Santorini -- the Islands of the Volcano

Perhaps it was the plan all along to leave the best to last, but even if not planned, that is what happened.  Over the years I had read about Santorini, and the story of the enormous eruption of the ancient volcano that destroyed the Minoan Civilization in (around) 1650 BC, and about how that catastrophe was linked to the legend of Atlantis.  The prospect of visiting this mythical island was irresistible, and may be what first attracted me to this cruise. 

Santorini, whitewashed churches with blue domes.

The island has had a number of names over the centuries, from Stronghyle, meaning "round", later Calliste, then Thera after an ancient hero, finally to Santa Rini, named by foreign sailors for an island church dedicated to seafarers.  The official name is Thera. Initially the shape of Santorini was round, an inactive volcano on the same violent geologic formation as Mt Etna in Sicily, and Mt Vesuvius and Stromboli near Naples. 
Santorini is one of the southernmost islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, about 130 miles from Athens, 68 miles from Crete, and 147 miles from Rhodes.  What is left of the island after the eruption is a caldera, the outer walls of the volcano, a land area of about 30 sq miles, with a population of about 8,000.  The largest island is the horseshoe shaped Thera, with small Therasia and smaller Aspronisi at the western opening to the Aegean.  Interestingly, Nea Kameni, the little cone-shaped island in the middle of the bay, is the crater of the present volcano and tourists can visit and climb up to the rim of the crater to get a whiff of the noxious fumes.
When the volcano erupted in around 1650 BC, the center of the island sank (giving rise to the Atlantis legend) to a depth of about 1200 feet, deep enough for all but the largest ships.  Our ship moored in the bay, and we took a tender to the small dock at the foot of the cliff below the main town of Fira.  These cliffs rise about 1150 ft above sea level, and are marked by varying layers of sediment of black, red or grey.  At the top is the whitewashed string of houses and churches of Fira and neighboring villages.

Again, my travel companions L. and G. took a separate excursion to one of the villages for wine-tasting, while C. and I caught the tour bus for the archaeological site of Akrotiri, with first a stop at the highest point of the island -- the monastery Mikros Prophitis Elias.  At 2000 ft above sea level the view was tremendous.  Our tour guide Georgina was most delightful, and regaled us with jokes to relieve our anxiety watching the bus driver maneuver around the tight mountain curves, with no guard rails. 

On top of Santorini at the Monastery of the Prophet Elijah.  Windy, and what a view!

 

The archaeological site of Akrotiri is what I came here for.  Having never visited Crete, this was my first chance to visit a Minoan-era site of antiquity.  Of course "Minoan" refers to the culture of Bronze Age Crete from 2700 BC to 1500 BC, named for mythical King Minos by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who first explored Crete in the 1920’s.  The Minoan culture has been called the first European civilization, with the earliest cities, written language, agriculture, metallurgy, commerce.  In the late 1400’s BC, the Minoan cities were overrun by Mycenaean Greeks from the mainland, and the center of civilization shifted away from Crete.  The ease of this invasion has been attributed to some natural catastrophe that disrupted the Minoans’ ability to defend themselves.  By the mid-20^th century, archaeologists, geologists, and seismologists were proposing theories that the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions of  Bronze Age Thera (Santorini) were responsible for the decline of the Minoan civilization.
The excavations at Akrotiri started in 1967 by the famed Greek archaeologist Prof. Spiros Marinatos.  He had waited for 30 years to test his hypothesis that the volcanic eruption of Thera had caused the destruction of Minoan Crete, 68 miles to the south, through earthquakes, dust and ash, seismic waves, and a massive tsunami 70 meters high crashing into the coastal cities on Crete.  Prof Marinatos found much more at Akrotiri, a Pompeii-like preserved Bronze Age city encased in volcanic ash and pumice, with intact walls of three-story houses, pottery, frescoes, furniture, even remnants of food.

The 3,700 year-old archaeological site of Akrotiri, protected under this modern building

Were these large pottery vessels for storing food for the community?

Looking down on a building, with the rain gutters still intact, and evidence of the sewer line under the street.

Clay pipes from the aqueduct that supplied water to the city.

The site has had a new million-euro enclosure constructed to protect it while archaeological studies continue.  Georgina herded our tour group around, explaining, directing our attention, offering the latest theories, speculating with us in answering our questions. 

Even with only about half of the Bronze Age site excavated, some details of life at this site may be inferred from archaeological evidence.  For instance, the people who lived here prior to the volcanic eruption numbered from 3,000 to 5,000 (I've read estimates of up to 30,000 inhabitants), in an egalitarian social structure with women enjoying the same rights as men.  They built a city of two and three story multi-purpose houses, with workshops on the ground floor, and living quarters above, no temples and no palaces. The buildings had indoor plumbing and sewer pipes carried off the wastes.  The interior walls were decorated with frescoes of such brilliance and, unlike Egyptian art, was so natural and free that they look quite modern.  The ladies depicted in the frescoes have elegant coiffures, clothing, and signs of lipstick and nail polish!
No written records have been discovered, and the name of the city is unknown, called Akrotiri now because of the modern town nearby. To date, and unlike at Pompeii, the excavations have not uncovered any human skeletons buried in the ash and pumice, and no objects of value except a small gold figure of an ibex. Archaeologists have theorized that the residents heeded the warning signs, whether small earthquake rumblings, or perhaps the volcano had been sending out clouds of smoke.  It may be the people interpreted these signs correctly and gathered up their valuables and escaped the catastrophe -- to where, no one knows.

As we filed back out into the sunshine and on the bus, Georgina told us another interesting tidbit, that centuries after the volcano's eruption provided the remaining population with an unexpected industry, that of quarrying pumice.  She told us there would be samples of pumice rocks for sale in Fira, and that Santorini had a booming business exporting very fine pumice, low enough density to float, and very valuable for making an insulating concrete.  She said the pumice quarries on Santorini supplied the pumice for making the concrete for the Suez Canal in the 1860's.

