The Arcadian Gate ruins in Ancient Messini, Greece
Messene (Greek: Μεσσήνη Messínî or Messénê ) is a town in the prefecture of Messinia in southern Greece. In antiquity, it was a Doric Greek city-state founded by Epaminondas in 369 BC, after the battle of Leuctra and the first Theban invasion of the Peloponnese. Today, an archaeological site of the ancient city remains. The town was built by the combined Theban and Argive armies and the exiled Messenians (Messenians trace themselves to the Mycenia) who had been invited to return and found a state which should be independent of Spartan rule. The site was chosen by Epaminondas and lay on the western slope of the mountain which dominates the Messenian plain and culminates in the two peaks of Ithome and Eua. The former of these (740 m or 2, 630 ft) served as the acropolis, and was included within the same system of fortifications as the lower city. But what chiefly excited his wonder was the strength of its fortifications, which excelled all those of the Greek world. Of the wall, some 5 miles (8 km) in extent, considerable portions yet remain, especially on the north and north-west, and almost the entire circuit can still be traced, affording the finest extant example of Greek fortification. The wall is flanked by towers about 31 ft (9. 45 m) (9 m) high set at irregular intervals: these have two stories with loopholes in the lower and windows in the upper, and are entered by doors on a level with the top of the wall which is reached by flights of steps. Of the gates only two can be located, the eastern or Laconian, situated on the eastern side of the saddle uniting Ithome and Eua, and the northern or Arcadian gate.
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Photo credit: © Nikos Pavlakis / Alamy / Afripics
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