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{{Infobox Greek Dimos
|name               = Amphissa
|name_local         = Άμφισσα
|type = municipal unit
|image_map          = DE Amfissis.svg 
|image_skyline      = Άμφισσα_4041.jpg
|caption_skyline    = View of Amphissa
|city_flag          =
|coordinates        = {{coord|38|32|N|22|22|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_min      = 180
|elevation_max      =
|map_caption        = Location within the regional unit
|periph             = [[Central Greece (administrative region)|Central Greece]]
|periphunit         = [[Phocis]]
|municipality       = [[Delphi]]
|districts          = 
|population_as_of   = 2021
|pop_community      = 6334
|pop_municunit      = 7761
|area_municunit     = 315.174
|postal_code        = 331 00
|area_code          = 22650
|licence            = AM
|website            =
|city_seal          =
}}

[[File:Amfissa apopsi.jpg|thumb|220px|Southern part of Amphissa]]
'''Amphissa''' ({{langx|el|Άμφισσα}} {{IPA|el|ˈamfisa|}}) is a town in [[Phocis]], [[Greece]], part of the municipality of [[Delphi]], of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 315.174&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-21 }}</ref> It lies on the northern edge of the olive forest of the Crissaean plain, between two mountains, [[Mount Giona|Giona]] to the west and [[Mount Parnassus|Parnassus]] to the east, {{convert|200|km|abbr=on}} northwest of [[Athens]] and {{convert|20|km|abbr=on}} of Delphi, as well as {{convert|85|km|abbr=on}} northeast of [[Naupactus]] and {{convert|72|km|abbr=on}} south of [[Lamia (city)|Lamia]].

Amphissa dates back to antiquity, with its history spanning around 3,000 years, and has been traditionally the largest and capital city of Phocis. It was the most important city of the ancient [[Greeks|Greek]] tribe of the Ozolian [[Locrians]] and one of the most powerful cities in [[Central Greece (geographic region)|Central Greece]]. In the [[Middle Ages]], Amphissa came to be known as Salona.  It declined after several foreign conquests and destructions, but emerged as an important city in the region and played a major role during the [[Greek War of Independence]].

==Origin of the name==
It is believed that the name ''Άμφισσα'' (Amphissa)  derives from the [[ancient Greek]] verb ''αμφιέννυμι'' (amfiennymi), meaning 'surround', since the city is surrounded by mountains [[Mount Giona|Giona]] and [[Mount Parnassus|Parnassus]]. 

According to the [[Greek mythology]], [[Amphissa (mythology)|Amphissa]], the daughter of [[Macar (son of Aeolus)|Macar]], son of [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aeolus]], and mistress of the god [[Apollo]], gave her name to the city.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D38%3Asection%3D4 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.38.4]</ref>

During the [[Frankokratia|Frankish occupation]] of Greece in the 13th century, Amphissa was captured by the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica|king of Thessalonica]], [[Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat|Boniface of Montferrat]], and was renamed to '''La Sole'''; since then the city came to be called '''Salona''' in Greek.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Bon|first= Antoine|year= 1937|title= Forteresses médiévales de la Grèce centrale|journal= Bulletin de correspondance hellénique|volume= 61|page= 165|doi= 10.3406/bch.1937.2728|language= fr}}</ref> In 1833, after the establishment of the independent Greek State, the ancient name '''Amphissa''' was given back to the city.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

==History==
{{Moresources|section|date=November 2022}}
{{Unsourced|section|date=November 2022}}
===Classical era===
Amphissa has been settled since the [[Ancient Greece|ancient times]] and was the chief town of [[Ozolian Locris]], a region inhabited by the ancient [[Greeks|Greek]] tribe of [[Locrians]]; the largest and most renowned town of [[Locris]], beautifully constructed and located one hundred and twenty stades away from [[Delphi]]. 

