Greek city of Kallatis in Thrace
Bronze 24mm (9.8 grams) Struck 250-150 B.C.
Reference: Moushmov 230; AMNG 227
Laureate head of Apollo right, countermark on neck.
KAΛΛA-TIA NΩN - Tripod altar, grain ear to the
left.
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A sacrificial tripod was a type of
altar used by the
ancient Greeks. The most famous was the
Delphic
tripod, on
which the Pythian
priestess took her seat to deliver the
oracles of the
deity. The seat was formed by a circular slab on the top of the tripod, on which
a branch of
laurel was deposited when it was unoccupied by the priestess. In this sense,
by Classical times the tripod was sacred to
Apollo. The
mytheme of
Heracles
contesting with Apollo for the tripod appears in vase-paintings older than the
oldest written literature. The oracle originally may have been related to the
primal deity, the Earth. Mangalia (Romanian pronunciation: Greek:
Callatis, Panglicara, other historical
names: Pangalia, Tomisovara) is a city and a port on the
Romanian
coast of the
Black Sea in the south-east of
Constanţa County.
History
A Greek
colony named Callatis (Kallatis) was founded in 6th century BC by the
city of
Heraclea Pontica.[1]
Its first silver coinage was minted approximately 350 BC. In 72 BC, Callatis was
conquered by the Roman general
Lucullus
and was assigned to the Roman province of
Moesia Inferior. Throughout the 2nd century AD, the city built defensive
fortifications and the minting of coinage under the Roman emperors
Septimius Severus
and Caracalla
continued. Callatis suffered multiple invasions in the third century AD but
recovered in the 4th century AD to retain its status as an important trade hub
and port city.[2]
Since the 9th century it was known by the Turks as Pangalia, by the
Romanians as Tomisovara and by the Greeks as Panglicara and it was
one of the most important ports on the west coast of the Black Sea. Mangalia
(former Callatis) is the oldest city, continuously inhabited, on the present
territory of Romania.
Geography
and climate
Mangalia is positioned at 43°49’
latitude
and 28°35’
longitude, with an approximate
elevation
of 10 meters, 44 km south of the municipality of
Constanţa,
on the same latitude as the French resort of
Nice. Mangalia is
one of the southernmost resorts on the Romanian coast of the Black Sea.
Mangalia is characterized by a moderate maritime
climate
(annual average temperature 11°C - one of the highest in Romania) with hot
summers (July average over 21°C) and mild winters (January average 1°C),
Mangalia being the country's second place, after
Băile Herculane,
with positive average temperatures in wintertime. Spring comes early but is cool
and autumn is long and warm. In summer, cloudiness is reduced (about 25 sunny
days in a month) and the duration of sunshine is of 10–12 hours a day. Annual
precipitation is low (about 400 mm).
The sea breeze
is stronger in summer. The natural cure factors are the water of the Black Sea,
which is chlorided, sulphated, sodic, magnesian, hypotonic (mineralization
15.5g), the sulphurous, chlorided, bicarbonated, sodic, calcic, mesothermal
(21-28°C) mineral waters of the
springs in the northern part of the city, in the area of the beach between
Saturn and Venus, the sulphurous peat mud, rich in minerals, which is extracted
from the peat bog north of the city (expected to last another 250 years) and the
marine climate, rich in saline aerosols and
solar radiation that have a bracing effect on the
organism.
The resort has a large, fine-sand beach developed for purposes of
aeroheliotherapy and wave therapy, as well as high
seawalls with a specific microclimate where one may benefit from
inhalations
of saline
aerosols having therapeutic effects.
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