Trikka
A city of Hestiaiotis known to Homer (B.729); its Asklepieion was reputed to be the oldest in Greece (Strab. 8.360; 9.437). It issued coinage in the 5th and 4th c. B.C., but virtually nothing is known of its history. It may have been destroyed by Philip II of Macedon along with Pharkadon since its exiles and Pharkadon's were later refused permission to return (Diod. Sic. 18.5.5). It became a member of the Aitolian League, however (Livy 39.25.3f), and it prospered in Roman times and later.
Trikka is situated in the W Thessalian plain, at the end of a long ridge which runs S from the (modern) Antichasia Mts. and cuts the NW part of the plain in two. The last hill of the ridge stops just N of the Lethaios (Trikkalinos) river. Routes from Epeiros and Macedonia met at Aiginion (near modern Kalambaka); the road then led to Trikka, and from it roads led S and E. The ancient city lay on the left bank of the Lethaios river; modern Trikkala lies on both sides. An impressive mediaeval castle is built around the last hill of the ridge, near the river's left bank, on the site presumed to be the ancient acropolis. The plan of the ancient city is scarcely known, since very few remains of it are left.
In the early part of the century Kastriotis uncovered what he took to be the asklepieion. In 1956 further excavations were carried out on this building, which lies to the E of the Church of Haghios Nikolaus in the old section of Trikkala (ca. 100 m N of the river, ca. 200 m E of the castle). The excavations were carried out amid great difficulties, and it was possible to uncover only the NE end of the building. In its final form this building was made up of a large room (N part only exposed) at the SE end (its length running NE-SW) and a series of four narrow rooms to the NW of it, then a wide room with a hypocaust floor which was evidently an addition to the earlier structure. The hypocaust room apparently dated from the 4th c. A.D., and the original building, although not certainly dated, was of the Roman Imperial period. The total NW-SE dimension (whether length or width) is unknown. The original purpose of the building is not known.
In 1958 another building was discovered to the NW of the last, and was more thoroughly investigated in 1965-66, although again, only a part of it was uncovered. This was oriented in the same direction as the last, and lies ca. 22 m to the NW of it. The S corner of two adjoining stoa-shaped buildings at right angles to each other was also discovered. The buildings are ca. 13 m wide; the discovered length of the SE wing was 34 m. Part of the outer wall of a similar building parallel to the SE one was discovered. The whole complex is tentatively identified as a square or rectangular court surrounded by stoas, the NE side is undiscovered. The outer dimension of the complex (NW-SE) is 78 m, and for the court 53 m if the NW stoa was also 13 m wide. The construction of the walls and the finds from the foundation trench seem to date the building to the 2d c. B.C. Most significant in regard to it was the discovery within the court of fragments of decrees. Theocharis considered that, since such decrees are normally found in the chief sanctuary of a city, this building may well have been (part of) the ancient asklepieion. In the 2d c. A.D. the SE wing had been provided with a very handsome figured mosaic floor, of which a considerable part remains. The rest of the building seems to have been considerably altered at this time.
In test trenches during the recent series of excavations part of a Roman peristyle was uncovered near the Church of the Phaneromene. Sherds from the Early Bronze Age through Hellenistic and Roman periods were found in several of the trenches. Tests on the acropolis revealed no remains earlier than the Roman period, although sherds indicated the area had been in use in prehistoric times. A test near the fortress gate revealed no ancient wall under this part of the mediaeval one, although Leake noted some remains of “Hellenic masonry forming part of the wall of the castle,” no longer visible today. In the late 19th c. Ziehen saw some ancient architectural fragments, including two statue bases near the Gurna spring S of Haghios Nikolaus, by the river.
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. M. Leake, Nor. Gr. (1835) I 425-30; IV 285-87; J. Ziehen, AM 17 (1892) 195-97; P. Kastriotis, τὸ ἐν Τρικκη Ἀσκληπιεῖον (1903); id., ArchEph (1918) 66-73P; A. S. Arvanitopoullos, Praktika (1915) 169f; F. Stählin, Das hellenische Thessalien (1924) 119fPI; E. Kirsten, RE (1939) s.v. Trikka; D. Theocharis, Praktika (1958) 64-80PI; id., Deltion 16 (1960) chron. 169f; 20 (1965) chron. 313-16PI; 21 (1966) 247-49I; H. Biesantz, Die Thessalischen Grabreliefs (1965) 1431; M. S. Thompson, ANSMN 11 (1964) 77-80I.
T. S. MACKAY- Paus. 4.3.2