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PAROS, or PARO

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 861 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PAROS, or PARO , an See also:island in the See also:Aegean See also:Sea, one of the largest of the See also:group of the See also:Cyclades, with a See also:population of 8000. It lies to the See also:west of See also:Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about 6 m. broad, and with which it is now grouped together, in popular See also:language, under the See also:common name of Paronaxia. It is in 370 N. See also:lat. and 25° 10' E. See also:long. Its greatest length from N.E. to S.W. is 13 m., and its greatest breadth so m. It is formed of a single See also:mountain about 2500 ft. high, sloping evenly down on all sides to a maritime See also:plain, which is broadest on the See also:north-See also:east and See also:south-west sides. The island is composed of See also:marble, though See also:gneiss and See also:mica-schist are to be found in a few places. The See also:capital, Paroekia or Parikia (See also:Italian, Parechia), situated on a See also:bay on the north-west See also:side of the island, occupies the site of the See also:ancient capital Paros. Its See also:harbour admits small vessels; the entrance is dangerous on See also:account of rocks. Houses built in the Italian See also:style with terraced See also:roofs, shadowed by luxuriant vines, and surrounded by gardens of oranges and pomegranates, give to the See also:town a picturesque and pleasing aspect. Here on a See also:rock beside the sea are the remains of a See also:medieval See also:castle built almost entirely of ancient marble remains. Similar traces of antiquity in the shape of bas-reliefs, See also:inscriptions, columns, &c., are numerous in the town, and on a See also:terrace to the south of it is a See also:precinct of Asclepius. Outside the town is the See also:church of Katapoliani ('H `EKarovraavXtasil), said to have been founded by the empress See also:Helena; there are two adjoining churches, one of very See also:early See also:form, and also a See also:baptistery with a cruciform See also:font.

On the north side of the island is the bay of Naoussa (Naussa) or Agoussa, forming a safe and roomy harbour. In ancient times it was closed by a See also:

chain or See also:boom. Another See also:good harbour is that of Drios on the south-east side, where the See also:Turkish See also:fleet used to See also:anchor on its See also:annual voyage through the Aegean. The three villages of Tragoulas, See also:Marmora and Kepidi (KrlaiSt, pronounced Tschipidi), situated on an open plain on the eastern side of the island, and See also:rich in remains of antiquity, probably occupy the site of an ancient town. They are known together as the " villages of Kephalos," from the steep and lofty headland of Kephalos. On this headland stands an abandoned monastery of St See also:Anthony, amidst the ruins of a medieval castle, which belonged to the Venetian See also:family of the Venieri, and was gallantly though fruitlessly defended against the Turkish See also:general See also:Barbarossa in 1537. Parian marble, which is See also:white and semi-transparent, with a coarse See also:grain and a very beautiful texture, was the See also:chief source of See also:wealth to the island. The celebrated marble quarries See also:lie on the See also:northern side of the mountain anciently known as Marpessa (afterwards Capresso), a little below a former See also:convent of St See also:Mina. The marble, which was exported from the 6th See also:century B.C., and used by See also:Praxiteles and other See also:great See also:Greek sculptors, was obtained by means of subterranean quarries driven See also:horizon-See also:tally or at a descending See also:angle into the rock, and the marble thus quarried by lamplight got the name of Lychnites, Lychneus (from lychnos, a See also:lamp), or Lygdos (Piin. H. N. See also:xxxvi. 5, 14; See also:Plato, Eryxias, 400 D; Athen. v.

2050; Diod. Sic. 2, 52). Several of these tunnels are still to be seen. At the entrance to one of them is a bas-See also:

relief dedicated to See also:Pan and the See also:Nymphs. Several attempts to See also:work the marble have been made in See also:modern times, but it has not been exported in any great quantities. See also:History.--The See also:story that Paros was colonized by one Paros of Parrhasia, who brought with him a See also:colony of Arcadians to the island (Heraclides, De rubus publicis, 8; Steph. Byz. s.v. Hapos), is one of those etymologizing See also:fictions in which Greek See also:legend abounds. Ancient names of the island are said to have been Plateia (or Pactia), Demetrias, Zacynthus, Hyria, Hyleessa, Minoa and Cabarnis (Steph. Byz.). From See also:Athens the island afterwards received a colony of See also:Ionians (Schol.