The morning excursion over, the tour bus left us off in Fira at the top of the cliff overlooking the bay, near the beautiful Greek Orthodox monastery, and C. and I started looking for L. and G. for the afternoon of exploring -- and, naturally, a café for some ouzo!

Next: wandering around Santorini!

More photos of Ephesus

On our short visit to the western coast of Turkey, the port of Kusadasi and the ancient Greco-Roman city of Ephesus, we also had a brief tour of the Basilica of St John the Apostle.

 Basilica of St John the Apostle - Signs in English for the tourists.

 In around 565 AD the Roman Emperor Justinian built this enormous church over what was believed to be the tomb of St John, who survived the persecutions of Domitian and spent his final years at Ephesus, writing his Epistles and the Book of Revelation before dying around 100 AD.  Not much is left of the Basilica, once so huge and magnificent, a rival to Istanbul's Hagia Sophia. The ruins are near the citadel in Selcuk, now a jumble of brick and stone, very difficult to detect the original cross-shape of the building. 

 Built around 565 AD, and destroyed by the Seljuk Turks in the 12th century

 

 Exterior of the Basilica of St John

 

 Interior of the Basilica...

 

 The Tomb of St John the Apostle

 

 Impressive ruins of the Basilica

 

 Part of the exterior wall and some examples of carved stonework

 

 Can't resist posting another photo of the beautiful Turkish carpets, hand-woven in silk and wool.

 

 Back in Ephesus, two local women are trying to do their shopping and avoid the tourists.

 

 The long, straight paved Roman road through Ephesus, leading to what was the port.

 

 I just loved how artistically the proprietor of this concession stand displayed these oranges

 

The cats of Ephesus, oblivious to the dust, heat, and mobs of tourists.

 

 

After the return bus ride through quaint hillside villages surrounded by olive groves and fruit orchards, we made it back to the cruise ship, and set sail for the next stop:

SANTORINI!!



Kusadasi – Tapestry of Turkish Culture

Our stop in the port of Kusadasi was my first official contact with the continent of Asia.  What once had been a sleepy little fishing village only a decade ago has been transformed into a major port for cruise liners such as ours, to disgorge thousands of summer tourists to over-run the ruins of Ephesus.  Kusadasi is now a modern, friendly, vibrant resort town of 65,000 people catering to the tourist industry, which can cause the population to more than quadruple in the season. 

Backing into the port of Kusadasi

It was thrilling to think we were in Turkey, ancient Anatolia, with a prehistory stretching back to Neolithic times, perhaps the source of the Indo-European languages.  The Hittites built a magnificent kingdom here dating from 1800 BC, and around 1200 BC Ionian Greeks started colonies on the western shores, including Ephesus.  The fabled city of Troy, in its earliest building phases dates to about 1700 BC.  Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, the gateway to Europe, was once Constantinople the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire, then after 1453 was renamed Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire. 

We disembarked from the ship for our shore excursion and met our guide Nevin, who would first take us to Ephesus with time left over for shopping in the Bazaar of Kusadasi.  We drove through farmlands of cotton, olives, oranges, and past small concrete-block villages, trying to read the Turkish road signs.  As we approached Ephesus Nevin told us the road we were on was once underwater, that Ephesus had been on the seacoast, but the harbor silted up over the centuries and now was 6 km inland.  It started as a Greek city in the Bronze Age, about 1400 BC, and from its earliest days had been associated with the goddess Artemis.  The many-breasted statue “Diana of Ephesus” that we saw at the Vatican Museum last year originated here.  One of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” the Temple of Artemis was built in the late 6^th century BC by King Croesus, his name synonymous with fabulous riches because he first minted gold-silver alloy coins.  The temple was burned down in 356 BC by a sociopathic nobody named Herostratus who, according to the historian Pausanius, wanted to become famous, even if it meant doing something dastardly.  Nevin showed us the site of where the huge ancient temple once stood, and all that was left was a tall column of obviously mismatched sections, standing forlornly in an open field. 

 Harbour Street

 

The Grand Theatre

 

The Temple of Hadrian

 

 The Celsus Library

The ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus covered an enormous area, about two square miles that in 200 AD, at the height of the Roman period, was home to about 50,000 people.  I think there were about 50,000 people there that day, all straining to hear our own tour guide above the cacophony, all trying to get photos of the fantastic Roman ruins.  After entering through the Magnesia Gate, we stumbled down the marble paved road to see the Odeum, the Celsus Library (featured in almost every Archaeology Magazine I have), the Temple of Hadrian, the Fountain of Trajan, and the Grand Theatre.  Grand, indeed, it could hold 25,000 spectators, and Nevin told us St Paul had preached here.  It was almost too much, so much to take in with such a mass of humanity in the way.  I would have to come back here in the “off-season.”

As promised, Nevin took us back to Kusadasi to a carpet weaving demonstration and factory sales pitch.  I must admit the carpets were gorgeous, and I would have purchased one if I had an extra $6000 laying around.  The people were so friendly and accommodating, and we enjoyed the show.  Carpet weaving has been one of Turkey’s most treasured arts going way back.  If you visit Kusadasi and wish to purchase a gorgeous Turkish rug, and support their ancient arts, try:

Majestic Carpet and Jewelry, Ataturk Bulvari No 20, Phone 90 (256) 612 44 04

Email: Majesticcarpet@ttmail.com

 

 

More pictures of Delos

The mosaic floor from the House of the Dolphins.  This design was featured in the 1957 film "Boy on a Dolphin" a gorgeous movie with the gorgeous Sophia Loren, filmed on Hydra, Rhodes, and Delos, and on the Acropolis in Athens. Its a romance / drama about finding an ancient statue of a boy on a dolphin, filmed in post WWII Greece.  Do yourself a favor and rent this movie sometime.

