Roads and Quarries in Laconia

Résumé En

Laconia presents a complex and interesting case. As it had long coasts, there were also coastal roads. Variations in sea level over the years have swallowed up some of these roads, but parts of them come to the surface from time to time and allow us to see their original state. However, Laconia is a largely mountainous state. Sparta is surrounded by mountains. The existence of a road network had occurred to B. Phaklaris, a young researcher working on the ruins of Kynouria. Several of the quarries in Spartan territory have roads in their vicinity. Laconia suffered until recently from a lack of research on its quarries. The region is mentioned in modern studies concerning coloured marble, black marble from Tainaron, and rosso antico or green andesite from Krokeai, but these studies relate mainly to the Roman period. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans loved coloured marble.