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], in his work ''Description of Greece'', mentions the existence of the tombs of Amfissa and [[Andraemon]], and the temple of [[Athena]] on the [[acropolis]] of the town, with a standing statue of bronze, which was said to have been brought from [[Troy]] by [[Thoas (king of Aetoila)|Thoas]]. The Amphissians celebrated mysteries in honor of the "[[Anax|anaktes]] boys", who might be the [[Castor and Pollux|Dioskouroi]], the [[Korybantes|Curetes]] or the [[Cabeiri]] ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+10.38.4-7 10.38]). In Amphissa there were also the tomb of Gorge, wife of Andraemon, and a temple of [[Asclepius]]. 

Recent excavations have revealed a Mycenaean tomb in Amphissa, preliminary findings indicate that the tomb was in use for more than two centuries, from the 13th to the 11th century B.C.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/02/07/untouched-mycenaean-tomb-found-in-central-greece/| title = Untouched Mycenaean Tomb Found in Central Greece}} </ref>

Findings of several excavations revealed that the town had developed its commerce with [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] and towns of the northwestern [[Peloponnese]] at the end of the 8th century BC. Amphissa was organised as [[polis]] in the 7th century BC and flourished in arts and trade, which lasted for three centuries. Parts of the walls of the ancient acropolis of the town date back between the 7th and the 6th century BC. In 653 BC, people from Amphissa migrated to [[Southern Italy]] and founded the town of [[Locri|Epizephyrian Locri]]. Amphissa's calendar differed from that of the other Ozolian towns,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006%3Aid%3Damphissa |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites |publisher=[[Perseus Project]] |access-date=2008-05-08}}</ref> while four of the months' names known are Argestyon, Panigyrion, Amon and Pokios. Its coins had the head of Apollo on the one side, and the inscription "ΑΜΦΙΣΣΕΩΝ" (Amphissians'), a spear-head and a jaw-bone of [[Calydon]]ian boar, and either a  star or grapes on the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Locris |title=Locris |publisher=Forum Ancient Coins |access-date=8 May 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Women of Amphissa.jpg|thumb|240px|left|''[[Maenad#Myths|Women of Amphissa]]'', by [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]] and [[Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema]] (1887).]]
Following the Greek defeat by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] in the [[battle of Thermopylae]], Persian troops invaded [[Phocis]], Ozolian Locris, [[Doris (Greece)|Doris]] and [[Boeotia]]. It is then that Amphissa, due to its strong acropolis, received Phocians seeking for safety. During the [[Peloponnesian War]], Amphissa fought on [[Sparta]]'s side, drifting the other towns of Ozolian Locris in this way. The town's [[form of government]] was [[Oligarchy|oligarchic]], similar to that of Sparta, but, during the [[Pericles]]' era in [[Classical Athens|Athens]], some unsuccessful attempts to establish [[democracy]] took place. Ten of the [[archon]]tes of Amphissa have been known through inscriptions found at Delphi: Theagenes of Menandros, Voriadas, Charixenus, Aristodamus of Damon, Dorotheus, Euarchus, Archedamus, Aristodamus of Epinicus, Charixenus and Aristarchus.

In 426 BC, Spartan general [[Eurylochus (Spartan general)|Eurylochus]], on his way to [[Naupactus]], arrived to Delphi and sent a herald to Amphissa, in order to detach them from Athens and make the Amphissians leave him pass through their lands. The latter were the first to give him hostages and also persuaded the other Locrian cities to do the same, as they were alarmed at the hostility of the neighbouring Phocians. After the Peloponnesian War the Amphissians were allies to [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. In 395 BC, the Thebans encouraged the Amphissians to collect taxes from territories claimed by both Locris and Phocis; in response, the Phocians invaded Locris, and ransacked Locrian territory and its metropolis, Amphissa.

As a result, the Amphissians and the rest of Locrians, along with the Thebans, attacked Phocis, and the Phocians, in turn, appealed to their ally, Sparta. These conflicts led to the [[Corinthian War]], with the Amphissians on the side of Athens, [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] and Thebes.

=== Hellenistic era ===

During the [[Third Sacred War]], 356 – 346 BC, the Amphissians, who were allies of the Thebans, cultivated part of the Crissaean plain, which belonged to Delphi, and founded potteries in [[Kirra, Phocis|Kirra]]. In 339 BC, the Athenians offered golden shields to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi with inscriptions insulting to the Thebans, who provoked the deputy of Amphissa to oppose to this offer. Then [[Aeschines]], the Athenian deputy, contradicted the Amphissians, introducing their illegal actions in the sacred lands of the [[Delphi#Oracle|Oracle of Delphi]] before the [[Amphictyonic League]], which called [[Philip II of Macedon]] to intercede. 

