Misplaced Pages

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (September 2016) Click for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Drachenhäuser}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.

The dragon houses (Greek: Δρακόσπιτα, Drakospita) or Draga (Δραγκά) are some twenty large, ruined buildings found in the south of the island of Euboea, Greece. They were built with massive stone blocks without mortar and large stone slabs for the roofs. The Dragon House on Mount Ochi (Δρακόσπιτο της Όχης), north of Karystos is the most famous and well preserved. Other notable buildings are located in Palli-Lakka (Πάλλη-Λάκκα Δραγκά) and in Kapsala. In local folklore "dragons" are not only reptilian monsters but also beings with superhuman powers.

There is no accepted theory about the identity of the builders nor an agreed estimation on their dating. No mention is identified in classical texts and the first account is from the 18th-century British geologist, traveller and writer John Hawkins The first detailed account, after Hawkins was in 1842 by the German archaeologist H.N. Ulrichs.

The French classical scholar Jules Girard visited Euboea and described the Ochi dragon house, and provided further descriptions of the three Palli-Lakka Dragon houses

The Swiss archaeologist Karl Reber has tracked down all reported buildings and published a report in 2010.

Gallery

• on Ochi (north)
• on Ochi (south)
• on Ochi (inside)
• Palli-Lakka (east)
• Palli-Lakka (north)
• Kapsala

References

1. Hawkins J., An Account of the Discovery of a very Ancient Temple on Mount Ocha in Euboea , In: R. Walpole: Travels in Various Countries of the East London 1820, pp 285-293 (online)
2. Reber, Karl. "The Dragon Houses of Styra: Topography, Architecture and function" (PDF). MAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
3. Girard J., Mémoire sur l'île d'Eubée In: Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires, Paris, 1851, Vol. 2, pp. 708-714, and picture (online)
4. Reber K., The Dragon Houses of Styra: Topography, Architecture. and Function , Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 10, 2010, No. 3, pp 53 -61 ((pdf) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine)

This article about Greek history is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Ruins in Greece
• Euboea
• Buildings and structures in Central Greece
• Megalithic monuments
• Greek history stubs