OLOSSON
Thessaly, Greece.
Chief city of
Perrhaebia (
Strab. 9.439f), identified with modern Elassona. Located at the N end of a small (5 km N-S, 10
km E-W) isolated plain N of the E Thessalian plain, it
is on a crossroad where roads from W and E Macedonia
(via the Bouloustana or Sarandaporou pass, and the
Stená Petras), from the W Thessalian plain, and from
Larissa in the E plain join. It appears in the
Iliad (2.739
“white Olosson”), probably issued Perrhaebian coinage
480-400 and 196-146 B.C. It apparently played a negligible role in history.
The ancient acropolis was a steep-sided, white clay hill
flanked by the deep ravines of the Elassonitikos (ancient
Titaresios) and a tributary (Kouradhiaris). On the acropolis is a monastery of the Panaghia Olympiotissa. Some
traces of isodomic ancient walls remain N of the monastery, and blocks and inscriptions are built into it. The
ancient lower city was in the plain on the right bank of
the Titaresios, but only very slight (1924) traces of the
city walls remain. Ancient graves have been found on the
left bank. Some 4th c. B.C. statuary and Roman grave reliefs have come from the city and its plain. There is a small archaeological collection in Elassona.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
W. M. Leake,
Nor. Gr. (1835) III 345-47; A. S. Arvanitopoullos,
Praktika (1914) 150-53, 160-68; id.,
ArchEph (1916) 891; F. Stählin,
Das Hellenische
Thessalien (1924) 23f; B. Lenke,
RE (1937) s.v. Olosson;
H. Biesantz,
AA (1959) 86-90
I; id.,
Die Thessalischen
Grabreliefs (1965) 127.
T. S. MACKAY
