Hermionida

The Ermionida: Franchthi, Ermioni, Porto Heli and Halieis

At the southeastern tip of the Argolid, the Ermionida forms a peninsula of hills, olive groves and deeply indented coasts facing Hydra and Spetses. Less known for its great monuments than the plain of Mycenae or Epidaurus, it nonetheless has an exceptionally long history. From the prehistoric cave of Franchthi with its Palaeolithic hunters, to the ancient cities of Ermioni and Halieis, by way of the modern port of Porto Heli, the region combines archaeology, seaside villages and coastal landscapes.

Between visits, Koilada, Ermioni and Porto Heli offer beaches, harbours, tavernas and opportunities for boat trips.

Franchthi, from Palaeolithic hunters to the first seafarers

On the bay of Koilada opens the Franchthi Cave^★, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Greece. The earliest traces of human activity date back to the Upper Palaeolithic, around 28,000 BC. For millennia, the cavity was frequented by groups of hunters and then by communities whose ways of life gradually became more sedentary.

Franchthi thus allows us to follow the profound transformations that led from hunter-gatherer societies to Neolithic communities. The food remains, tools, shells and other objects found in the successive layers document the inhabitants' adaptation to their environment and the growing exploitation of marine resources.

The cave can be reached on foot from the surroundings of Koilada by a short coastal path. Its interest lies less in spectacular monuments than in the exceptional chronological depth of the site and in the landscape of the bay, which allows one to imagine the very ancient links between its inhabitants and the sea.

Ermioni, an ancient city beneath the modern town

Further east, Ermioni stretches between two bays around a narrow peninsula. The present-day town partly covers ancient Hermione, whose remains are still visible in several places. Its maritime location allowed it to take an active part in the exchanges of the Argolic Gulf while maintaining links with the rest of the Peloponnese.

The best place to perceive this continuity is the Bisti peninsula, today covered with pines. Pausanias described several sanctuaries there, notably dedicated to Poseidon and Athena. Foundations of a Doric temple from the Classical period can still be identified, while other traces of the ancient city survive around the settlement: portions of the circuit wall, remains of the Roman aqueduct and an ancient necropolis.

This superimposition gives Ermioni a character different from that of the great enclosed archaeological sites: here, the antiquities are embedded in the village, between the houses, the harbours of Mandrakia and Ermioni and the walks of the peninsula. The town is also a privileged starting point for Hydra^★ and the waters of the Saronic Gulf.

Porto Heli and the ancient city of Halieis

About twenty kilometres from Ermioni, Porto Heli occupies a vast naturally protected bay that has become one of the region's main seaside resorts. Its marina, its coastline and its proximity to Spetses give it today an essentially maritime and touristic character.

But at the entrance to the bay lie the remains of Halieis, or Alieis, one of the main ancient cities of the Ermionida. Founded at the end of the 7th century BC, it flourished mainly between the 6th and 4th centuries. After the destruction of Tiryns by Argos in the 5th century BC, some of the exiled Tirynthians came to settle there.

The city had a fortified circuit wall punctuated with towers and gates, an acropolis, a sanctuary of Apollo and a stadium. Excavations have also revealed an organised town plan, with houses arranged around courtyards, drainage systems and wells. Some of the ancient remains are today in direct contact with the sea or beneath the waters of the bay, a reminder of the transformations of the coastline since Antiquity.