The Poros Temple, the oldest temple of Apollo, from the late 6th century BC

The steps of the 2nd century BC Propylaea, the gateway into the Sanctuary of Apollo, with the Hermes Propylaeos on the right.

Marble bench near the Sacred Way and the Portico of Philip of Macedonia



The Terrace of Lions, dating from 7th century BC

If, like me, you loved reading Greek mythology as a kid,  you could not help but be enchanted by this mystical island.  The  gorgeous blue sky, the "wine-dark sea" as in the Homeric poems, the marble ruins scattered about, the incessant wind.  A thrill for the senses --  and the imagination!

Next:  Ephesus!

Exploring Mykonos Town

It was surprisingly easy to find L & G, singing the praises of the beauty of the beach and the pleasure of swimming in the Ionian Sea.  So after dropping off our stuff from the morning (wet swimsuits for them and books for me) we congregated for the hike to Mykonos Town, with NO GUIDE to accompany us! Scary.

Mykonos is part of the group of Greek islands known as the Cyclades, first settled by Ionians in the early part of the 11^th century BC (so archaeologists have determined).  According to Greek myths and legends, the name Mykonos was derived from “Mykons” thought to be a son or grandson of Apollo, and the moniker “Island of Light” is for its connection to Apollo, the sun god, as is nearby Delos.  Currently Mykonos has a population of about 11,000 people living on the 33 square miles of granite, with little rainfall and lots of sunshine.  If you’ve gone to Greek restaurants and seen photographs on the walls of whitewashed houses, blue-domed churches, golden sandy beaches, and windmills with spindly stick arms, odds are those photos are from Mykonos. 

We had a pleasant stroll from the dock past the parking lots and small warehouses to the street leading to the town center, with the sea lapping the concrete docks and rocky shoreline.  We did look for the famous windmills that seemed to have toothpicks for blades, not the familiar fan-blades as in Holland.  The windmills of Mykonos date from the 16^th century and provided power for grinding grains.  There is a grouping of them on the coast southwest of town, but it was too far for us to walk. 

This is a shopper’s paradise, and without the hard-sell tactics we encountered in Athens.  Numerous shops of jewelry, embroidered linens, pottery, hand-painted icons, and the usual souvenirs, with sidewalk cafes aplenty.  With little trouble we parked ourselves at a table by the sea and had a round of ouzo, served with water and ice, along with a bowl of pistachios and almonds.  One round led to another, and so we passed a pleasant time watching the people and the small boats in the water.  After a bit, I decided to wade in the water by the café, and C. joined me so we also could claim to have touched the Ionian Sea.  I remembered the movie “Shirley Valentine” was filmed in part in Mykonos, and thought any one of these cafés could have been the setting in the film.  Mykonos has been used in another recent movie:  some scenes from the 2002 thriller “The Bourne Identity” were filmed here.  Apparently back in the 1960’s Jackie Onassis and Europe’s jet-set discovered Mykonos, and it became an Athenian status symbol to have a holiday home here. 

Reluctantly, our free time on Mykonos was ending, and we headed back with our bags of purchases, feeling giddy from the ouzo.  What a great liquor, the best way to have licorice!  My sandals were still wet from wading in the water, grains of sand clinging to the tread.  We had just enough time to shower before dinner, and get some rest for the next port: Kusadasi in Turkey!

Mykonos and Delos – The Islands of Light

 Mosaics and columns in the House of Dionysus on Delos

After the crowds, noise, and confusion of Athens, it was nice to get back to the cruise ship and enjoy a shower and lovely dinner.  After dinner we four went up to the swimming pool deck for what was called “Cinema under the Stars.”  The featured film was “The Life of Pi” and the deck was arranged with recliners, cushions, and blankets. What a luxury to relax, stretched out under the night sky watching the film on a huge screen, while stewards passed out bags of popcorn, fresh baked cookies and hot coffee.  The ship was steaming for our next port, Mykonos, at top speed with the engine smoke stacks occasionally sending up glowing sparks with the exhaust.

The early risers watched our commander maneuver the ship into the pier of Tourlos Bay on the west side of Mykonos.  Having read about the picturesque blue-domed churches and the whitewashed houses on this “old-world” island, I expected this stop to be postcard perfect, and I was not disappointed.  We split up for the shore excursions, with L. & G. preferring to spend the morning at one of the beautiful beaches for a chance to swim in the Ionian Sea, while C. and I opted to take the charter boat to the nearby island of Delos.  We planned to re-group for an afternoon of exploring Mykonos Town, and check out the shops and ouzo bars!

Even as C. and I boarded the boat for Delos, I knew the 3.5 hour tour would not be enough time.  Our tour guide, a diminutive Greek lady, prepared us to see the ruins on Delos by describing this island as one of Greece’s most important archaeological sites, dating back to 3000 BC.  Delos is small, narrow, and devoid of vegetation, only 5 km long and 1.3 km wide, with the highest point at 112 m called Mt Kynthos.  Along the west side of the island and climbing up to the summit of Kynthos are the ruins of the sanctuary of Delos, dedicated to the sun god Apollo and his twin sister Artemis.  According to the ancient myths, this island was chosen by the goddess Leto, pregnant by Zeus, and hiding from the wrath of Hera his wife, to deliver her babies. 

