Amykles

Amykles (Greek: Αμύκλες) is a village in Laconia, southern Greece. It lies in the plain by the Eurotas river, 6 km south of Sparta, east of the Taygetus mountains, along the Greek National Road 39 from Sparta to Gytheio. It was named after the ancient town Amyclae, the ruins of which are situated 2 km northeast of the village.

Population

Ancient Amyclae

According to some sources, the ancient town Amyclae (Ancient Greek: Ἀμύκλαι - Amyklai) was founded by Amyclas of Sparta, the son of Lacedaemon. In the second century AD, the traveller Pausanias was informed that the archaic site of Amyklai had its ancient origin as an Achaean stronghold that predated the "Dorian invasion", and modern archaeology has supported that view. The Bronze Age settlement lay on the slopes above the modern village of Amykles. It was conquered by the Spartans as the fifth of the surrounding settlements whose subjection initiated the history of Sparta, in the eighth century BC; the inhabitants of Amyklai took their places among the perioikoi, members of autonomous groups of free but non-citizen inhabitants of Sparta.