Nea Potidea

History

Classical Potidaea, a colony of Corinth, was founded about 600 BC on the saddle of the Pallini Peninsula. As the name of the city denotes, its patron deity was Poseidon. During the expedition of Xerxes against Greece in 480 BC, the city was defeated following a siege. However, a year later it had gathered its forces and resisted the siege of Artavazos. In the same year, it was the only city of Macedonia which, along with other Greek cities, took part in the battle of Plataea, a Hellenic victory. Subsequently Potidea was a member of the first Athenian Alliance. It seceded in 432/1 BC with the support of the Corinthians and King Perdikas II. In 431 BC, after the siege by the Athenian general Kallias (in which Socrates fought bravely as Alcibiades recounts at the end of Plato's 'The Symposium'), it was subjugated and subsequently forced to take in settlers from Athens. When the Peloponnesian War was over, Potidea was freed from the domination of Athens but received a second wave of Athenian settlers in 362/1 BC. In 356 BC, it was destroyed by the king of Macedonia, Philip II and was turned over to the Olynthians. In 349/8 BC the city along with the rest of the cities of Chalkidiki became part of the Macedonian Kingdom. After a period of desertion of about 40 years, in 316 BC, Kassandros built a new city on the site of Potidea, which was named after him, Kassandria (this may indicate that he intended to make it his capital, or at least an important naval base). In the following period until Macedonia was conquered by the Romans (168 BC), Kassandria developed into one of the most powerful cities of Macedonia. It was almost certainly during this time that the canal was opened, which facilitated navigation and boosted trade and economic development. In 168 BC, the city…

Most-observed species

• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  173
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  156
• Crested Lark

  Galerida cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  149
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  132
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  129
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  124
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  108
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  95

Most recent

• M 4.9 — 2026-03-25
  7 km E of Ouranoupolis, Greece
• M 4.3 — 2025-11-13
  10 km SSE of Ouranoupolis, Greece
• M 4.9 — 2025-09-22
  10 km WNW of Karyes, Greece
• M 4.1 — 2025-08-12
  6 km WNW of Karyes, Greece
• M 4.3 — 2025-06-16
  24 km SSW of Pefkochóri, Greece
• M 4.4 — 2025-06-10
  5 km ENE of Ouranoupolis, Greece