After a 20 minute boat ride over choppy seas, we arrived at Delos, and assembled on the small pier.  Our guide herded us through the gate with our entrance tickets, explaining that the island was controlled by Mykonos, and that visitors were not allowed to stray from the group or stay overnight.  The population was about 14, and those were archaeologists with permits to investigate the ruins.  I was struck by the utter lack of greenery-- no trees, and the few desiccated weeds were barely hanging onto the rocky soil.  Wind swept, it seems as though the top soil had long since blown out to sea.  The neighboring island of Rheneia lay off the west side, and our tour guide told us that the Delos sanctuary was so sacred that around 1000 BC all the graves on the island were moved to Rheneia; by decree no one was permitted to be born or to die on Delos.  The sanctuary, in which there had been a cult since the Mycenaean period (ca. 1400 BC) began to be placed on an organized basis in the 7^th century BC.  There are references to the Delian sanctuary in The Odyssey and The Homeric Hymn to Apollo, written in about 700 BC, as a famous religious center of the Ionians.

From the pier we went directly to the Theatre Quarter, the ruins of a large city that once held 30,000 inhabitants during the Hellenistic period.  We walked the ancient streets, peering into the courtyards of the houses with the fluted column still lining the atrium with mosaic floors.  The high quality mosaics gave names to houses such as the House of Dionysus, the House of the Masks, the House of the Dolphins, and the House of the Tritons.  There were signs of stucco that had once covered the stone walls, and evidence of water pipes, wells, and the communal cistern gave the impression of relatively comfortable living.  There were even small alcoves in the walls on the street side, suggesting places for oil lamps – 3000 year-old street lighting!  One of the buildings had windows with holes cut into the stones of the windows, which the archaeologists determined were for metal bars; perhaps the building had been used as a bank.  It had been a common practice to bring offerings to the Sanctuary of Apollo so the presence of a bank would make sense.  Our guide said many coins were found during excavation of this city, and were housed in the Museum.  We saw the theatre that gave this district its name, and as with other ancient theatres I have visited, still impressive acoustics.

We then toured the sanctuary district itself, an amazingly large area.  Our guide pointed out the ancient paved road, lined with ruins of buildings.  This was the Stoa of Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.  We could read the Greek letters carved in the stones that had been the epistyle with Philip’s name.  This Stoa lead up to the Treasury, which had a huge gate, called a Propylaea, the entrance to the Sanctuary of Apollo, and, since research work was in progress, was cordoned off so we could not enter.  To the north of the Sanctuary is probably the most famous of statues on Delos, the Terrace of the Lions, dating from about the 7^th century BC.  There were originally sixteen, now reduced to five weathered marble statues of lions, one is in the Delos Museum and our guide said one had been removed by the Venetians and is now at the Arsenal in Venice!  We did not have enough time to visit the Stadium Quarter or explore further up the mountain, but were turned loose to pop into the Museum before catching the boat to return to Mykonos.  Not nearly enough time to see all the amazing artifacts at the Museum, so I decided to wander around the ruins that were not off-limits, sand-blasted by the wind, and get a few more photos.  *SIGH* All too soon were hustled out of the gate and back on the charter boat.

The wind was really strong by now, and the ride back was even rougher than the ride out.  Both C. and I were on the upper deck, and the boat was rocking so much the waves were washing up onto the upper deck.  Gritty from the sand, coated with salt-spray from the waves, we were deposited on the dock at Tourlos Bay with the afternoon left open to walk into Mykonos Town.  First we had to find L. and G. who we expected had had a windy morning at the beach. 

Next: Exploring Mykonos Town

Gallery of Ancient Athens

Following the familiar adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" I'm including more views from my visit to the Acropolis in Athens, and one shot inside the National Archaeological Museum before I got yelled at by the guards ("no flash! no flash!"), and my picture of Constantine Paleologus.

The Propylaia, built c. 437 BC, the dramatic entrance to the Acropolis

Off in the distance, the Erechtheion, with the famous Porch of the Caryatids

The Parthenon, east side

With the right angle, you can almost see how the platform curves

 The Ionic columns of the Erechtheion



 Gold funerary masks found during the excavations at Mycenae 

 



Memorial statue of Constantine Paleologus, the last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, who at the Siege of Constantinople in 1453 was last seen on the walls fighting the Ottoman Turks.  

Athens – The Glory that was Greece

We woke up to see ourselves moored in the port of Piraeus, with the faint morning light reflected on the water and playing on the warehouses and buildings lining the port.  Our ship was not alone; there were at least two other massive cruise ships in the port, and numerous tour buses were parked behind the fenced area alongside the docks waiting for the rush of tourists eager to start the day’s excursions.  Even though it was early morning, the air was not fresh but quite warm and humid, so humid and the sky so hazy that distant objects were blurred.  Anticipating a very hot daytrip, we pared down to the essentials, and, with full water bottles, met our tour guide, Yota, at our designated bus.  During the drive into the center of Athens, Yota gave us some statistics about life in Athens:  the ancient port of Piraeus was the largest in Europe, with Greece controlling 20% of the world’s shipping.  No wonder Aristotle Onassis was so wealthy.  The city of Athens is 7000 years old, and has a population today of about 3 million people.  Compare that with the entire country of Greece with a population of 4.5 million.  It seems as if everyone wants to live in Athens. 

We were leaving the port area (limani = port) and heading for the ancient Acropolis, the name coming from akro = height and polis = city, so “atop of the city.”  On the Acropolis is the Parthenon, the most famous building in the world, and named for the virgin goddess Athena (parthenos = virgin).  Driving through the city we could see the effects of the population boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s.  The neo-classical architecture of the 19^th century that exemplified the newly created capital of independent Greece was overshadowed with the hastily constructed modern buildings, boxy and grim-looking, to handle the out-of-control growth.  The perimeter of the city is a mass of charmless, graffiti-covered urban sprawl.  Add to that the intense heat, and the initial impression is a bit off-putting.  Yota told us we were lucky to be visiting in early September; just two weeks before the temperature was soaring to 41 deg C (about 108 deg F).  Whoa, hot even for me. 

