Psephi, Krokees, Evrotas, Laconia, Peloponnese, Greecei

Regional Level Types
Psephi	Quarry
Krokees	Village
Evrotas	Municipality
Laconia	Regional Unit
Peloponnese	Administrative Region
Greece	Country

The most distinguished showpiece of antiquity was the imperial porphyry, the red porphyry. Among the culturally and historically important rocks, the Porfido verde antico was the most noble.

While red porphyry was reserved exclusively for emperors, green porphyry was traded throughout the Roman Empire from Palmyra in Syria to the British Isles.

The Greeks called it lithos lakonikos = krokeon lithos and later Porfido verde antico by the Italian stonemasons and artists.

This is the volcanic rock that Pausanias wrote about in the 2nd century AD:
“On the way to the sea to Gythion the Spartans have a village called Krokeai. The quarry is not a continuous, uniform rock, but rather stones in the form of river stones are quarried here, which are difficult to work, but if worked, they probably also form an ornament for sanctuaries of gods, but especially beautify swimming pools and water basins.

In late antiquity, during the so-called “Dark Years”, in which Laconia tried to escape the Byzantine claim to rule and turned back to paganism, the mining of the Porfido verde antico stopped and the mining area fell into oblivion.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References