Dymokastro

Dymokastro is a coastal fortified settlement founded during the second half of the fourth century BC. The site occupies an oblong hill near Perdiκa of Thesprotia. The settlement flourished during the Hellenistic period until the devastation by the Romans in 167 BC but the habitation continued well into the first century AD.

Dymokastro is divided in three sectors enclosed within successive fortification circuits. The layout of the settlement, mainly private houses, follows the natural configuration rather than being organized along the lines of a rigid urban plan.

At Dymokastro, no clearly demarcated area of an Agora (a commercial and/or civic centre) has been traced: a stoa, housing the commercial activities, and a small shrine are the only public buildings excavated so far. One remarkable feature of the site is the presence of three rock-hewn round cisterns. Outside the fortification walls, on the foothill of the site, is located a burial mound, which forms part of the settlement’s ancient cemetery.

 

Bibliography

Σ. Ι. Δάκαρης, Θεσπρωτία, Αθήνα 1972.

Κ. Λάζαρη, Αντ. Τζωρτζάτου, Κ. Κουντούρη, Δυμόκαστρο Θεσπρωτίας. Αρχαιολογικός Οδηγός, Αθήνα 2008.