Our bus drive took us past what Yota called the nicest part of the modern city, a trio of neo-classical buildings called “The Trilogy” all designed by the Danish architects Theophil and Christian Hansen in the 1880’s -- the National Library, the University of Athens, and the Athens Academy.  These were part of the city plan commissioned by the first king of modern Greece, Otto I of Bavaria.  How did a Bavarian prince become king of Greece?  Good question and interesting story.  Greece may have been the birthplace of democracy, but it lost its independence centuries ago when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.  The Greek War of Independence (1821 – 1830) against the Ottoman Empire inflamed the “Philhellenes” of Europe (lovers of ancient Greek culture) who came to Greece to fight the Turks, among them the British poet Lord Byron.  With the defeat of the Ottomans, the “Great Powers” -- that is, Britain, Russia, and France -- appointed Prince Otto of Bavaria to be king (Otto was a Wittlesbach, the same family as the Empress Elisabeth of Austria whose palace we toured on Corfu) perhaps because he was a descendant of the Greek Byzantine Komnenos imperial dynasty.  As a Philhellene, Otto did much to rebuild Athens, and restore its ancient glory, primarily by moving the first capital of liberated Greece from Nafplio to Athens in 1834.  After a 30-year reign, Otto was deposed in 1862, but the Greek state continued.

We were driven to the huge, pure white marble Olympic Stadium, called Kallimarmaro (= beautiful marble).  In 1896 with the revival of the Olympic Games, the Kallimarmaro Stadium in Athens was the centerpiece of the opening ceremonies, and for the 2004 Athens Olympics it was the scene of the finish of the Marathon. Before we got off the bus for a few minutes of picture-taking, Yota told us this stadium was on the exact site of the original Panathenaic Stadium dating back to 330 BC, also built of pure marble.  Standing at the open end of the enormous horseshoe shaped stadium, I could imagine it packed with 60,000 cheering spectators, colorful flags from all over the world waving, and the bands playing.  Great flashback.  Turning around I got my first glimpse of the Acropolis, with the profile of the Parthenon sitting on top.

The Acropolis, the highlight of this excursion, would be a tricky climb.  Over the centuries the marble paving stones and steps leading up to the gates have been worn down and polished to a slippery surface, and we were warned to be very careful.  Alighting from the bus, my head was in a fog of philhellenism as I climbed trance-like up the path to the main gate, the Propylaia.  With this overwhelming monument, built from 437 to 432 BC we entered the Golden Age of Perikles, the Athenian leader who promoted democracy and initiated a grand program of building public works that has come to represent the political and cultural achievements of Greece.  Perikles (495 to 429 BC) was the Golden Age of Greece.  As the “First Citizen” of Athens, the name given him by the contemporary historian Thucydides, Perikles was the “strategos” who led the Greeks out of the last phases of their Dark Age.  The next 150 years saw the amazing era of enormous creativity in philosophy and science, drama and literature, art and architecture.  However, this was also the era of the Peloponnesian Wars, which ultimately weakened the city-states of Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes making them vulnerable to Macedonian domination in the form of Philip and his son Alexander the Great.

With so many tour groups and so many lectures, and all the construction cranes, the cacophony at the top of the Acropolis was jarring.  I admit to having great difficulty staying with my group, to the consternation of my companions who later threatened to put me on a leash.  But I wanted to wander over this sacred territory on my own, away from the crowds, and the din, and experience for myself the ancient spirit and the remnants of the “glory that was Greece.”  It was not to be. 

After passing through the Propylaia, we stepped over the tumble of stones and beheld that perfect Doric temple and enduring symbol of Ancient Greek Civilization, the Parthenon.  Our guide pointed out that the reconstruction of the Parthenon has been ongoing for the last 40 years, and may take a decade more, and yet the building originally took nine years to complete (447 to 438 BC).  But it is a very complex building:  not until serious restoration work was started in the 1960’s were the true complexities uncovered.  For example, instead of a rectilinear building, the Parthenon is in fact a set of subtle curves.  The central line of the floor of the cella, the central room, is higher than the outer edges, and the steps are slightly higher at the center, with the effect of making what is a curved surface appear level at a distance.  The walls of the cella and the surrounding columns all lean inward slightly to relieve the impression of a mass of stone and give a lighter appearance.  The columns have a slight bulge in the midsection, known as “entasis” to make the columns appear straight from a distance.  Every aspect of the building is designed to comply with the “Golden Ratio” -- that magic ratio of 1 to 1.618 that is unaccountably visually pleasing. 

It is still disturbing to remember that this perfect building, now an empty stand of columns, survived almost intact from the 5^th century BC until 1687.  During a Venetian siege, the Ottoman Turks stored ammunition and gunpowder in the Parthenon, which when hit by Venetian artillery, exploded.  Criminal stupidity displayed on both sides.  We again heard how the British Lord Elgin removed, at his own expense and with some dubious paperwork from the Ottoman authorities, the Parthenon Marbles from Greece in 1803 and sold them to the British Museum where they remain to this day, a source of controversy between the Greek and British governments.  While many may see that act as grand looting, I still think Lord Elgin saved the Marbles, which include the statues from both the west and east pediments, and the friezes of the interior, from destruction. Over the centuries, marble statues have been ‘burned’ in kilns to extract lime; who knows how many priceless masterpieces of antiquity have disappeared in the lime ovens?

Of course the other marvelous building on the Acropolis is the Erechtheion, constructed where legend has it the sea-god Poseidon struck the rocks with his trident to bring forth a salt-water spring, and where Athena planted the first olive tree for the benefit of the Athenians.  In gratitude, the people chose Athena as their patroness and dedicated the Parthenon to her.  The outstanding architectural feature of the Erechtheion is the Porch of the Caryatids, the group or maiden statues used as columns supporting the roof of the porch.  This beautiful Ionic building was almost destroyed in 1827 during the Greek War of Independence by a Turkish artillery shell. 

