf £y£ao>7o ira^m B9i/3i;iJa Xijxnjy.—Iliad, 2. v. 71 I.
* Polyb. b 17. p. 756. Livy, b. 33. c. 6.
6 Harpocrat. Lexic. in v. Uaya<rxs, p. 272. ' B. 9. p. 436.
8 Three feet four inches and a half in diameter; breadth of fluting, six inches.