Temple of Poseidon

Think Poseidon, think earth movements under the sea, and tsunami waves. Strabo referred to a shrine of Poseidon on the west coast of the Peloponesse. Ruins of an archaic temple have been uncovered near Samikon by German, Austrian, and Greek archaeologists and geoscientists. There is an interesting coastal configuration at the site – see https://phys.org/news/2023-01-discovery-temple-poseidon-kleidi-site.html … It lies in a plain below an ancient fortress that dominates the landscape from a hill north of the lagoon of Kalafa. A settlement here goes back to the LB Mycenaean period. Waves of the Ionian Sea washed up directly against the hills until the 5th millennium BC. Thereafter, on the side facing the sea, an extensive beach barrier system developed in which several lagoons were isolated from the sea. However, evidence has been found the region was repeatedly afflicted by tsunami events in both the prehistoric and the historic periods. Most recently, in the 6th century AD, and presumably associated with known earth movements at this time. A tsunami wave is also dated to the early 1300s AD, coinciding with unusual weather patterns across Europe, including Britain. The elevated position provided by the hills would have been important in antiquity as it would have made it possible to move to dry land along the coast to both the south and the north. It is thought the site of the temple was probably located here precisely because of the many tsunami events – as revealed in the sediments and by geomorphological changes. Poseidon, the earth shaker, was thought to be responsible for earthquakes, and tsunami waves. Poseidon was in fact closely related to the sea.