POSEIDON IN CAONIA: UN PAESAGGIO SACRO TRA CULTI EROICI E GESTIONE IDRAULICA

Abstract

Th is contribution provides a new architectonic reconstruction of the so-called Temple 6,
located in the proximities of the Southern necropolis of Phoinike (Caonia, Northern Epirus),
through planimetric and architectural analysis of archaeological evidences. Moreover, thanks
to the study of internal supplies of the building (wall and pavement decorations, statues and
ritual structures), we provide a new interpretation of cults, housed in the temple: among these,
Poseidon, whose presence in the temple is explained in the light of his cultic functions in relation
to the drainage and hydraulic management that occurred in the southern plane of the hill
of Phoinike in Hellenistic-Roman period. Th erefore, new hypotheses are here advanced on the
progressive structuring of the layout of the sacral landscape of this suburban area of Graeco-
Roman Phoinike and on its modifi cation due to religious aspects that also integrate paleoenvironmental
features of the surrounding context (such as swamps and water basins) involving
human-related construction activities and territorial planning.