TILOS TRAVEL GUIDE

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ARCHAEOLOGY

Castle of Megalo Horio

One of the most important castles of the Byzantine period, repaired in the Knights’ period, is the one above Megalo Horio. During antiquity there was a Hellenistic acropolis on the same spot, traces of which can be seen on the lower parts of the walls and especially at the main gate and the perimeter. In some places even polygonal constructions can be discerned, dating from the Ancient period. A series of stone steps after the gate leads to the spot where there was probably a temple dedicated to Pythios Apollo and Poliada Athena. In its place now stands the temple of Taxiarchis, built in the post-Byzantine period with interesting remnants of murals of the 15th-17th century.

Under the castle in the south slope of the hill, there are remnants of the ancient settlement. It is dated around the 4th century B.C. and considered one of the most important Doric settlements yet discovered.

Ancient and Byzantine Cemetery

After a request by his family doctor Mr. Kammas, Professor of Geology and Paleontology of the University of Athens, Nikolaos Symeonidis came to Tilos to study the human skulls that were visible among the sea’s rocks. The coin found inside the mouth of a skull gave the first dating of the anthropological findings at around 800 A.D. (It was during this visit during this research, that the professor discovered the fossils of the dwarf elephants at the cave of Harkadio).

Today it is well-known that in the area there used to be an ancient, Byzantine cemetery now covered by seawater. The corroded anthropological remains are in the “beach rocks” inside the rocks which were created through the ‘welding’ of sand and are called bluestones. When weather permits and the sea is calm, the visitor can discern the remains of the ancient cemetery and the human remains under its surface. In the ancient tombs several additional pieces of pottery have been found, since people back then would bury their dead with their personal belongings.

Skulls of the Byzantine period collected here are included in the exhibition of Dwarf Elephants at Megalo Horio.