There are three things you see everywhere in this area of Greece: olive trees, orange trees and history.  In the US a building dating back to the 1700’s is an oddity, in Europe they’re everywhere.  Most small towns are hundreds of years old, often with a castle nearby.  The modern city of Rome was built around and on top of ruins of the Roman empire of 2,000 years ago with ancient ruins scattered around modern buildings.  Greece takes it back even further, it’s a place where mythology comes to life, truly in the footsteps of the gods.

Hangin’ with Agamemnon

I remember taking Greek Mythology for senior year English in high school, absolutely hated it as with most things about high school.  We had to read Homer’s epics the Iliad and the Odyssey among many other painful pieces of ancient literature which were about as interesting as reading the bible.  As painful as it was I’m glad I suffered through books of dactylic hexameter because the stories slowly came back as we visited the ancient city of Mycenae, located about 50 miles from Athens in the northeastern Peloponnese.

The Iliad depicts events during the ten year Trojan War where King Agamemnon had issues with the warrior Achilles. The Odyssey, Homer’s follow up (all successful stories need a sequel) depicts Odysseus’s ten year journey home after sacking Troy. Mycenae is King Agamemnon’s `hood.  The site is largely a pile of stones now with very little standing except for the famous gates to the city known as the Lion Gate.

The treasury of Atreus, also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon, lies a short distance down the road.  The lintel stones above the door are the largest in the world, weighing in at around 120 tons.  The structure was built as a tomb but the identification of the body in residence is unknown.

Mycenaean Bridge

While on our way to a neighboring town a short distance away from our base in Epidavros we came across this old bridge, at the time I didn’t understand its significance.   The bridge dates back to the 13th or 14th century BC as part of an extensive road network and is considered to be the oldest standing bridge in Europe.   I recently read an article about the sorry state of U.S. bridges with one in four in need of repair.  This pile of stones is almost 3,500 years old and is not only standing but still functional.

The Healer

Epidavros’ ancient claim to fame is as the birthplace of Apollo’s son Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. In the 8th century BC an asclepeion, or healing center, was built in his honor about five miles outside of town.  As the most famous healing center in the ancient world the site drew people from hundreds of miles away seeking cures for all maners of illnesses.  Patients would spend a night in the sanctuary followed by a consultation with a priest who would interpret their dreams and prescribe the appropriate treatment.  Think of it as an ancient Mayo clinic or more appropriately an ancient Lords. Not much stands today but it is actively under excavation and restoration.

In addition to the healing center, a large 15,000 seat amphitheater was built on the site.  Still in use today, the theater is considered one of the best preserved theaters of the ancient world.  As we experienced first hand, excellent acoustics allow for the spoken voice to be easily heard from the top row.

Olympia, the Original Olympics

The modern day Olympics dates back to 1896 with the first games hosted by the International Olympic Committee but the tradition started in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece as a religious and athletic festival.  The games were held every four years as part of a cycle called the Panhellenic Games which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and the Isthmian Games.  The event drew participants from many city-states and kingdoms across ancient Greece, so important all conflicts between the participating regions was halted for the duration.

The ancient games lasted for hundreds of years and were finally ended by the Romans in the early 5th century AD who considered them a pagan festival.  The site was soon abondoned and left to history, eventually being covered by up to 25 feet of alluvial soil likely from repeated tsunamis.

The ancient city is a located on the west coast of the peloponnese, about three hours from where we were staying in Epidavros.  Considering this was an olympic year we figured the site is a must see even though the journey was a 3+ hour car ride one way, clear across the peninsula.

One issue I have with Greece is navigation.  Nowhere could I find an actual address to enter in a GPS.  The UNESCO website gave longitude-latitude coordinates for the region which we hoped would get us close enough to find signs.  Our iPad with a cached map for the days travel has been our navigation device of choice, worked well throughout Europe.

The long drive was very scenic, up into the mountains on narrow, windy roads comparable to climbing Mt Washington in New Hampshire.  Unlike Mt Washington we came across a few villages hanging precariously to the cliff face, amazing that someone would actually build in these locations.  We stopped for lunch in a cliff side town, wishing we had more time to explore but it was already early afternoon with over an hour driving to go.

The final drive was down a long street lined with small hotels, shops and restaurants  all of which were largely empty, unfortunately a common site in Greece.  The economic downturn and recent events has hit the tourism industry hard.

Entrance to the site is through a small, nondescript parking lot with remnants of what was to be a bright future of tourism.  As with other places we visited in Greece you can see halted tourism related construction, mothballed in recent years waiting for the economy to recover.

Cycles of excavation have uncovered the ruins, mostly rubble with the footprints of many temples, bathhouses, a gymnasium and an athletic field.  Signs along the path describe the buildings along with an artists rendition of how they may have appeared.  The reconstructed athletic field hosted the 2004 Olympic shot put  competition when the games were held in Athens.  Michelle, Sierra and Savanna thought  a 100 yard race through history was called for (Sierra won).

The most revered building was the Temple of Zeus, for whom the original games were held.  The temple held a massive ivory and gold statue to the king of the gods and was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Unfortunately the impressive statue is long gone, likely looted for various precious materials, and the building has completely collapsed after repeated earthquakes.  You can see a hint of past impressive glory with huge columns lying on the ground like a pile of dominos.  As with all ancient sites I’m always impressed by how such works of construction were carried out thousands of years before powered machinery.

 We’ll be Back

Our Greece experience was very insulated compared to the other European countries we visited.  We were not moving from city to city or country to country while dealing with language and navigation issues, constantly planning the next step.  Greece has been quite the opposite.  We spent the past two weeks getting a lot of R&R, swimming with Chico and a little sightseeing, topping it off with excellent meals cooked by Helen (the homeowner).

Although our eyes were shaded by the ease of our travels, something about Greece calls me back.  Maybe it’s the ubiquitous history, the laid back lifestyle, my new found appreciation for olives, or perhaps its just the inexpensive Ouzo (a greek liquor).  I can see another visit to Greece in our future.