DOI: 10.53084/22209050_2022_25_88

E.V. Prikhodko
Pydnae – the Hellenistic fortress on the borders of Xanthos. Part 3. Along the walls of the fortress

Abstract: This article is the third final part of a work about Pydnae, a fortress built in the 3rd century BC by the inhabitants of Xanthos to protect their harbor and the road from the sea to Xanthos. Combining the materials of the archaeological survey, published by J.-P. Adam, and her own observations, the author consistently describes all the elements of the structure of the fortress and comments on their fortification significance. According to the original plan, the fortress had 8 towers and 5 salients. During repairs in Byzantine times, the destroyed tower 6 and the salient 9 were completely dismantled and replaced with a wall. On the curtains there was a parapet with loopholes and a wall-walk paved with slabs. During the restoration, the Byzantines
replaced the loopholes of the parapet with battlements. It was possible to go up to the wall-walk by four stone stairs. To ensure the continuity of the wall-walk, all towers, except for the tower 5, were walk-through on the second floor. The wall-wall bypassed the tower 5 along a wooden balcony attached to it. The main gate of the fortress was in the northern wall near tower 5 and was protected by this tower and the tower 4. The monolithic lintel of the gate cracked, and therefore the Byzantines walled up this gate and built a new gate in the same northern wall, but to the east, closer to tower 6. Small secret doors led into the fortress from three sides. A threeaisled basilica was built inside the fortress in the 6th century. In the 10th century it was rebuilt into a cross-domed church. A cistern was built next to its northern wall.

Keywords: Lycia, Pydnae, Cydna, Xanthos, ancient fortification, polygonal masonry, tower, salient, wall-walk, main gate, secret door, Byzantine basilica

To cite this article: Prikhodko E.V. Pydnae – the Hellenistic fortress on the borders of Xanthos. Part 3. Along the walls of the fortress. Aristeas XXV (2022): 88–166.

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Author:

E.V. Prikhodko