PYLOS
(Palaio Kastro) Messenia, Greece.
The
Classical town occupied Mt. Koryphasion, a rocky
promontory at the N end of the Bay of Navarino. It is
chiefly known as the camp fortified by the Athenians in
425 B.C. prior to the battle with the Spartans on the
island of Sphakteria. There are traces of Greek walls
of various types of masonry both earlier and later than
those assigned to the Athenians; some served as foundations for the 13th c. Frankish castle. Also ancient are
cisterns and rock-cut steps and the remains of a breakwater at the S tip of the cape. Pausanias (
4.36.1-5) mentions a Sanctuary of Athena Koryphasion, unknown today, and within the city a house, tomb, and cave, all
supposedly of Nestor. This last has been found to
contain sherds dating from Mycenaean to Roman times,
but the Mycenaean palace of Nestor has been excavated
at Epano Englianos, 10 km to the N.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Burrows in
JHS 16 (1896) 55-76
I; 18
(1898) 148
I; G. Grundy in
JHS 16 (1896) 1-54
M; J. G. Frazer,
Paus. Des. Gr. (1898) III 456, v 608.
M. H. MC ALLISTER
