The ruins of the sanctuary of Artemis Mounichia were discovered in 1935, during construction works, on the south side of the Mounichia harbour — the present Tourkolimano — and on the Koumoundouros peninsula. The researched finds indicate that life at this site already existed in the last phase of the Neolithic Age. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that the cult of the goddess was active in the tenth century BC and reached its climax in the eighth and seventh centuries. The finds dating mainly from the fifth century BC and especially the small craters with double handles prove that the cult and religious hypostasis of the goddess corresponded to those of the Vravronian Artemis. The performed rites are related to the entering maturity procedure of the young Athenean korae and ephebi and the Arctaia ritual is also here an indispensable part of the typikon, as in Vravron.
The sanctuary of Artemis Mounichia
07 Aug 2012
by Archaeology Newsroom
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