Reluctantly climbing back down the path, we were led past the Theatre of Herodes Atticus, built by the Romans in 161 AD into the western edge of the Acropolis rock, and restored in 1955 so that it is used today for plays and concerts.  Now out of time, we were herded back on the bus (I was last and was nearly left behind) with the next stop the National Archeological Museum, to see the priceless collection of Neolithic, Mycenaean, Cycladic, Classical, and Hellenistic artifacts.  I came face to face with the “Mask of Agamemnon” the famous gold death mask found by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, and which dates from the mid-1600’s BC.  Schliemann really started the modern science of archaeology, by insisting that the Trojan War wasn’t just a Homeric legend, and set out to prove it by searching for Troy.  After years of digging for Troy in Anatolia (now Turkey) he turned his attention to Mycenae, the city of Agamemnon to uncover much of the ruined citadel, and found what he called the “Treasury of Atreus” What a story! 

Touring the National Museum took up the rest of our excursion time, and oh yes, forgot to mention the shopping time we were given in the area of the old town called the Plaka.  But by then all I wanted was a glass of ouzo, and a chance to look at all the photos on my digital camera.  While waiting for the bus to collect us, “C” found a statue by the square in front of the Mitropoli cathedral.  We figured out it was a memorial statue of Constantine Paleologus, the last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, who at the Siege of Constantinople in 1453 was last seen on the walls fighting the Ottoman Turks.  The Fall of Constantinople is regarded as a milestone marking the end of the Middle Ages.  If you’re interested in reading more about this, try “The Fall of Constantinople” by Steven Runciman, a brilliant book.

This taste of the “best of Athens” was just the briefest of tastes.  I will need to come back, and with sufficient time to really explore.

 

Olympia, Greece – The Original Olympic Games

We set sail for the port of Katakolon on the west side of the Peloponnesian Peninsula.  Doesn’t ring a bell?  Well, this is the closest port to ancient Olympia, the site of the original Olympic Games.  Again dashing to make an early morning assembly call, we left the ship and met our tour guide Giorgio at the tour bus, and were soon on the road for the 30-minute drive to Olympia. 

On the way, Giorgio gave us some background information.  The early history of Greece is really the story of the oldest human civilizations in Europe, the Minoan on the island of Crete and the Mycenaean on the Greek mainland.  These Bronze Age cultures flourished from about 2000 BC, producing art, architecture, and writing in the form of Linear A, thus far un-deciphered, and Linear B, an early form of Greek.  Around 1200 BC these cultures collapsed for reasons not completely understood, ushering in a period of discord and disunity, as evidenced by archaeological finds of grave goods of the period which indicated a reduced standard of living.  By the beginning of the 8^th century BC, conditions had improved, trade resumed, and the buildings of the great city-states began.  With the economic recovery, good civic leadership decreed a series of religious festivals as a means of furthering the interaction and cooperation among the communities.  The two most important of these festivals were the Delphic Games and the Olympic Games.  The Delphic Games were held every two years in honor of Apollo, at Delphi in central Greece north of the Gulf of Corinth.  In addition to hosting the Games, Delphi was one of the most important shrines of the ancient world, home of the famous Delphic Oracle. 

The games at Olympia were held every four years in honor of Zeus, on the site of a much more ancient sanctuary.  The first settlers in this region left evidence of their habitation at the foot of the Hill of Kronos dating back to 3000 BC, including pottery, tools and foundations of houses.  By the end of the 8^th century BC, called the Archaic Period, a building in this sanctuary was dedicated to Zeus and Hera, and the first stadium was laid out.  In this venue, the first games were held, announced by special messengers who were sent out to the far corners of the Greek world three months in advance of the scheduled festivities.  The games were conducted over five days and were held in July or August at the full moon. A “Sacred Truce” lasting for the entire month allowed people to travel safely from home to the shrine without risk.  Cult ceremonies in honor of Zeus and a great fair attracted many thousands of visitors, as well as the athletes.

The athletic events were running, jumping, boxing, wrestling, discus and javelin throwing – all the skills a warrior needed, and horse racing and chariot racing were added later when the Hippodrome was built.  The winner of each event was crowned with a branch of olive leaves cut from a sacred tree with a golden sickle.  The victor attended a great banquet and was celebrated by poets and singers.  Those victorious Olympic athletes were as honored as war heroes, and the more wealthy city-states built small treasuries at Olympia to house votive offerings to honor their Olympic champions.

Over the next 1100 years the games continued, and their success can be judged by the grandiose elegance and size of the temples in the Olympic sanctuary.  The grandest of these was the great Temple of Zeus, built in the 5^th century BC, in the Doric style, of a size large enough to house the statue of the Olympian Zeus.  Nothing remains today, but thanks to the writings of Pausanias, and some coins with an image of the statue stamped on them, we have a description.  The statue of Zeus, enthroned, was over 12 meters (44 feet) high, covered with gold and ivory and other precious materials fixed on a wooden core, a technique called “chryselephantine.”  He is wearing a “himation” an ancient Greek style cloak that left his chest bare and covered his knees, and an olive wreath on his head.  In his left hand he held a scepter topped with an eagle and in his right hand he held a small Nike statue.  His throne was decorated with mythological scenes, carved and painted.  From Pausanias we know the sculptor was Pheidias, and this statue was included among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 

During the Roman era in Greece, when the Olympic tradition was centuries old, the games were expanded by the Emperor Nero to include music and poetry competitions, so he could participate. Nero, who regarded himself as a brilliant musician and poet, won seven prizes. Astonishing.  Eventually the popularity of the games declined as the religious aspect lost importance, and in the Christian era, they were stopped altogether after 393 AD by the Roman Emperor Theodosius.  The site of Olympus was abandoned and fell into ruin, and a massive earthquake in the 6^th century AD completed the destruction.  Fortunately for antiquarians, over the years the nearby river Alpheios flooded and covered the site with mud and silt, up to five meters deep in places, preserving what was left.  In 1766 the English traveler Richard Chandler identified ancient Olympia by correlating the location as given in ancient texts with what scant remains were visible above ground at the time.  The systematic archaeological excavations began in 1874 by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens.  After many years of work, research, and restoration, we have a view of ancient Olympia as it looked in the final phase of the sanctuary’s history.