Dienys. Per. 525; cf. See also:

Herod. i. 171), under whom it attained a high degree of prosperity. It sent out colonies to See also:Thasos (Thus. iv. 1e4; See also:Strabo, 487) and Parium on the See also:Hellespont. In the former colony, which was planted in the 15th or 18th See also:Olympiad, the poet See also:Archilochus, native of Paros, is said to have taken See also:part. As See also:late as 385 B.C. the Parians, in See also:conjunction with See also:Dionysius of See also:Syracuse, founded a colony on the Illyrian island of Pharos (Diod. Sic. xv. 13). So high was the reputation of the Parians that they were chosen by the See also:people of See also:Miletus to arbitrate in a party dispute (Herod. v.

28 seq.). Shortly before the See also:

Persian See also:War Paros seems to have been a dependency of Naxos (Herod. v. 31). In the Persian War Paros sided with the Persians and sent a trireme to See also:Marathon to support them. In See also:retaliation, the capital Paros was besieged by an Athenian fleet under See also:Miltiades, who,demanded a See also:fine of too talents. But the town offered a vigorous resistance, and the Athenians were obliged to See also:sail away after a See also:siege of twenty-six days, during which they had laid the island See also:waste. It was at a See also:temple of See also:Demeter Thesmophorus in Paros that Miltiades received the See also:wound of which he afterwards died (Herod.. vi. 133–136). By means of an inscription See also:Ross was enabled to identify the site of the temple; it lies, in agreement with the description of See also:Herodotus, on a See also:low See also:hill beyond the boundaries of the town. Paros also sided with See also:Xerxes against See also:Greece, but after the See also:battle of Artemisium the Parian contingent remained in Cythnos watching the progress of events (Herod, -viii. 67). For this unpatriotic conduct the islanders were punished by See also:Themistocles, who exacted a heavy fine (Herod. viii.

112). Under the Athenian See also:

naval confederacy, Paros paid the highest See also:tribute of all the islands subject to Athens -30 talents annually, according to the See also:assessment of Olymp. 88, 4 (429 B.C.). Little is known of the constitution of Paros, but inscriptions seem to show that it was democratic, with a See also:senate (See also:Boole.) at the See also:head of affairs (Corpus inscript. 2376–2383; Ross, hater. fined. ii. 147, 148). In 410 B.C. the Athenian general See also:Theramenes found an See also:oligarchy at Paros; he deposed it and restored the See also:democracy (Diod. Sic. xiii. 47). Paros was included in the new Athenian confederacy of 378 B.C., but afterwards, along with See also:Chios, it renounced its connexion with Athens, probably about 357 B.C. Thence-forward the island lost its See also:political importance. From the inscription of Adule we learn that the Cyclades, and consequently Paros, were subject to the See also:Ptolemies of See also:Egypt.

Afterwards they passed under the See also:

rule of See also:Rome. When the Latins made themselves masters of See also:Constantinople, Paros, like the See also:rest, became subject to See also:Venice. In 1537 it was conquered by the See also:Turks. The island now belongs to the See also:kingdom of Greece. Among the most interesting discoveries made in the island is the Parian See also:Chronicle (q.v.). See See also:Tournefort, Voyage du See also:Levant, i. 232 seq. (See also:Lyons, 1717) ; See also:Clarke, Travels, iii. (See also:London, 18'4); See also:Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, iii. 84 seq. (London, '835); Prokesch, Denkwurdigkeiten, ii. 19 seq.

(See also:

Stuttgart, 1836) ; Ross. Reisen auf den griechischen Inseln, i. 44 seq. (Stuttgart, and See also:Tubingen, ,84o) ; Fiedler, Reise durch alle Theile See also:des Konigreiches Griechenland, u. 179 seq. (See also:Leipzig, 1841); See also:Bursian, Geographie von Griechenland, ii. 483 seq. (Leipzig, 1872). For the Parian Chronicle, Inscriptions graecae, xii. See also:loo sqq.

End of Article: PAROS, or PARO

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