Crossroads of Kassandrea #1362

Description

Remnants of the wall are visible along almost the entire length of the Potidaea canal, on the Chalkidiki side, and within the modern village. As seen in photos, a section of it on the western side is located in the sea.

On the site of ancient Potidaea, a Corinthian colony on the isthmus of the Kassandra peninsula, which was destroyed by Philip II in 357 BC, Cassander founded the new city of Kassandreia in 316 BC. This Hellenistic city developed into one of the most important cities of Macedonia, flourishing during the Roman era and the early Christian centuries.

In 540 AD, the city was destroyed by the Huns, and Emperor Justinian I oversaw its restoration. According to the historian Procopius, Justinian fortified the cross-wall along the neck of the peninsula, extending from the Thermaic Gulf to the Toroneos Gulf, to protect the city and the entire peninsula from barbarian raids: "he made the cross-wall at the entrance evidently impregnable and unbeatable for those who wished to attack."