Sanctuary of Cybele in Mytilene

The sanctuary of Cybele is among the earliest and most important sanctuaries of the ancient city of Mytilene. It is located in the present-day area of Epano Skala and more specifically, in Merarchias Archipelagos Street, on the plot of land owned by the former Asylum of the Aniaton. In ancient times, the location of the sanctuary corresponded to the northwestern coastal part of the city, which, during the Archaic and early Classical period, had the form of a small island, delimited from the opposite mainland by Euripos, a natural strait that connected its two harbours. More specifically, the sanctuary of Cybele is thought to have been founded near the eastern bank of Euripos, south of the northern commercial harbour of Mytilene and east of the Archaic necropolis.

The site of the sanctuary came to light for the first time between 1972-1973, during technical and excavation works, which were carried out in the context of the building expansion of the then Asylum of Aniaton (incurable diseases) of Mytilene. After the site was identified, the first rescue excavations, which were carried out by the then Ephorate of Antiquities in order to unearth the sanctuary as far as possible, lasted until 1978. Since then, further excavations were carried out between 2010 and 2015, as part of the project: “Unification of the Archaeological Sites of Mytilene” (NSRF 2007-2013), which aimed to showcase the sanctuary and other archaeological sites of the city.

From the archaeological research through the years, extensive architectural remains were uncovered in the area, as well as a multitude of portable finds, which as a whole cover a wide chronological framework, starting from the Geometric era and lasting up to the late antiquity and the Ottoman Rule.

Walls, foundations, parts of the superstructure of buildings, paved floors, pipes and vents are some of the most important finds that were found in situ (on-site).

Three curvilinear buildings can be distinguished in the whole, of which the easternmost ellipsoidal building, which dates back at least to the 7th c. BC, is of greater interest. Despite its fragmentary preservation, its monumental character is evident, reflected both in its dimensions (13.4 x 5.7 m.) and in its elaborate architectural elements. Today, its Archaic phase is best preserved, which is placed chronologically at the turn of the 7th to the 6th c. BC. It is an elongated cult building, oriented on the N-S axis, with two arches on its narrow sides. The entire northern arch and the eastern wall are preserved. A large part of the western wall and a smaller part of the southern arch are not preserved, as they were destroyed by the construction of later buildings during the Roman period. In fact, in one of the walls of the later buildings, a statuette depicting the goddess Cybele was found in second use, embedded as building material, the discovery of which was decisive for the identification of the sanctuary. The northern arch was divided internally by a smaller cross-wall, which had a doorway opening at its eastern end for access to the isolated, arched space formed at the northern end of the building. It is probable that the south arched end had the same structure and form. The main entrance was located in the southeastern part of the building and more specifically, at the south end of the eastern wall, upon which the aforementioned Roman wall ‘was built’. A fragment of a base or lower part of a column from local reddish trachyte, found a little south of the entrance, may be an indication of the existence of a colonnade at the southern end of the cult building. At least two building phases can be distinguished, as is documented by the archaeological data and the different building systems (emplecton and the building system of Lesbos) used in its masonry, with the earliest phase being that of the emplecton building system, which can be distinguished in the northern arch and the western wall, and the latest being that of the building system of Lesbos, used to repair the eastern wall in Archaic times. The superstructure of the building was probably made of rectangular, elongated, ‘lydian‘/eastern type, raw clay bricks, while the roof was wooden, double pitched and ‘capped’ on both arches, with a projecting cornice to protect the clay (perishable) superstructure. It may have had further reinforcement with grass and clay roughcast for insulation. The floor was pebbled with violet trachyte. A built-in structure in the northwestern part of the building may indicate the existence of a hearth. The multiple traces of burning in the layer of ruins found during the excavation work indicate the extensive destruction of the sanctuary and the building by fire, which took place at the turn of the 6th to 5th c. BC, probably during the Persian invasion of Lesbos, the historical context of which we are informed by Herodotus (Historia 6.31.1-2).

The ellipsoidal building of the sanctuary belongs to the group of the arched and ellipsoidal buildings of the early historical period which acquire a more monumental form in the Late Geometric and Early Archaic periods, as documented by excavations and other examples of curvilinear buildings, both from the mainland of Greece and the islands, and from the wider area of the northeastern Aegean and the Asia Minor coasts. In Lesbos, curvilinear buildings have been uncovered in four of the five important cities of the island: Antissa, Mytilene, Mithymna and Pyrrha. More specifically, in Mytilene -apart from the sanctuary of Cybele- curvilinear buildings were found at the sanctuary of Apollo Maloeis and near the southern trireme harbour of the city. From the overall comparative study of the curvilinear buildings, it appears that the cult building of the sanctuary of Cybele presents common proportions and obvious stylistic and typological similarities with the ellipsoidal building of ancient Antissa.

