Coordinates: 37°29′N 23°21′E

Troezen
Troezen (/ˈtriːzən/; ancient Greek: Τροιζήν, modern Greek:
Τροιζήνα [tri'zina]) is a small town and a former municipality Troezen
in the northeastern Peloponnese, Greece, on the Argolid Τροιζήνα
Peninsula. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of
the municipality Troizinia-Methana, of which it is a municipal
unit. It is part of the Islands regional unit.[2]

Troezen is located southwest of Athens, across the Saronic

Gulf, and a few miles south of Methana. The seat of the
former municipality (pop. 6,507) was in Galatas. Before 2011,
Troizina was part of the Argolis and Korinthos prefecture
from 1833 to 1925, Attica prefecture from 1925 to 1964,
Piraeus Prefecture from 1964 to 1972 and then back in Attica
prefecture (in antiquity it was part of Argolis). The
municipality had a land area of 190.697 km².[3] Its largest Ortholithi mountain
towns and villages are Galatás (pop. 2,195 in 2011), Kalloní
(pop. 669), Troizína (pop. 673), Taktikoúpoli (250), Karatzás
(287), Dryópi (239), Ágios Geórgios (228), and Agía Eléni
(159). There are numerous smaller settlements.

Mythology
Troezen

Location within the regional

Coin (chalkous) from Troezen, 325–
300 BC. Obverse: Head of Athena unit
wearing tainia. Reverse: Ornate
trident head; to left, dolphin upward,
ΤΡΟ(ΙΖΗΝΙΩΝ) "of Troizenians"

According to Greek mythology, Troezen came into being as a

result of two ancient cities, Hyperea and Antheia, being
unified by Pittheus, who named the new city in honor of his
deceased brother, Troezen.[4]

Troezen was where Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, slept with

both Aegeus and Poseidon on the same night and fell
pregnant with the great Greek hero Theseus. Before returning Coordinates: 37°29′N 23°21′E
to Athens, Aegeus left his sandals and sword under a large
boulder in Troezen and requested that when the child was Country Greece
Administrative Attica
region
able to prove himself by moving the boulder, he must return Regional unit Islands
the items to his father in Athens; Theseus lifted the boulder Municipality Troizinia-Methana
when he came of age.[5] Districts 8
• Municipal 190.697 km2
Troezen is the setting of Euripides' tragedy Hippolytus, which unit (73.629 sq mi)
recounts the story of the eponymous son of Theseus who
becomes the subject of the love of his stepmother, Phaedra. Elevation 23 m (75 ft)
While fleeing the city, Hippolytus is killed when his chariot is Population (2011)[1]
attacked by a bull rising from the sea.[6] Other plays on the • Rural 673
same subject have been written by Seneca and Jean Racine, • Municipal 5,486
which are also set in Troezen. unit
• Municipal 29/km2 (75/sq mi)
The ancient city had a spring that was supposedly formed unit density
where the winged horse Pegasus once came to ground. Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)
History Postal code 180 20
Area code(s) 22980
A cult built up in the ancient city around the legend of Website www.dimos-trizinas.gr
Hippolytus. Troezen girls traditionally dedicated a lock of (https://web.archive.or
their hair to him before their marriage. g/web/200612050232
52/http://dimos-trizina
Sybaris in Magna Graecia was a Troezenian colony (founded s.gr/)
720 BC).[7]

Before the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), Athenian women and children were sent to Troezen for safety on the
instructions of the Athenian statesman Themistocles. In 1959, a stele was found in a coffee house in Troezen,
depicting the Decree of Themistocles, the order to evacuate Athens. The stele has since been dated to some
200 years after the Battle of Salamis, indicating that it is probably a commemorative copy of the original order.

The temple of Isis was built by the Halicarnassians in Troezen because it was their mother-city, but the image
of Isis was dedicated by the people of Troezen. The city also bore the name Apollonia (Ancient Greek:
Ἀπολλωνία) in antiquity.[8][9]

In the Middle Ages, it was known as Damala (Δαμαλᾶ) and was the seat of a barony of the Principality of
Achaea.

References
1. "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός" (http://www.statistics.gr/doc
uments/20181/1210503/resident_population_census2011rev.xls) (in Greek). Hellenic
Statistical Authority.
2. Kallikratis law (http://www.kedke.gr/uploads2010/FEKB129211082010_kallikratis.pdf) Greece
Ministry of Interior (in Greek)
3. "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (http://dlib.statistics.gr/
Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf) (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of
Greece.
4. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2. 30. 9
5. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 15. 7
6. This story provided the title of Mary Renault's historical novel The Bull from the Sea.
7. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/577434/Sybaris
8. Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. s.v. Τροιζήν.
 9. Gustav Hirschfeld: Apollonia 12.(in German) In: Realencyclopädie der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft (RE). Volume II,1, Stuttgart 1895, col. 115.

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