The town was located in the district of Pelasgiotis and its territory was bordered on the north by Phalanna, the northeast by Argura, and to the south by Crannon.[3]
In the 5th century BCE, the acropolis and the slope of the hill were enclosed in a polygonal enclosure. In the 4th century BCE the acropolis was rebuilt: a quadrangular tower was built and fortified with a new wall with five towers, one of them with a fortified gate. The eastern part of the wall of the hill was reinforced in the 4th century BCE, And bears similarity to the defensive constructions of Halos.[10] The lower part was enclosed in the 4th century BCE by an opus isodomum wall with four quadrangular towers. It was 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long and surrounded an area of 64 hectares (160 acres). The main gate was in the northwest, and was accessed by a polygonal stone ramp.[9]
During the food crisis of 330-326 BCE Atrax received 10,000 medimnoi of wheat from Cyrene, in Africa.[11]
Atrax still minted silver and bronze coins at the beginning of the 4th century BCE, With the legends «ΑΤΡΑ», «ΑΤΡΑΓΙΟΝ», and «ΑΤΡΑΓΙΩΝ».[12] The famous Atrakian marble that was widely used in antiquity, among others in the Hagia Sophia, did not come from Atrax itself, but in Mount Mopsion further east.[13]
In Byzantine times, the city's fortifications were extended with a mortar wall to the Peneius, in order to improve water supply.[13] The fortress served to control of the passage between the eastern and western halves of the Thessalian plain.[13]
Location
Modern scholars locate Atrax at a site known as Kastro or Alifaka, near the modern village of Koutsochero (Greek: Κουτσόχερο), in the municipal unit of Koilada, in the municipality of Larissa.[14][15] Most ancient and medieval structures have vanished in recent times, being removed by the locals to utilize the land for agriculture.[13]