East of the ellipsoidal building and in diagonal relation to it, a large part of a retaining wall (or enclosure) was revealed, which was constructed at the same time as the ellipsoidal cult building (Archaic times). It consists of an elaborate and particularly imposing construction, representative of the island’s ancient local masonry (building system of Lesbos), the height of which is 2 m. high.

West of the northern arch of the ellipsoidal building, the architectural remains of two more contemporary buildings (of the Archaic period) were found, one curvilinear and one rectangular. It should be noted that the investigation of the chronologically later Classical layer shows that building activity during this period was very limited, an indication that the site was probably abandoned and filled in at some stage during the Classical period. This also explains why the earliest buildings of the Archaic period are better preserved. From the Hellenistic phase of the sanctuary, most of the finds are portable (pottery).

The site is dominated by the walls of buildings of the Roman era that were found in the upper layers, from different building phases of the same period, while it specifically seems that the walls that covered and destroyed the ellipsoidal building of the sanctuary date back to the 3rd c. AD. At the western end of the site, a stoa was uncovered which took its final form in the 4th – 5th c. AD and is of particular interest: it consists of two parallel spaces, an elongated and paved stoa with a marble pillar on its open eastern side and behind it, an inner, elongated and paved room with a doorway opening which connected the two.

In general, it seems that the continuous use of the area of the sanctuary over the centuries (up to late antiquity) and the intense building activity, especially during the Roman period, contributed to the destruction of the earlier architectural remains and the disturbance of the stratigraphy, which was taken into account and studied as far as possible.

Of the portable finds that were uncovered, the statuette of Cybele (530-500 BC) stands out, which was found in second use -installed as building material on an adjacent wall of a building of the Roman period- and is a strong indication for the identification of the sanctuary. It is made of local volcanic stone and is preserved in fragments. It was unearthed headless, while its ‘skin’ is severely cracked and worn away. It depicts the goddess Cybele, seated/enthroned, almost frontal, with a small lion on her ‘lap’. A square socket on its lower surface indicates that the statuette was originally mounted on a pilaster or column, or built-in and fixed to a niche.

In the filling of the Roman period phase, a small-scale marble head of Dionysus(?) of the 2nd c. AD was found, while among the clay figurines found in the area, a figurine of a deity or suppliant of the 7th c. BC, with an almost cylindrical body and a bird-shaped face, as well as two figurines of seated, sacred and venerable female figures, stand out. The preservation of the figurines dating from the Hellenistic and Roman periods is particularly fragmentary: mostly heads and fragments of limbs survive.

A wealth of shards and vessels came to light from the excavations during all the different chronological periods. Characteristic is the local Aeolian Grey Ware pottery, but also the broken vessels found in situ inside the ellipsoidal building, in front of its main entrance, together with fragments of clay offering tables with strong traces of burning. Kantharoi, cups, prochoi, kraters, skyphoi, kylikes, bowls, basins, plates and oil lamps are some of the types of ceramics that were uncovered, while shards of pyxides and kernoi, fragments of imported Attic red-figure and black-figure vessels, shards of vessels of Ionian and Corinthian style and some originating from workshops in Chios and Miletus stand out. Important finds of the category are shards of two black-figure vases, which retain an engraved inscription: ΑΠΟΛΛ[…] and ΗΡΑ[…], respectively, a fragment of an Attic black-figure vase depicting a wedding procession of Zeus-Hera or Dionysus-Ariadne, as well as other fragments of vases with mythological representations (Hercules and the Amazons, Artemis and Actaeon).

Among the abundant artefacts that were uncovered by the archaeological research, there were bronze coins from Mytilene of the 2nd and 1st c. BC and others of the 5th and 6th c. AD, marble fragments from the bases of perirrhanteria, clay agnithes, bronze fastenings, bone needles, jewellery, animal bones, sea shells and other portable finds, most of which confirm the sacred character of the site.

The sanctuary of Cybele in Mytilene is one of the earliest sanctuaries of the goddess in Greece and testifies to the preeminent importance of the cult of the mother goddess in the northeastern Aegean as early as Geometric times. Its location close to the city walls, opposite the Archaic cemetery, was certainly not accidental and indicates the notable local status of the goddess as the protector of the city. Nowadays, it is the only archaeological site of its category that can be visited and which is permanently open to the general public, representing the Archaic phase of the ancient city of Mytilene.

Location

Municipality: Mytilene

Municipal Section: Mytilene

Location: Archipelago's Merarchia Street, on the property of the former Asylum of Aniaton (incurable diseases), Epano Skala

Images

Skip to content