1. Introduction. Place, name, mythology

1.1. Geographical Location of Davlia

Davlia is located on the foothills of Mount Parnassos, in the northwestern part of the county of Viotia, 15 km northwest of the city of Livadia. It has roughly 2,000 inhabitants and belongs to the province of Livadia. The area of Davlia includes the settlements Mavroneri and Parorio, as well as the Monastery Jerusalem, and lies between Chaeronea, Distomo and Tithorea (Fthiotida).

1.2 Location of Davlia in the Αntiquity

In antiquity Davlia belonged to Phocis. It was located on the road from Chaeronea to Delphi, close to the road Schiste Hodos. It was of great strategic importance, as it gave controllability of the valley of the river Kifissos and communicated with the main roads of central Greece: from northern Greece to Boeotia and Attica, and from eastern Greece to the Corinthian Gulf. It is perhaps the only city of Phocis that was continually inhabited from the Prehistoric era to the late Byzantine years, as indicated from the archaeological remains. In the Modern years the settlement was moved to a short distance north of the acropolis, or the Castle, as it is mostly called.

1.3. Name

Different versions of the city name are preserved in ancient sources: Davlion Polis, Davlia, Davlion, Davleia. The most prevalent name is Davlis, which is also used by Homer. In the Byzantine years it was called Davlia, in the Ottoman era Diavleia, and in the Modern years Davleia. There are many versions regarding the etymology, as well. According to Strabo the name comes out of the word Davlos, i.e. thick, dense. According to Pausanias, who visited and described the area on his way to Delphi, it comes out of the name Davlida, Kifissos’s daughter.

1.4. Mythology

According to the basic myth of the area, the king of Davlida was Tereus from Thrace. He married Procne, daughter of the king of Athens Pandion, with whom he had a son, Itys. Later he married Philomela, the beautiful sister of Procne; but the two sisters, in order to avenge him, killed Itys and served him as dinner to Tereus. Chased by Tereus, the two sisters fled into the forests of Davlia, where the Gods turned Procne into a nightingale, Philomela into a swallow and Tereus into a hoopoe.

2. History

2.1. From the Prehistoric to the Archaic Period

The first traces of habitation in the area date from the Neolithic Period and are found near the bed of Kifissos River. Remains of fortifications are preserved from the Bronze Age, such as the “cyclopean” walls of Davlia and the pottery of the Mycenaean period. According to Homer, Davlis took part in the expedition against Troy with the rest of the cities of Phocis under the common command of Schedios and Epistrofos. The archeological findings within the city walls confirm the continuance of habitation during the Geometric period.

2.2. Antiquity

2.2.1. Classical and Hellenistic period

During the Archaic and Classical era, the fate of Davlida was closely tied to the history of the Koinon of Phocis and the Delphi Amphictiony. Thanks to the oracle of Apollo, the Koinon was found repeatedly in the center of developments, and all the political forces of ancient Greece sought the alliance in order to secure control of Delphi. Thus, in the 5th century BC, the Phocians allied with the Athenians and the Spartans, in the 4th century BC with the Thebans and Philip II of Macedonia, and in the 3rd century BC with the Aetolians. The main political goal of the Phocean cities after the First Sacred war (early 6th century BC) was the protection of their independence and territorial integrity. During the Persian wars Davlida refused to ally with the Persians and was destroyed by the army of Xerxes in 480BC. The Koinon of Phocis managed to recover soon after the destruction and tried to put under control a part of the territory of the Delphic sanctuary, thus creating a reason for a confrontation with the Thebans. This confrontation led to the Third Sacred war (357-346 BC), which was disastrous for the Phocean cities Lilea, Iampolis, Antikyra, Parapotamioi and Panopeas. Philip II of Macedonia intervened as an ally of Thebes and became the ruler of the region. Thereby, in 346 BC, the Phocean cities, Davlida among them, were totally destroyed and suffered the penalty of dispersion (dioikismos). The residents of Davlida were forced to leave their city and they were not allowed to bear arms. Nevertheless, a few years later the city recovered and in 338 BC fought with Athens and Thebes in Chaeronea against the kingdom of Macedonia. In the late 4th century BC, the Phocean cities questioned the sovereignty of the successors of Alexander and Cassander in the Valley of Kifissos River and in 284 BC they managed to expel the Macedonians from Elatia. The last pages of the independent political life of the Phoceans were written in 279 BC in the battle of Thermopylae with the Thessalians against the Gauls. Since then, the Koinon of Phocis started to gradually lose its political and military power.

