Panopeus

Abstract Panopeus or Phanoteus, a settlement that evolved into a significant city of Phocis at the border with Boeotia, was visited by Pausanias in the 2nd century A.D. The latter furnished a fairly good description of the site including the various remains of earlier periods that were still extant in his day. This paper presents the results of the fieldwork conducted in 2003 that was focussed on the documentation of the fortification wall, the architectural remains outside the citadel as well as the religious edifice on the upper plateau. The foundation course of the latter was unearthed revealing two embedded fragmentary parts of the preceding structure: a capital and a part of a column. It can only be speculated as to whether this edifice had been destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C. With regard to the wall’s dating, the results were inconclusive; it is suggested that an earlier circuit was replaced in the 4th century B.C. by a well-built structure that was further expanded in the same
century.

Keywords Panopeus, Phocis, fortification wall, Archaic temple, bronze helmet crest