We began our tour of the Archaeological Site of Olympia at the visitor’s entrance, walking past the Palaestra and Gymnasium with Giorgio explaining how the athletes trained, lived and worked in these facilities.  There were running tracks, both outdoor and indoor.  Walking through a long path lined with Doric style columns, we came to the ruins of the Great Temple of Zeus, now just a heap of stones.  One of the fluted columns has been restored to give the visitor an idea of the scale.  Giorgio told us this temple was almost as large as the Parthenon in Athens.  He guided us over to the Terrace with Treasuries that had held ex-voto memorials to the champion athletes, and pointed out a section of covered passageway.  This passageway had been used in the opening ceremonies of the games, when 20,000 naked athletes would march into the Stadium through this passage.  What a mental image!

Emerging from the passageway, we were in the Stadium, the scene of the competitions.  The Stadium track was 213 meters long and almost 35 meters wide, a long, level rectangle of packed dirt with grassy slopes on the sides that could hold up to 45,000 spectators.  Both the starting line and finishing line were marked by a row of marble slabs, and the distance between is 192.27 meters, or one Olympic stade (equal to 600 feet).  Honored visitors and judges sat in the exedra located half-way on the south side, and the north side had a stone altar for the priestess of Demeter, the only woman allowed to attend the games.  There were women’s games, called the Heraia, a festival in honor of Hera, also held every fourth year in Olympia, which were celebrated separately from the men.

Giorgio showed us the smaller temple of Hera, and the altar of Hestia who was the Goddess of the Hearth and whose altar kept an eternal flame.  To the south of the altar of Hestia was a circular building that had been erected by Philip II the Macedonian to give thanks to Zeus for his victory at Chaironeia in 338 BC.  This building (see photo), with three columns standing and a section of the entablature still in place, is called the Philippeion, but was completed by his son, Alexander the Great. 

After a short rest break, we toured the Archaeological Museum, which had on exhibit many priceless artifacts found during the years of excavation.  Presented in chronological order, the various rooms hold glass cases of the prehistoric finds, then Helladic, Mycenaean, and Classic.  One room held the famous statue of Winged Nike from 470 BC, which was the figure inscribed on all the 2004 Olympic medals.  The best displays, and which filled the whole room, include the sculptures from the Temple of Zeus that had been installed in the east and west pediments.  The east pediment sculptures represented a chariot race, and the west pediment told the story of the Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs (see photo).  Giorgio made remarks about how we were fortunate in that we did not have to visit the British Museum in London to see these -- a reference to the on-going controversy between Greece and the UK regarding the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon.  One of the most perfect sculptures of antiquity is the Hermes of Praxiteles, displayed in a room dedicated to this one gorgeous statue (see photo).  The virtually intact original marble of Hermes holding the infant Dionysus by the 4^th century BC Athenian sculptor Praxiteles was found in the ruins of the Temple of Hera in 1877.  This is both a masterpiece and a milestone in the history of Greek sculpture, and one can only imagine the influence on Donatello and Michelangelo. 

The tour over, we returned to the bus, foot-sore and head-spinning.  It was amazing to think how the celebrations and traditions of this ancient site inspired the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin to reinstate the modern Olympics in 1896, held appropriately in Athens.  The role and significance of the ancient Olympiads is also enshrined in the ancient Greek method of reckoning dates: the common calendar event all the Greek city-states could agree on was the Olympiad, and was in use into the Christian era.  The contribution of the Olympic Games in the course of civilization was diverse and enduring indeed.

If you are interested in visiting Olympia:

Archaeological Museum of Olympus

Dytiki Ellada, Greece

Phone:  +30 2624 022517

 

 

 

 

 

Corfu – “The stuff dreams are made of”

A childhood dream is about to be realized: to visit the ancient sites of Greece, and the islands and seas that I first read about in Edith Hamilton’s Greek Mythology.  We began our tour of Greece with a visit to the island of Corfu, called Korkyra in Greek, and the original home of the ancient Phaeacians first mentioned in The Odyssey of Homer.  The Greek myth tells the story of how the sea-god Poseidon abducted the lovely nymph Korkyra and took her to an unnamed island where the son of their union was born, and they called him Phaiax.  The island took the name Korkyra and the inhabitants were known as Phaiakes, or in Latin Phaeacians, famous Greek sea-farers.

Sailing to Corfu we crossed into the GMT +2 time zone and lost an hour of time.  Located at the southern tip of Albania, Corfu is an island at the very northwestern edge of Greece in the Ionian Sea.  The ship docked in the harbor about two miles away from the Old Town, and we again made the early morning excursion assembly call.  After leaving the ship we were met at the bus by our tour guide, Zita, and were soon on our way to the Old Town of Corfu.  While on the way, Zita taught us to say “good morning” in Greek --  kalimera -- and gave us an historical overview of Corfu, as opposed to the mythological.