In 338 BC, in what became known as the [[Fourth Sacred War]], Philip attacked and destroyed Amphissa, expelling large parts of its population and giving the area to Delphi, which is known as the Fourth Sacred War. Later in the same year, under the motivation of [[Demosthenes]], a confederation of the Athenians and the Thebans was organized against the [[Macedon]]ians, which the Amphissians and the rest of the Ozolian Locrians joined.

The Amphissians managed to rebuild their town and give to it its former power, but in 322 BC it was sieged by Alexander of [[Aetolia]]. In 279 BC, four hundred Amphissian [[hoplite]]s joined the Greek forces which defended Delphi against the [[Gaul]]s. Later, the Amphissians and the Aetolians tightened their old affiliation, and in 250 BC, Amphissa joined the [[Aetolian League]] as friend and relative of the Aetolians. In 245 BC, [[Aratus of Sicyon|Aratus]], the [[strategos]] of the [[Achaean League]], attacked and damaged Amphissa, but the two leagues allied with the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] general [[Titus Quinctius Flamininus]] against [[Philip V of Macedon]], and after their win over the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] king, Titus proclaimed Amphissa, among other cities, as an independent and tax-exempt polis, capital of Ozolian Locris, with its own [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule]], [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Ecclesia]] and coins. But when the Aetolians realised that Rome was to rule the Greek cities and asked [[Antiochus III the Great]] of [[Seleucid Empire|Syria]] for help, the Roman general [[Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC)|Manius Acilius Glabrio]] seized [[Lamia (city)|Lamia]] and advanced to Amphissa, where he conquered the Crissaean plain and besieged the town in 190 BC. 

The Amphissians, being confident for the power of their acropolis and their walls, defended the city, but the fall of Amphissa to the superior forces of the Romans was likely to happen. Then, Manius Acilius was replaced by [[Scipio Asiaticus|Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus]], and the people of Amphissa ran into the acropolis. Athenian deputies intervened and prevented Amphissa from the siege, achieving a truce between the two sides.
[[File:Orias castle in Amphissa.jpg|thumb|170px|View of the medieval castle ("Orias").]]

=== Roman and Byzantine era ===

In the period between 174 and 160 BC, Amphissa had been damaged several times during the hostilities which took place between the pro-Roman Aetolians and the nationalists of the town. When [[Augustus|Octavian]] founded the town of [[Nicopolis]], in memory of his victory over [[Mark Antony|Antony]] and [[Cleopatra VII|Cleopatra]] in the [[battle of Actium]], he drove Aetolians to populate it but the parts of them moved to Amphissa. That is why Pausanias says that the Amphissians were ashamed of calling themselves ''Ozolians'', thus they claimed Aetolian descent, a fact that was a misconception of Pausanias, because some people of Amphissa in his times were indeed descendants of Aetolian refugees. In that period, [[Plutarch]] mentions, in the work ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', a physician from Amphissa named Philotas ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0078&layout=&loc=Ant.+28 Marcus Antonius 28]). During the 2nd century, Amphissa was a prosperous town which expanded outside its walls, having a population of 70,000 people in 180 AD.

In the early Byzantine period, Amphissa was devastated by several foreign peoples who invaded [[Central Greece (geographic region)|Central Greece]], like the [[Visigoths]] under [[Alaric I]] and the [[Huns]]. In 451, the town probably had an episcopical seat and in 530, [[Justinian I]] fortified the towns around the Crissaean plain and fixed the fortress of Amphissa. [[Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)|Hierocles]] in his ''[[Synecdemus]]'' mentions Amphissa as one of the towns of the [[Roman province]] of [[Achaia (Roman province)|Achaia]], which was under the rule of the vice-consul of Athens.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hieroclis Synekdemos (Guide) |url=http://soltdm.com/sources/mss/hierocl/hierocles.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921055049/http://soltdm.com/sources/mss/hierocl/hierocles.htm |archive-date=2007-09-21 |access-date=2008-05-09 |website=soltdm.com}}</ref> The town later became part of the [[Theme (Byzantine district)|Theme]] of [[Hellas (theme)|Hellas]]. 

