The ancient city of Ales was developed in the area of Agios Ioannis Theologos on the east side of the Gulf of Atalanti. The site was inhabited in the Neolithic period (6,000-5,000 BC). The city of historic times was founded in about 600 BC and belonged to an alliance of Eastern Lochrica cities based in Opunda. The Aliens are excavated by American archaeologists. Two pioneering researchers, Hetty Goldman and Alice Walker Kosmopoulos, were active in the field from 1911 to 1935. Excavations at Cornell University in New York, under the direction of Professor John E. Coleman, began again in 1990. .
TIP: The archaeological site is accessible after consultation with the Ephorate.
Originally, the site was founded in the Neolithic times (6,000-5,000). The settlement consists of buildings, rectangular plan, surrounded by stone enclosure. The city of historical times was founded around 600 BC and had a walled acropolis. During the Hellenistic times a wider fortification wall was built with towers that protected the acropolis. Within it have been identified the temple of Athena Poliochou, religious and administrative buildings. In addition, the city’s cemeteries have been identified and investigated. As the sea level has risen since antiquity, part of the ancient city is visible in the shallow waters next to the acropolis. The peak of the city of Ales dates back to Hellenistic times. It is believed that he was then part of Boeotia and a member of the Boeotian Alliance.
Click here for photos of the Archaeological Site of Alon at Theologos Fthiotida.
Archaeological findings tend to confirm Plutarch’s account (Sulla 26) that the Aliens were destroyed by the Roman general Sulla in 85 BC. because they allowed the docking of Mithridates’ rival ships from Pontus. Sporadic settlement in the area continued throughout the Roman years. The city flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries. A.D. An early Christian basilica was built on the acropolis, just above the ruins of the old temple of Athena. Fragments of houses and tombs of the same period have also been explored. About the late 6th c. AD, the acropolis was abandoned. A small church of the Crusades (13th century AD) was also erected inside the Early Christian basilica.
Access to the Archaeological Site is via the highway, at the exit for Theologos and is within the settlement of Agios Ioannis Theologos towards the road to the port.
Source: Ministry of Culture