2.2.2. Roman period

In 198BC the roman army of Flamininus occupied Davlida. AccordingtoTitus Livy (32.18.7) it was very difficult for the Romans to occupy the city, as they were on a high hill and could not use their siege engines. During the Roman period Davlida enjoyed years of prosperity and reconstruction, as indicated by the inscriptions and the archaeological findings of the acropolis.

2.2.3. Monuments

In the 2nd century BC, Pausanias says that there was a temple of Athina Polias in the city, while inscriptions found in the acropolis indicate that Artemis Sotira and Sarapis were worshipped. Regarding the topography, Pausanias notes that close to the crossroad of Schiste Hodos, before the spot where Oedipus killed his father, Laius, there was the parliament where the representatives of each city would convene, called Fokiko (Paus.10.4.7). In the area of Davlida, in Tronida Position, near Hiera Hodos (Sacred Way) which led to Delphi, there was the other emblematic place for the ancient Phoceans: the memorial of Archigeti, which according to tradition is the tomb of the legendary founder Phocus, grandson of Sisyphus. The modern researches have not confirmed this theory.

2.3. Late Antiquity and Byzantine Era

In the Late Roman and Early Byzantine years the city administratively belonged to the county of Achaia and is seen in the tenth place in Hierocle’s Synecdemus. During the Middle Ages, Davlia of the Byzantine sources belonged to the subject of Greece. Later, it was connected with Boeotia and Thebes and it generally maintained its importance during the Middle Byzantine years. As for the ecclesiastical history, since the Council of Nicaea in 325, Davlia is documented as a bishopric, and since the 7th century it belonged to the bishopric of Athens, as a continuation of the bishopric of Opountas and Elatia.

2.4. The Latin Period and the ecclesiastical history

Almost all the references to the city from the Latin Period are about the history of the bishopric of Diavlia. It seems that, after 1204, the bishop of the city had some authority over the local rulers, as between the years 1208-1212 he maintained correspondence with Pope Honorius III. In 1233 the bishopric supported the bishop who was exiled to the island of Andros. In 1311, bishop Déaublie was one of the executors of the will of Gautier of Brienne (Gautier de Brienne) and his church received the amount of 200 hyperpyra. Some names of bishops dating back to the period of the Catalan hegemenony are preserved, like the name of Guilamos who is referred as the mediator between Patriarch Nile and Pope Urban VI. Until the late 14th century, Talantio (Talantium in Latin sources, current Atalanta) became a major centre of the east, and in 1393 it detached and became an independent bishopric. It is considered that the importance of Davlia was gradually reduced, because from 1441 its bishop became a titular. In the late 15th century the two bishoprics (έδρες) were united. In a short period of time in the year 1653 the bishopric of Diavlia and Talantio became an archbishopric located in Talantio, as Davlia had been deserted. The bishopric of Davlia was abolished in 1833.

2.5. Late Medieval and Ottoman period

In the 14th and 15th century the area was flooded with foreigners. The new inhabitants, Arvanites, settled mainly in the lowlands. The population changes reflected in place names, eg Parorio was named Moulki and later on Bescheni. New settlements were founded near ancient cities, eg Kasnesi (current Mavroneri) was built near Parapotamioi. Davlia was one of the mountainous Greek settlements documented in the sources. When the Ottomans conquered Boeotia in 1460, the no longer big city was included in the Kaza of Livadia. From then and on we have limited information about the city. However, it seems that the name that prevailed is Diavlia. Near the small town which lost its importance to a large degree, the monastery of Jerusalem emerged as the most important religious, spiritual and economic centre of the area.