Since the middle of the 9th century, new invaders, the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgars]], raided the region of Phocis and besieged Amphissa several times, but the most damaging assault was in 996, when [[Samuel of Bulgaria]] destroyed the town and slaughtered its people. in 1059, [[Pechenegs]] besieged Amphissa one more time and forced the Amphissians to hide in caves of the region to avoid a massacre. In 1147 the [[Normans]] arrived to the Crissaean plain but left Amphissa unspoilt, maybe due to the town's decline.

=== Crusader era ===
[[File:HIMONAS-AMFISSA.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Castle of Amfissa (Salona)]]
In 1205, after the [[Fourth Crusade]] and the establishment of the [[Latin Empire]], [[Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat|Boniface of Montferrat]], the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica|king of Thessalonica]], conquered the region of [[Central Greece (geographic region)|Central Greece]]. Amphissa became the seat of the [[Lordship of Salona]] under [[Thomas I d'Autremencourt]]. It is then that the new governors built the powerful Castle of Salona on the hill where the ancient acropolis of Amphissa existed, while the ancient name of the town was replaced by the new name ''Salona'', or ''La Sole'' in French and ''La Sola'' in Italian. In 1311, the [[Catalan Company|Catalans]] conquered and ruled Central Greece for more than eighty years.

=== Ottoman era and the Greek War of Independence ===
[[File:Dupre-Salona-1821.jpg|thumb|left|180px|''Nikos Mitropoulos hoists the flag at Salona''. Painting of the capture of the city by the Greeks in 1821, by [[Louis Dupré (painter)|Louis Dupré]].]]
[[File:Dinner at Crisso, in the house of the bishop of Salona - Dodwell Edward - 1819.jpg|thumb|right|Dinner in the house of the Bishop of Amphissa in 1821, by Edward Edward]]
The region of Salona was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1394. In 1580, a huge earthquake destroyed several towns in Phocis, including Salona. After a period of [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] rule from 1687 to 1697, Salona devolved to the Ottomans again; several foreign travellers visited the town, which had about 6,000 inhabitants at the time. Salona had lost the former splendor and nothing was left to remind the glorious past of ancient Amphissa, so as some of the visitors misbelieved that it was the town of ancient Delphi or Kirra. In the 18th century, Salona became the center of preparations for the war against the [[Ottoman Turks]] in Central Greece, due to its strategic location and its proximity to the [[klepht]]s of Giona and Parnassus mountains.

In the [[Greek War of Independence]], Salona was the first town of Central Greece to revolt under the leadership of [[Dimitrios Panourgias|Panourgias]], Giannis Diovouniotis, Ioannis Gouras and its bishop Isaiah, who were in cooperation with [[Athanasios Diakos]], [[Yannis Makriyannis]] and others originated from Phocis. On 27 March 1821, Panourgias invaded the town and on April 10 the Greeks captured the Castle of Salona, the first fortress which fell in Greek hands, and extinguished the six hundred people of the Ottoman garrison in it. 

On 15–20 November 1821, a council was held in Salona, where the main local notables and military chiefs participated. Under the direction of Theodoros Negris, they set down a proto-constitution for the region, the "Legal Order of Eastern Continental Greece" (Νομική Διάταξις της Ανατολικής Χέρσου Ελλάδος), and established a governing council, the [[Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece]], composed of 71 notables from Eastern Greece, [[Thessaly]] and [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]. Salona became the capital of Eastern Continental Greece and the regime existed until the Ottoman recapture of East Greece in 1825.

