4. STRUCTURE B
The city’s urban plan was organised entirely according to the layout of the land, with its hills and different altitudes. Streets were usually made of packed earth, though some were paved with flagstones. They were straight and met at perpendiculars, forming elongated rectangular urban blocks, while the challenge of the hilly local terrain was overcome through the use of successive tiers. In addition to the strong circuit walls, the settlement was also split into two distinct sections, eastern and western, by an interior wall that cut through its north-south axis.
This wall spanned 315m and is 2m wide throughout. Strikingly, even though the wall cut through the centre of the city, it was nevertheless fortified with a total of five rectangular towers. Due to the pronounced downwards north-south slope in the zone enclosed by the interior wall, the buildings here were arranged and erected atop successive, specially formed tiers.
The section outside the interior wall occupied a space of roughly 100 acres. It was surrounded by the river Kalamas and protected by the southward fortifications right down to the waterline on its eastern edge, where one of the main gates opened. This was likely where the local docks would have been. This section of the settlement, north-east of the interior wall, hosted the stoa and the sanctuary of Apollo Agyieus we saw previously. Structures that likely served public purposes have also been uncovered in the sloped eastern part of the section beyond the interior wall, conventionally dubbed the “Lower City”.
The “Lower City” shares the same urban plan as the rest of the settlement: once again, the Hippodamian system was used here, albeit with several adjustments. Buildings and streets were arranged in tiers here, as well. The streets, made either of packed earth or paved with flagstones, intersect at perpendiculars and form elongated rectangular urban blocks.
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