2.6. Modern History

The name Davlia was established in the Modern years. The inhabitants of the city and the monastery of Jerusalem had a remarkable contribution to the liberation struggle and participation in almost all the important historical eventsof the area from the liberation of Livadia (1821) until the battle of Arachova (1826). In 1836 Davlia was recognized as an independent settlement within the administration of Boeotia. In 1856, in the area of Zemenos, near Schiste Hodos, chief Christos Davelis and his band of banditswere defeated by the contingent of constabulary men under Ioannis Megas. On May 5th 1943, during the World War II, Davlia suffered great damage from the Italian troops.

3. Monuments and Landmarks

3.1. The Acropolis of Davlia

The Acropolis of Davlia is located near the present settlement. It is a unique location where traces of continuous residence from the prehistoric to the late Byzantine years have been preserved. In the Acropolis we can distinguish three different building phases: the prehistoric fortification, the ancient wall and the medieval interventions. The best-preserved relics are those of the ancient wall and the entrance gate of the west. The fortification wall is relatively small, about 200x250 meters. The structure of the wall is polygonal, trapezoid or even irregular. It dates back to the late Classical or Hellenistic years, before 198BC. The acropolis survived many attacks in Antiquity and late Antiquity, such as the invasion of Avars, Slavs etc. In the Middle years the fortification was strengthened in order to enhance the defense. A tower was built on the inside and another was added on the only western entrance. The acropolis took the form of a medieval fortified settlement or “castle” and several buildings became houses. The medieval towers in Davlia and Paroria suggest that these locations were part of a defensive system of the area of Kifissos in the late Byzantine years. In the late Middle years, the castle of Davlia was perhaps the smallest in Boeotia.

During the Byzantine years, the temple of Agioi Theodoroi was built inside the castle. Many spolia, ancient inscriptions and building material from other buildings were used for its erection. There was also the monastery of Panagia Palaiokastritissa inside the castle, the control of which passed over to the monastery of Osios Lucas in 1611.

3.2. Jerusalem Monastery

Jerusalem Monastery is located about 6km east of Davlia, on the slopes of mount Parnassos. It is dedicated to Virgin Mary and celebrates on the 23rd of August. It was founded in the 10th century and, according to an inscription, it was erected in 1088. Allegedly, the name Jerusalem (Ayarsali or Gersali) suggests a connection with Palestine, where the ascetics who settled in Parnassida during the 11th and 12th century came from. The monastery of Hosios Loukas in Stiri is of great importance for the development of monasticism in the region.Near Jerusalem Monastery there is the cave of Phaneromeni, with the small church of the hermitage, which is decorated with frescoes by the Cretan School, from the mid 17th century. The original church was destroyed by earthquakes and fires. It was renovated in the early 18th century and rebuilt in 1872. In the mid 18th century the monastery came under the protection of the monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai that enjoyed significant benefits. Several important Christian artefacts and documents certifying its active participation in the Greek Revolution were found in Jerusalem Monastery.

3.3. Traditional architecture and environment

Apart from the antiquities, Davlia has representative examples of the traditional architecture, like stone houses and small post-Byzantine chapels: St George (with important frescoes), St Minas, St John of Mavroneri.The symbol of the village is the imposing clock tower on the main square, built in 1928.

The mountain scenery and the water were always related with life in the region of Davlia. There are many interesting traditional stone fountains and large watermills, two of which, belonging to the families Koukoutsis and Kopanias, are very well preserved. Two others, of the families Koskinas and Barlos, retain only the operating mechanisms. The landscape itself is a place someone should visit to explore the nature, the beautiful mount Parnassos with its picturesque lakes, the valley of Kifissos and the springs of Mavroneri.