Milina.
Lamia.
THESSALY
154
140. Lamia, fortress (Λαμία, κάστρο)
139. Nies, cross-in-square church, ground plan (Νήες, σταυροειδής
εγγεγραμμένος ναός, κάτοψη.)
136.
Milina.
Early Christian architectural components have been found,
possibly from a basilica.
137.
Olizon.
On the Valtoudi site, at the ancient settlement of Olizon in the S
part of Pelion, remains of an Early Christian basilica have been
discovered.
138.
Kottes.
Close to the modern village of Trikeri, at the Kottes site, ruins
of a settlement and an Early Christian basilica have been de-
tected.
139.
Nies.
This site is a cove on the SW coast of the Pagasetic Gulf, where
the cities of Almyros and Pteleon flourished in the middle ages.
On a hill, half way from the village of Sourpi to Nies, ruins of a
two-columned, cross-in-square church are preserved, once the
catholicon of a monastery (second half of 12th c.).
140.
Lamia.
The episcopal see of Lamia was first reported in the year 431,
then renamed as the episcopal see of Zetouni in 869. The ex-
isting defensive walls of the fortress preserve building phases
from antiquity until the Ottoman era. The citadel was included
in Justinian’s programme for the repair of such walls across
the Byzantine empire, as reported by Procopius. During Frank-
ish rule the hill was named Kastro, as reported in a letter from
Pope Innocent II, dating from the early 13th c.: Castrum de Si-
tum super Ravenica (i.e. the Fortress of Zetouni above (the city)
Ravenica, a medieval city possibly located at the modern site
of Palaiopyrgos Avlakiou). In 1204 Boniface of Montferrat, the
Frankish king of Thessaloniki, established the seat of a barony
at Zetouni and ceded Kastro to the Knights Templar. It is in-
dicated that in 1217 the Despot of Epirus Theodore Angelos
Comnenos captured Kastro and chased away the Franks. In
1311 it devolved to Catalans under the name Castro or Cas-
tri Citonis. Finally, in 1446 it was besieged by the Ottomans.
