The Agora of Kos: The Hellenistic and Roman Phases. The hellenistic phase of the Agora

The city of Kos, founded in 366 B.C., was based on a urban plan organized on a grid of blocks oriented north-south. The new settlement was protected from the beginning by a fortification wall and also the harbour was defended by an independent wall circuit. After the building of the walls, on the north part of the town it was realized one of the largest agora of the Greek world, extended since the central plateia. It was a rectangular space surrounded by Doric porticoes and elevated on an artificial terrace, it was realized in different phases and substantially renewed in the II cent. B.C. The north part, being nearer to the harbour, had a commercial purpose, while the southern part was destined to the civic life. Recently a new sondage, finalized to understand the relationship between the agora and the harbour quarters, showed the existence of a paved ramp which introduced to the east portico of the IV century and Hellenistic agora, assuring, from the very beginning, the connection with the port. Outside the agora, another secondary market place could be organized for commercial purposes, being directly connected with the harbour. Like other contemporary towns, Kos could use more than one square for its complex functions, and maybe the maritime commercial ones were displayed in the harbour market more conveniently than in the civic agora itself.