New finds at ancient Hephaestia on Limnos and Ancient theatre discovered on the island of Lefkada

Two news items today. New finds at ancient Hephaestia on Limnos and the discovery of a previously unknown ancient theatre on the island of Lefkada.


New finds at ancient Hephaestia on Limnos

A major temple with finds dating from two main periods – one in the 7th-6th century B.C. and the second in the 3rd-2nd century B.C – was discovered during an archaeological excavation at ancient Hephaestia on the Greek island of Limnos, according to state broadcaster ERT. The finds came to light near the ancient city’s theatre.

Lesbos Antiquities Ephorate Pavlos Triantafyllidis stated that the workings on the archaeological site, funded by the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy, will continue. He said that archaeological excavations will be carried out at the Kabeira temple on Limnos and the small island of Agios Eustratios, where there is evidence that a prehistoric settlement existed.


Ancient theatre discovered on the island of Lefkada
Archaeological excavations on the Ionian island of Lefkada have brought to light a previously undiscovered and sizeable ancient theatre, the culture minister announced on Wednesday. It said the find was made on Koulmou hill toward the end of 2015.

Test 'sections' were cut in an area on the northeast flank of Koulmou's middle hill, which forms an amphitheatrical downward hollow ending in a lengthy flat section, the ministry announcement said. It noted that archaeologists knew very little about the city's ancient theatre, which was not mentioned in any ancient sources, though the logs of an early 20th-century archaeological excavation under the direction of German archaeologist Ε. Κrüger, lasting only a few days, recorded the discovery of signs indicating the presence of an ancient theatre.

The Aitoloakarnania and Lefkada Antiquities Ephorate dug sections in 13 places, which confirmed the existence of the theatre and uncovered rows of seats, parts of the orchestra and some of the retaining walls for the stage and other parts of the theatre.

The ministry said that six sections revealed seats carved from the rock, about 0.73 to 0.90 metres deep and 0.22-0.33 metres high. Others found the orchestra and a section of a wall in a quadrant plan, up to 0.6 metres across. The sections also found portions of retaining walls.

The culture ministry said that continuing the excavation in order to reveal and protect the monument will be a priority for the ministry's services, adding that the Lefkada Municipality and Ionian Islands Regional Authority have both supported the work.

Please see the article for more amazing images of the finds.