==Culture and sites of interest==
{{Unsourced|section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:AMPHISSA 1918.jpg|thumb|220px|View of Amphissa in a 1918 postcard.]]
[[File:Square in Amfissa, Greece - panoramio.jpg|thumb|220px|Square of the town]]

Much of the town's culture is the result of private legacies left to it; some of the benefactors were Markidis, Giagtzis and Stallos. Landmarks include the Castle of Salona, also known as the Castle of Oria, where the ancient acropolis stood, the Archaeological Museum of Amphissa, the Annunciation Cathedral with its murals by Spyros Papaloukas, several smaller museums and the district of Charmaina where the traditional bells are produced. The Municipal Library of Amphissa, which was founded  in 1957, hosts, apart from its large number of books, a collection of traditional paintings of Phocis. 

Other older sites are the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Savior Church, built in the 11th century, the [[Early Christianity|paleochristian]] baptistery of the 3rd century next to the Cathedral, Lykotrypa which is a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] tomb on the eastern edge of the town and the Folklore Museum of Amphissa. There are also a TEI (Technological Educational Institute) affiliated to the TEI of Lamia, an [[IEK]] and a lyceum. 

There are ample opportunities for hiking and camping on the mountains. Amphissa contains several [[plateia]]s, an [[odeon (building)|odeon]], a [[choir|chorus]], a public [[philharmonic]], but is also known for its annual [[carnival]].

==Historical population==
{| class=wikitable
! Year !! City population !! Municipal unit population
|-
|1981 || 7,156 || –
|-
|1991 || 7,189 || 9,469
|-
|2001 || 6,946 || 9,248
|-
|2011 || 6,919 || 8,370
|-
|2021 || 6,334 || 7,761
|}

==Climate==
Amphissa has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate.
{{Weather box
| location = Amphissa (168m)
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| Jan high C = 12.3
| Feb high C = 14.8
| Mar high C = 18.1
| Apr high C = 19.9
| May high C = 26.5
| Jun high C = 31.7
| Jul high C = 34.1
| Aug high C = 34.6
| Sep high C = 30.6
| Oct high C = 25.3
| Nov high C = 19.5
| Dec high C = 15.7
| Jan low C = 2.2
| Feb low C = 3.1
| Mar low C = 5
| Apr low C = 7.4
| May low C = 10.9
| Jun low C = 16.7
| Jul low C = 21.1
| Aug low C = 22.1
| Sep low C = 18.6
| Oct low C = 12.4
| Nov low C = 10.1
| Dec low C = 6.5
| Jan precipitation mm = 134
| Feb precipitation mm = 34.7
| Mar precipitation mm = 41.5
| Apr precipitation mm = 40.3
| May precipitation mm = 33.6
| Jun precipitation mm = 9.9
| Jul precipitation mm = 29.7
| Aug precipitation mm = 29.9
| Sep precipitation mm = 82.2
| Oct precipitation mm = 43.6
| Nov precipitation mm = 55
| Dec precipitation mm = 73.5
| source = http://penteli.meteo.gr/stations/amfissa/ (2019 – 2020 averages)
}}

== Notable people ==
* [[Christos Karouzos]], archaeologist

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Amfissa}}
*[https://thedelphiguide.com/archaeological-museum-of-amfissa/ Archaeological Museum of Amfissa] {{in lang|en}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051227150715/http://www.amfissa.gr/ Official website] {{in lang|el}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050828145026/http://www.fokida.gr/ Official website of Phocis regional unit] {{in lang|el|en}}

'''Primary sources'''
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?layout=;doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160;query=toc;loc=10.38.1 online] at [[Perseus Project]]
*[http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/extracts/galakseidi.html Galaxidi Chronicle] {{in lang|el}}
*[http://www.amfissahistory.gr A website for the history of Amfissa] {{in lang|el}}

'''Secondary sources'''
*Petros Kalonaros, ''History of Amfissa'', 1997

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Amfissa
|North = [[Gravia]]
|Northeast = [[Parnassos (municipality)|Parnassos]]
|East =
|Southeast = [[Delphi]]
|South = [[Itea, Phocis|Itea]], ''[[Gulf of Corinth]]''
|Southwest = [[Galaxidi]]
|West = [[Lidoriki]]
|Northwest = [[Kallieis]]
}}

{{Delphi div}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Populated places in Phocis]]
[[Category:Delphi]]
[[Category:Greek prefectural capitals]]
[[Category:Cities in ancient Greece]]