It's a burial monument , a cenotaph in honor of Menecrates, ambassador of Corfu to Oiantheia , a town near today's town of Galaxidi. According to the inscription, the people of the town, in recognition of his offer, created the monument. The inscription, written in Corinthian alphabet , dates approximately to 600 BC . (it is one of the most ancient saved Greek inscriptions), while the architecture of the cenotaph is chronologically set at 570/540 BC and there is only one similar monument at Lindos, Rhodes.
At the archaeological museum of Corfu there is also a marble lion, the 'lion of Menecrates' , which ows this name to the original impression that it laid on top of Menecrates cenotaph. |
Download kml file
