The remains of the fortifications of Messene.

 archaeological site, fortification, city wall

The remains of the fortifications of Messina
The construction of the massive wall of Messina marks the consolidation of the new state of Messina after the battle of Leuctra ( 371 BC ) .
Where the Theban general Epaminondas and his allies defeated the Argives terrible army of Spartans. In 369 BC founded at the foot of the mountain Ithome the new capital of Messinia , which took its name from a mythical queen. Pausanias recognizes the primacy of the fortifications of Messina to compare with other , such as those of Babylon , Byzantium , etc.
The ancient geographer and historian Strabo (first century BC . ) Assigns the same strategic value of the walls of Messina with those Akrokorinthos . The fortifications of Messina on northeastern side are those who survived in the best way . The Gate of Arcadia holds two entry arches . The length of the wall is exactly 9.5 kilometers . Among the surviving city walls near the top of Ithome , near the Acropolis and Temple of Olympian Zeus of Ithomis near the monastery , then found no traces of limestone quarry , from which large rectangular pieces (blocks ) were obtained and were used for the construction of fortification walls . The towers of the fortress is generally square , only one is shaped like a horseshoe . Of the two doors , one to the east gate of Laconia , also known as Tegeatiki destroyed in the eighteenth century , at the opening of the access road from the village to the new monastery Mavromati Vulcano . While the other , the west door , highly conserved even today , is known as the gateway to Arcadia .It is a wonderful example of the art of fortification that was built at that period , the city's symbol since the time of Pausanias . For the first European travelers who visited the imposing monument remained as indelible symbol of courage and strength of Periikon and Eiiloton in Messinia, who for centuries were an unequal battle with the largest power of Greece Sparta. The door of Arcadia is great with double arch , with two entrances, one double and a single internal external . The arch looks through the city market , foreign to the "old road, to the capital Arcadian Megalopolis . Two square towers were placed on either side of the main contact with the gate of the circular floor plan . The upper floors of the towers also were used as lodgings for the garrison . Inside, in the circular area of the gate were two niches ( recesses ) , one left and one right of the entrance . The two recesses had statues of the god Hermes, patron of roads and travelers. Pausanias also describes the tour of Greece from the path between Messene and Megalopolis , capital of Arcadia