Alyzeia

 archaeological site, ancient ruins, Ancient Greece

The ruins of Alyzeia, an ancient Acarnanian city, occupy the area called Kato Kandila ("lower Kandila"), just east of modern Kandila, 15 stades from the sea. A site near Mytikas served as Alyzia's harbour (referred to by Strabo as the sacred harbor of Herakles), indicated by submerged structures at this spot. The city and its connection to Herakles is mentioned by various ancient writers (Thucydides, Strabo, Cicero et. al.). The city was founded before the 6th cent. B.C.; it prospered helped by its important harbor, which was always an asset to the city. Famous works of art, such as the relief metopes depicting the Labors of Herakles, made for the hero's sanctuary by Lysippos in c. 320 BC, adorned the city's monuments. Alyzeia was still prosperous in Roman times, when Cicero, in his account of a visit here, mentions a population of 30,000 people. The city's cemeteries lie to the south and west, outside the fortification.

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