Trachia in the Argolid

The 'settlement' of Tracheia dominated the Tracheia valley in the SE Argolid.

The Trachia Valley is the region of the box in the center.

 

The route between Epidauros and Troizen led through the Trachia Valley and then skirting the mountains to the coast just S of the Methana peninsula and then on to Troizen.

 There were two towers protecting the entrance to the valley from the S. The first is the Mnema tou Andreiomenou.[1] 

A second, unnamed, building (presumably a small fort with tower) stood about 800 m to its north on a low hill. Perhaps the hill at 37.544871° N, 23.140036° E is intended.[2] 

The only other structure that may be identified is a small sanctuary in the neighborhood (In der Nähe) of the second tower, perhaps near 37.544343° N, 23.143016° E.[3]

Remains of the 'small sanctuary' [3a]

It is not now possible to say of what the settlement of Tracheia consisted. From Faraklas (through Blomley) we learn of a 'fort' or 'fortified settlement' lying on a low hill somewhere to the SW of modern Tracheia.[4] The settlement may have been of some significance because of the presence of the towers at the entry of the valley and, also, the presence of a major fortification at Bedeni Kiapha (C1081) on the valley's east side.[5]

Some confusion attends the location of the settlement.  Blomley says that the settlement of Tracheia is situated on " ... a low hill SW of Tracheia."[6]  On the S or SE sides of that hill Faraklas found ' ...  ' ... traces of a wall on the S and SE of the hill.'

Simpson and Dickenson say "A LH site was reported near the village of Trachia, on the route between the Asklepieion at Epidauros and Troizen."[7]

Anne Foley says "This site is situated in S central Epidauria about 500 m NW of modern Tracheia."  This would put it in the precise opposite direction from Blomley.

I suspect that the settlement of this little valley stretched to the S and W of the current modern town and back towards the 'small sanctuary' mentioned by Tausend.  I show the final suggested disposition for these various  points of interest in the next map:

And this final map shows how it all fits together:

Upper map superimposed onto a Google Earth image.

Footnotes

[1] For the Mnema tou Andreiomenou see Tausend [2006] 154.  Blomley [2022] 253. '77. TOU ANTREIOMENOU TO MNEMA 1 ... '.

[2] For this second tower: Tausend [2006] 154. ' ... befinden sich auf einem flachen Hügel die Reste eines zweiten Baues ... '

[3] Unwin [2020] npn.  " [footnote] 41 A klidophoros is attested at Side (I.Side 17), while kleidophoroi are also among a delegation sent from Laodikeia-on-the-Lykos to Klaros in the second century CE (Ferrary [2014], no. 40). The variant klakophoros is found at Apollonia in Illyria (I.Apollonia 16) and at Messene (IG V 1.1447); see the discussion of Quantin (2004), p. 596–600. A hero called Klaikophoros is attested at Epidauros in the third century BCE (IG IV² 1.297)."

[3a] Tausend [2006] Abb. 212. "212 Heiligtum von Philanorion".

[4] Blomley [2022] 293, '158. TRACHEIA (Τραχειά)'.

[5] For the Bedeni Kiapha fortress see Blomley [2022] Fig. 6.42, and 184, '16. BENTENI KIAPHA (Μπεντένι Κιάφα, Μπάφι)'.

[6] Blomley [2022] 293.

[7] Simpson and Dickenson [1979] 54, 'A 31 Trachia'.

Bibliography

Blomley [2022] : Blomley, Anna Magdalena. A Landscape of Conflict? Rural Fortifications in the Argolid (400-146 BC), Archaeopress Publishing Ltd., Oxford. ISBN: 978-1-78969-971-5 (e-Pdf). 2022. A precis and first 20 pages are here.

Faraklas [1972] : Faraklas, N., Ancient Greek Cities, xii: ’Επiδαυρος. Athens. 1972.

Simpson and Dickenson [1979] : Simpson, Richard Hope and O.T.P.K. Dickinson, Gazetteer of Aegean Civilisation in the Bronze Age, Vol. I: The Mainland and Islands, Göteborg, Paul Astroms Förlag, 1979.

Tausend [2006] : Tausend, Klaus, Verkehrswege der Argolis: Rekonstruktion und historische Bedeutung, Geographica Historica (Gh), Franz Steiner Verlag, 2006, ISBN-13: 978-3515089432.

Unwin [2020] : Unwin, Naomi Carless. 'Basket-Bearers and Gold-Wearers: Epigraphic Insights into the Material Dimensions of Processional Roles in the Greek East', Kernos (33) 33-125. 2020. Online here.