Papaggelos Ioakeim, Ports and wharfs in Chalkidiki during the Middle Ages
Even though the length of the coastline of the Chalkidiki peninsula is estimated at more than 600 km (from the Megalo Embolo until Stauros), the natural ports providing protection against all weathers are only a few. The oldest port projects in Chalkidiki must come from the 5th century BC. A first catalogue of the ancient port projects in the peninsula includes the ports in Dikaia, in Kassandreia, in Skioni, in Aphytos, in Mekyverna, in Toroni, in Siggos, as well as the uncertain western port in ancient Ouranoupolis and its eastern port, too, and the port in Akanthos. What we have is three historical references to the ports in Chalkidiki, i.e. to the port of Koufo, to the port of Kassandreia and the difficult to interpret reference made by Strabo (“Kapros nisos kai limen”), which must be referring to the port of Stageira.
Our information concerning any naval activity in Chalkidiki during the Middle Ages (5th-15th c.) is not much. The term limen is mentioned in a few cases. The terms used for the ships’ approaching and mooring place is the latin term Skala and rarely Paraskalion. For the coastal building that firstly accepted any people or goods, which today’s name in Agio Oros is Arsanas, the term used was Apotheke (Magazi during the 19th-20th c.).
For the establishment of a Skala technical projects were not necessary. What was needed was just a coast convenient to approach, which could also provide protection against any weather. So as to make the function of the Skala easier, a wooden platform is assumed to have also been constructed, to which the ship approached while loading and unloading.
What follows is a catalogue of 106 Skales, either just referred or even found, of the Middle Ages in Chalkidiki, taking into account that in every hamlet there must have been at least one Skala.
