[1] The value of gold mined in 1899-1902 was greater, annually, than
the product of 1905 or 1906; up to 1905 the greatest annual value was
in 1900, $18,073,539.
CRISA, or CRISSA, in ancient geography, one of the oldest cities of
Greece, situated in Phocis, on one of the spurs of Parnassus. Its name
occurs both in the _Iliad_ and in the Homeric _Hymns_, where it is
described as a powerful place, with a rich and fertile territory,
reaching to the sea, and including within its limits the sanctuary of
Pytho. As the town of Delphi grew up around the shrine, and the seaport
of Cirrha arose on the Crisean Gulf, Crisa gradually lost much of its
importance. By the ancients themselves the name of Cirrha was so often
substituted for that of Crisa, that it soon became doubtful whether
these names indicated the same city or not. The question was
practically settled by the investigations of H. N. Ulrichs. From its
position Cirrha commanded the approach to Delphi, and its inhabitants
became obnoxious to the Greeks from the heavy tolls which they exacted
from the devotees who thronged to the shrine. The Amphictyonic Council
declared war (the first Sacred War) against the Criseans in 595 B.C.,
and having taken the town, razed it to the ground, and consecrated its
territory to the temple at Delphi. The plunder of the town was sold to
defray the expenses of the Pythian games. In 339 the people of Amphissa
began to rebuild the town of Cirrha and to cultivate the plain. This act
brought on the second Sacred War, the conduct of which was entrusted by
the Amphictyons to Philip of Macedon, who took Amphissa (mod. Salona) in
the following year. The ruins of Crisa may be still seen where the
ravine of the Pleistus joins the plain; its name is probably preserved
by the modern Chryso.