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Pheia (Ancient Greek: Φειά, also Φειαί - Pheiai) was a small town and a port in Elis in the ancient country of Pisatis. It was built in a natural bay at today's Agios Andreas, Katakolo. It was destroyed in the 6th century. It was located on the isthmus connecting the cape of Katakolo with the mainland, near the river Iardanus. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians conquered the small town and used its ports as their base for military operations in Elis. In the location of the acropolis, a castle was built in the Middle Ages which survives today, known as Pontikokastro.
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Archaeological remains
The first excavations were made in 1911. In 1959 Nikos Yalouris explored the underwater remains of Pheia. In 1973 the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology made a survey in the bay of Agios Andreas near Katakolo, and found the remains of the town at a depth of 5 m below sea level. The archaeological remains at Agios Andreas date from the Early Helladic through the Byzantine periods. The finds included the remains of buildings, pot sherds, fragments of amphorae, the remains of a Roman cemetery and a Byzantine coin. Two cycladic marble figures from the Bronze Age were found on the headland, as well as finds of tombs and remains of Roman buildings on Tigani island. A kouros and the remains of a painted terracotta roof are among the finds dating to the late Archaic period. There is also prehistoric pottery scattered across the site.
Destruction
Recent studies at Agios Andreas have shown that the region suffered from the effects of tsunamis several times. Pheia was destroyed in 551 A.D. by a tsunami caused by an earthquake that was known historically. The earthquake was also responsible for the destruction of the city of Patras and for completing the destruction of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.