Minoa

Minoa, a colony of the Samians, is one of Amorgos’s ancient cities. Located on the south slope of mount Moudoulia, near Katapola, it has been identified in 1837 by the Bavarian Hellenist Ludwig Ross. Earliest habitation here dates from the late 5th millennium BC. There is no information regarding the 2nd millennium BC, whereas habitation is uninterrupted from the 10th century BC up to the early 4th century AD, when the settlement was finally deserted. We have building remnants dating from the Geometric period, when the settlement was fortified. From the Archaic and Classical periods there are only some portable findings.

The settlement flourished and its planning also changed during Hellenistic Times, where most remains date from. During Roman Times, the positions of the centre and the road network changed. Minoa’s Acropolis includes the Geometrica wall, the settlement and the temple. A small gate and a 2.40 m high rampart are extant at the northeastern part of the walls, whereas a second rampart is still extant to the southeast. The settlement is located on the Acropolis’s south and southwestern slope platforms, and includes rock-hewn rectangular buildings. Habitation was uninterrupted from the 8th century BC up to the 2nd century AD. The foundation of the sanctuary inside the Acropolis dates from the 8th century BC; the sanctuary was used continuously up to the 4th century AD. It consists of a temple-like building and a precinct. The god worshipped there up to the 6th century BC is still unknown, but the sanctuary was later devoted to Dionysus. During Hellenistic Times, Dionysus was equated with Egyptian god Sarapis, who was then worshipped there.