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Kalamydi

Coordinates: 35°14′30″N 23°41′35″E / 35.24157°N 23.69295°E / 35.24157; 23.69295
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kalamydi (Ancient Greek: Καλαμύδη) is an ancient Dorian city on the south coast of Western Crete.[1] It was first tentatively identified in 1837 by Robert Pashley in the second volume of his book Travels in Crete.[2] It is located near Palaiochora in Chania regional unit, near the estuary of the Kakodikianos river.[3] The remains of Kalamyde are to the west of Lissus and thirty stade from Kriu-metopon.[4]

There are ruins of a Roman house at Trochaloi.[citation needed]

Archaeoseismological studies have shown evidence of past tsunamis and earthquakes that occurred in Kalamyde as well as throughout western Crete.[5] It is believed that Kalamyde was located to the northeast of the contemporary town of Palaiochora and served as the harbor site for the city of Kanatos.[6] Kalamyde would have been severely affected by the 365 AD Crete earthquake that destroyed nearly every town in Crete; the southwestern Cretan coast was lifted up to 9 meters by the earthquake.

On the west and southwest sides of the city the walls may be traced for 300 or 400 paces; on the east they extend about 100 paces; while on the south the ridge narrows, and the wall, adapting itself to the natural features of the hill, has not a length of more than 20 paces. This wall is composed of polygonal stones, which have not been touched by the chisel.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Hood, M. S. F. (1967). "Some Ancient Sites in South-West Crete". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 62: 47–56. doi:10.1017/S0068245400014076. ISSN 0068-2454. JSTOR 30103675. S2CID 163408621.
  2. ^ Pashley, Robert (1837). Travels in Crete. J. Murray. pp. 86–120.
  3. ^ "Paleochora history, ancient Kalamyde, Paleochora in the times of the Venetians and Turks, Paleochora today". www.explorecrete.com. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  4. ^ "Searching for Kalamydes". Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  5. ^ Stefanakis, Manolis I. (2010), "Western Crete: From Captain Spratt to modern archaeoseismology", Ancient Earthquakes, Geological Society of America, doi:10.1130/2010.2471(07), ISBN 978-0-8137-2471-3, retrieved 2022-06-08
  6. ^ Werner, Vera; Baika, Kalliopi; Fischer, Peter; Hadler, Hanna; Obrocki, Lea; Willershäuser, Timo; Tzigounaki, Anastasia; Tsigkou, Aggeliki; Reicherter, Klaus; Papanikolaou, Ioannis; Emde, Kurt (2018-04-15). "The sedimentary and geomorphological imprint of the AD 365 tsunami on the coasts of southwestern Crete (Greece) – Examples from Sougia and Palaiochora". Quaternary International. Integrated geophysical and (geo)archaeological explorations in wetlands. 473: 66–90. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.07.016. ISSN 1040-6182.
  7. ^ Public Domain Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Calamyde". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Calamyde". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

35°14′30″N 23°41′35″E / 35.24157°N 23.69295°E / 35.24157; 23.69295