The Acropolis of Minoa was founded on Mount Moudoulia, whose southern slope is occupied by its remains. The mountain mass dominates the port of Katapola and today constitutes a protected area which has been preserved unscathed by modern interventions.
The systematic excavation by Prof. Lila Marangou between 1981 and 1991 has made known the history of the archaeological site during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, but has also documented that the earliest human presence took place at Minoa during the late 5th millennium, that is, in the Neolithic times. Movable finds testify to the continuation of life in the area where a fortification was later erected in the 3rd millennium BC, the era of the great Early Cycladic civilization. Evidence is lacking for any possible activity in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, but a human presence is again established in the area from the Proto-Geometric times onwards, that is from 1100 BC and later.
Life continued uninterrupted in Minoa until the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 4th centuries AD: the acropolis was then abandoned after 14 whole centuries of constant occupation. Such fortified ancient settlements were usually divided into an acropolis and a lower city, and that is exactly the case with Minoa. In fact, it is the remains of the Lower City that have been excavated – and may be visited – on the lower terraces of the hill.
The entrance was through a marble gate, leading to a stepped path passing a temple in the Doric style, in the cella of which part of the cult statue, probably of Apollo, is preserved. Among the excavated remains are also a pottery workshop, a Gymnasium, a latrine, as well as the ruins of other public buildings, private residences and several other relics of various purposes.
The remnants that belong to the acropolis, above the Lower City, include a gate, a bastion and a sanctuary at the very top. It is important to note that the wider outermost area enclosed in this monumental complex reached very low, right down to the sea, so protecting the people and their activities.
Worth mentioning are an inscription from the 2nd century AD which refers to a Samian enclave in Minoa. Similar inscriptions coming from the other ancient cities of the island, Arkesini and Aegiali, also refer to the presence of foreigners, such as the Naxians and the Milesians. The resolutions on these historical moments passed by the municipality are indelibly engraved in their stone: they demonstrate that the privileged position of Amorgos was upheld by its would-be guardians, whose action was sometimes more and sometimes less interfering.
Bibliography Marangou L. I. (2005). Αμοργός Ι – Η Μινώα. Athens: the Archaeological Society.