The earliest colonists of Corfu were from Corinth in the 7^th century BC, and they grew to become a trading rival to powerful Corinth.  In fact, the first recorded naval battle in Greek history was between Corinth and Corfu in 664 BC.  Corfu appealed to Athens for aid in its struggle with Corinth, and Athens responded, sparking the Peloponnesian Wars of the 4^th century BC.  When the Roman Republic was embroiled in the last of its civil wars in 31 BC, Octavian used Corfu as a naval base for his operations against Marc Antony and Cleopatra.  The history of Corfu is marked by constant changes of ownership, depending on who controlled maritime trade in the eastern Mediterranean.  In 1386 Corfu asked Venice to provide protection from pirates (always a threat to coastal cities), and from then Venice ruled Corfu until the end of the Venetian Republic in 1797.  After a brief period under the French rule of Napoleon, which ended in 1815, Great Britain established a protectorate over the island, and Corfu became the seat of the British High Commissioner.  When the British withdrew in 1864 Corfu, along with the other Ionian Islands, joined the Kingdom of Greece.  The people of Corfu regard as a point of honor the fact that throughout the long history of Greece, only Corfu remained outside the control of the Ottoman Empire, and no Turkish influence is to be found on the island.

Our first stop on the tour was the Achilleion Palace, the elegant 19^th century vacation home of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.  The tragic life of Elisabeth (1837 – 1898), called Sisi by her family, has been told in books, movies and an Austrian television series (Sisi was portrayed by Romy Schnider).  A famous beauty, Sisi was born into the Bavaria royal family of Wittelsbach and married her cousin the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Franz Joseph in 1854 when she was 16 and he was 24 years old.  Her unhappiness with the responsibilities of imperial life drove her out of Vienna and, after much travelling, she purchased a crumbling villa on a hill overlooking Corfu Town, tore it down, and built the Achilleion, named for Achilles the Greek hero of the Illiad. Because of Sisi’s romantic nature, and fascination with the culture and civilization of Ancient Greece, she had her refuge built in Classical Greek style, from the architecture and the gardens to the interior decorations and furniture. 

Elisabeth’s life, blessed with unimaginable wealth and beauty, was filled with, and ended in tragedy.  Her only son Rudolf committed the murder-suicide of the scandalous Mayerling Incident in 1889, and she herself was murdered by an Italian anarchist in Geneva in 1898.  After her death, the Achilleion was closed for almost ten years until 1907 when it was bought by the German Emperor Wilhelm II.  The Kaiser made some changes to the palace decorations, most notably replacing the statue of the dying Achilles, originally in the garden overlooking the sea, with an enormous bronze status of “Achilles Triumphant.”

Our tour guide Zita led us through the palace, pointing out the numerous portraits of Elisabeth, as well as the neo-classic paintings and frescoes of mythological themes.  We saw the grand staircase, the drawing rooms, and the chapel, Elisabeth’s office with her souvenirs, and Wilhelm’s office and his souvenirs, which included the original flag from the German imperial yacht “Hohenzollern.”  Out in the garden, Zita showed us the various neo-classic statuary lining the courtyard of the Nine Muses, Three Graces, and inside the peristyle gallery surrounding the courtyard were thirteen busts of ancient Greek philosophers.  The original statue of the “Dying Achilles” was placed here on Wilhelm’s orders, representing the Homeric hero trying to pull the Trojan prince Paris’ arrow from his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body. 

On the way back to Old Town we passed under the ruins of the “Kaiser Bridge” built for Wilhelm II to easily move from the Achilleion garden to the port with his private dock, which is still usable.  The Old Town of Corfu is a charming, sleepy place between the Old and New Fortresses, with a garden zone called the Spianada with a cricket pitch leftover from the British.  The Old Citadel sits on a wedge of land jutting into the bay, which had once contained the entire town.  The fortifications have been damaged and repaired over the centuries, and what we see is essentially what the Venetians built in the 16^th century.  The winged lion of St Mark, symbol of Venice, over the gate is a reminder.  Zita told us the layout of the modern town was specifically designed to minimize hostile sieges of the fortress.  The streets are perpendicular to the fortress giving any defenders a clear view of the streets, and the width of the Spianada, the garden zone between the fortress and the town is greater than the range of 17^th century artillery.  The charming arcaded terrace along the western side of the Spianada resembles the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, because the designer was Mathieu de Lesseps, whose son built the Suez Canal.  

On the north side of the Spianada is the neo-classical Palace of St Michael and St George, once the residence of the British High Commissioner.  The statue of the second Commissioner Sir Thomas Maitland stands in front of the building.  Zita told us a story about him:  Maitland came to Corfu a middle-aged man and fell in love with a married woman of Corfu.  The husband was persuaded to divorce the woman, and after she married Maitland she demanded a new villa.  The palatial landmark Mon Repos was the result, eventually becoming the birthplace of Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1921.

The most important cathedral in Old Town Corfu is the Church of St Spyridon.  The 16^th century church, easily identified by its bell tower, holds the silver coffin of the saint who was a bishop-martyr from Cyprus and is now the patron saint of Corfu.  We filed into the church with dozens of Sunday worshippers for a glimpse of the coffin in a small alcove behind the main altar, surrounded by Greek Orthodox icons.  After that we had some free time to explore the narrow streets with small shops of local handicrafts and gifts, and the cafes and ice cream stands.  Many places had small bottles of the orange liqueur made from kumquats, called Kuom Quat, distilled and available only in Corfu.  The walk through Old Town was a treat, a chance to see the narrow, winding streets, the picturesque squares, the high arcaded houses with the brilliant blue sky above, all of us snapping photos as we went.

Easy to understand how Corfu has an exotic reputation.  In addition to its connection with Homer’s The Odyssey, Corfu is the setting for Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, from where we hear Prospero’s line that “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

For anyone planning a trip to Corfu, and in need of a wonderful, helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly tour guide:

Zita Jambor, Licensed Tourist Guide (English, Hungarian, Greek)

Mobile:  (+30) 6946 540 431
Email:  jamborz@hotmail.com

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