Historic Cities · Greece
Helike through the ages
Helike was an ancient Greek polis or city-state that was submerged by a tsunami in the winter of 373 BC.
Helike in 373 BC
The City of Poseidon
Helike stands as the leading city of the Achaean League on the Gulf of Corinth in the last winter before the earthquake and wave of 373 BC. The walk threads the harbour, the busy agora and its stoas, the poplar grove and the famed sanctuary of Helikonian Poseidon across the low coastal plain beneath Mount Kerynites.
A compact coastal polis of pale limestone walls and low stone houses roofed in red-baked clay tiles, Helike clusters around a broad agora and a busy harbour on a shallow lagoon and the Gulf of Corinth. Colonnaded stoas edge sun-faded market-ways, bronze gleams at the sanctuary of Poseidon, and wind-stiff poplars and reedbeds mark the marshy edge where rivers meet sea; streets are chiefly narrow and cobbled, crowded with traders, fishermen and votive traffic.
The route: 9 streets, squares and views
Coastal Plain under Mount Kerynites → Selinountas River Mouth → Harbour of Helike → Outer Quay → Agora of Helike → Stoa of the Agora → Road to Boura → Poplar Grove → Sanctuary of Helikonian Poseidon
Step inside, 5 interiors
House with Inner Courtyard · Shipwright's Workshop · Tholos Council Chamber · Stoa Colonnade Hall · Cella of Helikonian Poseidon
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Helike.
