Marcus Niebuhr Tod

“ GYTHIUM, the harbour and arsenal of Sparta, from which it was some 30 m. distant. The town lay at the N.W. extremity of the Laconian Gulf, in a small but fertile plain at the mouth of the Gythius. Its reputed founders were Heracles and Apollo, who frequently appear on its coins: the former of these names may point to the influence of Phoenician traders, who, we know, visited the Laconian shores at a very early period. In classical times it was a community of perioeci, politically dependent on Sparta, though doubtless with a municipal life of its own. ”

“ The modern town is a busy and flourishing port with a good harbour protected by Cranae, now connected by a mole with the mainland: it is the capital of the prefecture (νομός) of Λακωνική with a population in 1907 of 61,522. ”