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2. The Peloponnese
(9 days; 11 days including
Athens). Apr 24 to May 2 or May 4. 1170 euros or 1430 euros4.24 Arrive Athens. 4.25 Eleusis, Corinth, Nafplion. 4.26 Mycenae, Argos, Nafplion. 4.27 Mystras, Pylos. 4.28 Hora, Methoni, Pylos. 4.29 Vassai, Laggadia. 4.30 Olympia 5.1 Nemea, Athens. 5.2 Depart 4.24 We'll meet in the hotel at 7 pm to go out to dinner. 4.25 Our first stop is Eleusis, about 20 miles west of Athens. Eleusis was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most important cult religion in the world prior to Christianity.  Eleusis
About 40 minutes after Eleusis we come to the Corinth Canal, where we’ll stop for lunch and a walk over the canal bridge. 
10 minutes from the Canal is ancient Corinth, one of the most important commercial centers of ancient Greece. Completely destroyed by a Roman army in 146 bc, it was rebuilt a century later by Julius Caesar.  From Corinth it's less than an hour to Nafplion, a beautiful port city on the Argolic Gulf, where we'll spend the night. After the War of Independence Nafplion was the first capital of Greece, from 1828 to 1834, and it remains one of the most attractive cities in Greece. The architecture is unmistakably Venetian, there is even a marble piazza (Syntagma Square), and a striking castle, the Bourzi Palace (built in 1471) stands on an island in the bay. Above Nafplion are the fortifications of Its Kale (Three Castles) and, higher still, the fortress of Palamidi.  4.26 We'll go first to Mycenae, the most important Bronze Age site in mainland Greece and the mythical home of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes. Besides the site, we'll visit the interesting new museum.  Lion Gate, Mycenae
Next we'll go to Argos, where we'll see the amazing ancient theater, cut into the solid rock of the hillside and once holding 20,000 spectators. Near Argos is the mysterious ancient Pyramid of Elliniko and the Church of the Life-Giving Spring (a spring gushes from beneath the church, and its chapels are in adjoining caves). We'll stay again in Nafplion. 4.27 Today we'll drive through Tripoli, capital of Arcadia, and Sparta, mythical home of the infamous Helen (until she ran off to Troy with Paris). Near Sparta is Mystras, beautifully situated in the foothills of Mt Taygetos. Founded by the Franks after the 4th Crusade (early 13th century), it was soon taken over by the Byzantines and became the residence of the Despot of the Morea (ruler of the Peloponnese). Most interesting are the many churches with frescoes from the 14th-18th centuries and the Palace of the Despots. From Mystras we'll drive through a pass over Mt Taygetos and on to Pylos, a picturesque town on the Bay of Navarino in the southwest corner of the Peloponnese. 4.28 First we'll go to the museum at Chora, where finds from the Palace of Nestor are displayed. Next we'll go to the "Palace" itself, an unfortified, rather small structure, which had two stories and a central megaron, a large room containing a big raised hearth. Some of the decoration of the Palace still remains on site. In myth Nestor, the long-winded advisor of the Iliad, was one of the 12 children of King Pelias. After Herakles killed the other eleven and their father, Nestor became King of Pylos by default. Pylos has three Venetian fortresses close by; two are visible from Pylos and the third is a few miles south at Methoni. We'll visit Methoni, a massive fortress that juts out into the sea. We'll stay again in Pylos. 4.29 From Pylos we'll go up into the mountains of Arcadia to see the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Vassai. Built in the 420's by the people of Figalia to ask Apollo for help (or to thank him for help given), it's the most important Greek temple after the Parthenon.  From Vassai we'll drive north with frequent stops through the beautiful mountain villages of Andritsena, Karytena, Stemnitsa, and Dimitsana. We'll stop for the night at another of these villages, Laggadia, at the very top of Arcadia.   4.30 We'll drive down to Olympia, where we'll visit the Museum (in my opinion, the best in Greece) and the beautiful site. It’s not difficult to see why the ancients chose Olympia for the Games and the sanctuary of Zeus; it is now, and certainly was, one of the most beautiful places in Greece. The confluence of seven rivers and sufficient rainfall provide a green and shady setting that is reminiscent of northern Italy. Highlights of the site include the stadium, the temple of Zeus, the fountain-house of Herodes Atticus, and the workshop where Pheidias, sculptor of the Parthenon, also made the statue of Zeus which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  the Hermes of Praxiteles  the Helmet of Miltiades Olympia was the site of the Olympic Games, most important of the four quadrennial panhellenic contests of ancient Greece (the others were the Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian [at Delfi]). In myth Herakles is the founder of the Games. At the first Games he was the only contestant, which was acceptable for the running and throwing events but extremely boring in the case of boxing and wrestling, so boring, in fact, that his father Zeus, who was present as a spectator, entered the wrestling match against Herakles and grappled him to a draw. Other versions say that the Games were founded by another person with the same name, Herakles the Daktyl, who was only as big as a finger. or by Pelops to commemorate his victory over Oinomaos, the king of Elis.  Workshop of Pheidias, Olympia
 Gallery
of Bronzes, Olympia Museum
5.1 Today we'll drive north to Patras, third-largest city in Greece, then east along the south coast of the Gulf of Corinth. We'll stop at Nemea, the most famous wine-producing region of Greece, and maybe we'll visit a boutique winery here. All museums and archaeological sites are closed for the May Day holiday. We'll continue on to Athens. 5.2 Departure (or 2 days more in Athens, if you choose this option). |