The inscription at the ancient quarry at Apollonas
The village of Apóllonas was named after an antique inscription which lies on a marble cliff on the southern side of the hill with the ancient marble quarry in which the famous Kouros, a gigantic, unfinished marble statue, lies. The inscription reads: “OROS CHORIOU IEROU APOLLONOS” (border of the sacred district of Apollo). The whole hill with its marble quarry was thus dedicated to the god of light and the arts.
View towards Apóllonas; the hill with the marble quarry can be seen on the left. The inscription is located at the top of the hill.
To get to the inscription, you have to climb a fence and then mount this slope.
The ancient sculptors always made their inscriptions on vertical or slightly overhanging marble surfaces, preferably protected from the rain.
The inscription is quite weathered.
ΟΡΟΣ ΧΟΡΙΟΥ ΗΕΡΟΥ ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΟΣ (the right spelling is actually “ΙΕΡΟΥ” – an error?)
Nearby lies an old terrace with this small picturesque stone cottage.
View from the inscription over the valley of Apóllonas; opposite mount Kalógeros on which the ruins of a Byzantine castle lie.
view to the mountains in the west
The rock on the cultivated slope and the old terraces is slate. The marble layers are situated on top of these slate layers. Here you can see the first small marble rock belonging to the same layers that make up the hill of the quarry.
View to the top of the hill; the inscription is located to the far right.
back: Quarries and statues
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