Laos is an ancient Greek city that was an important colony of Sybaris. Within the territory of Santa Maria del Cedro, close to the sea, on the coastline area known as "Riviera dei Cedri", there's hill Bartolo. On this very hilltop there are the remains of ancient Greek settlement of Laos.
Indice
History of Laos
According to sources, the city was settled by some colonists from Sybaris, who survived the destruction of their own city at the hands of the people of Kroton around BC 510.
Citiy's events were rough: conquered by Lucans, then Thuri's citizens tried to win it back and failed. It eventually was abandoned in the III century BC.
The archaeological park
Itinerary runs across the ancient road network which is organized as the typical city plan of Greek towns: rectangular districts allocated through a grid street plan. The city was guarded on at leas three sides by a wall made of stone blocks embedded according to a "check pattern" technique.
The ancient craftwork district was recovered in the south-east side of the town: here the kilns for ceramics processing were found, while the public and sacred spaces have not yet been recognized.
Along the road a portion of the built-up area was brought to light with some important structures such as the "Casa del Mosaico" with its mosaic floor with clay tiles and light blue, and the "Casa con la Rampa" which owes its name to the particular access to the house made of stone slabs.
The artifacts found in the archaeological area of Laos are kept at the Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria and at the Antiquarium near the park.
Imagine Copyright: Proloco Diamante
Opening Hours
Mon-Thu: from 10.00 to 2.00 pm
Fri-Sat-Sun: from 10.00 to 16.00
Tickets
Free entry.
Contacts
Secrets of Archaeology. DVD.
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Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily.
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The Greek World.
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE CARD:
FOUNDATION: VI century BC
SUNSET: III century BC
CIVILIZATION: Greeks, Lucans
REGION: Calabria
PROVINCE: Cosenza
MANAGEMENT: MIBAC
REDISCOVERY: XX century
How to get to Laos
BY CAR
From the North:
Take the A3 motorway (Salerno-Raggio Calabria) and exit at Lagonegro Nord, take the Statale 585 and then the Statale 18 towards Via degli Scavi / SP9 to Santa Maria del cedro.
From the South:
Take the A3 motorway (Reggio Calabria-Salerno) and exit at Falerna, take the Statale 18 towards Via degli Scavi / SP9 to Santa Maria del Cedro.
BY TRAIN
Marcellina FS station and then about 15 minutes on foot.
BY AIR
Lamezia Terme Airport is about 115 km from Santa Maria del Cedro.
