Climbing to the Acropolis

 

Climbing to the Acropolis

Our last stop on this trip was also the end of our cruise.  The last stop was Athens, Greece, and we decided to stay an extra day to see the Acropolis.  For a bit of history, Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC.  In the 6^th century BC, the Acropolis was the most important sanctuary of the city and was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena.  Although we didn’t get to see all the structures at the top of the hill known as the Acropolis, we did get to see what I consider the major ones.

This image of the Parthenon was seen from our traveling companions’ hotel room and served as a beacon, calling us to explore!  The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.  Interestingly, in the final decade of the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  But let’s first climb to the top of the Acropolis to see it closer!

When we got to the bottom of the hill (remarkably close to the hotel), the first thing we saw was a cistern (upper left image) that once held drinking water for those who lived close by.  The outside of the Odean of Auditorium (upper right image) was not too far from the cistern.  This auditorium measured 43,000 square feet and was built at the southeastern foot of the Acropolis.  It was first built in 435 BC for the musical contests held there.  The image on the lower right was of a statue in a niche outside the auditorium. (The white gate is there for security purposes.)  The last image, on the lower left, was taken after we walked around and began the climb to the top.  Y0u can see the backside of the structure that is the front of the entrance, and if you look closely, you can see light shining through the actual open entrances.

As we continued our climb, off to the right, we saw this monument, standing tall in the city of Athens.  It is the Philopappou Monument.  Philopappos died in 116, and his sister, citizens of Athens and possibly even the imperial family were full of grief.  To honor his memory, a tomb structure was built on a hill formerly known as Muses Hill.  The hill is now known as Philopappou Hill.

It was quite the climb to the top of the Acropolis, and we sometimes walked closely by buildings like this one.  Unfortunately, we had no idea of what this building was.  I was quite surprised we could get this close to any structure!

This structure is known as The Proplylaia and is the monumental ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis.  It was built between 437 and 432 BC and was the last in a series of gatehouses built.  In the lower portion of the image, you can see the tops of some people’s heads.  It was quite crowded at the time we made the climb.

This is the Parthenon as it stands today.  It was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, who was considered the patroness of Athens.  Construction began in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC, although decoration continued until 432 BC.  In September 1687, a bombardment explosion left the Parthenon in ruins.  Although it was restored between 1900 – 1933, some of the building materials used seriously damaged the ancient marble and created structural issues.  Since 1975, numerous restoration projects have been undertaken to protect the structural stability of the temple.  In the image above, you can see a couple hundred of our closest friends who toured the Acropolis with us – just kidding!!

In this image of the Erechthem, I did manage to “cut out” all the fellow visitors!  The Erechthem is the iconic temple of Athena, built during 421 – 405 BC.  It is famous for the degree of complexity and perfection of details.  This is a lovely overall view of it in its current state of glory, in a way.

Here are a few different views of the Erechthem.  This was my favorite structure on the Acropolis, mainly due to the detail of the inside of the temple (see images on right and left) and the women statues holding up part of the structure.  These women are called caryatids – draped, sculpted female figures.  History of caryatids tell us that young girls would visit the sanctuary, carrying upon their heads fruit and walnuts.  These are the most famous caryatids of Greece.

Since the statues and structures in the Acropolis didn’t allow people to get close to them or lean on them (in order to preserve them), Jeff didn’t get to do his traditional "lean on history" routine.  But, as we exited the area around the Acropolis, there were some rocks that are presumably fairly old, so Jeff got to do a vacation tradition after all!

As we were no longer cruising, I couldn’t end this post, and the series of posts covering our wonderful cruise, with a scenic moonrise or sunset.  Instead, I am leaving you with this close up of the caryatids of Erechthem– my favorite structure on the Acropolis!  Until next time!!

Enjoy!

 

 

Strolling around Nafplion Greece

 

Strolling around Nafplion Greece

Our next to last stop on this fabulous journey lands us in the seaside town of Nafplion.  It was founded in antiquity and became an important seaport in the Middle Ages.  It changed hands several times over the centuries and is now the capitol of the regional unit of Argolis and is an important tourist destination.

 As we arrived in Nafplion, our eyes were drawn up – to what is the Palamidi Fortress. It was built during the Venetian occupation in the early 19^th century and consists of eight bastions, each of which is self-contained.  Our partners in travel, Nancy and Lonnie, decided to climb the 999 steps to reach the fortress.  Jeff and I decided to opt for a much easier stroll around the town!!

As we started strolling down one sort of boulevard, we came across the First Marble Sculpting Symposium.  Here are some of the sculptures we saw, named (from the left, clockwise) Idolion, Liberty, Bouboulina and The Angel of the Virgin.  It was nice to just appreciate the art, even if we didn’t understand it!

After seeing the sculptures, we saw some cafés and charming looking hotels that also encircled a central park of sorts.  We weren’t quite hungry enough for lunch, so we didn’t stop.

In the actual park in the center of the boulevard, there was a statue, but I couldn’t find a sign to tell us this individual’s name.  However, surrounding it were rose bushes and orchid trees.

After we wandered through the park, more scenic streets opened up to us, with lots of shops on either side of the pedestrian traffic only streets.  Our lunch spot was ahead on the right in the image on the right!

We had quite the lovely lunch, with an impressive view of another part of Nafplion, a nice shade tree to keep us comfortably cool, and even a visitor more than willing to share our lunch with us!  Both lunch and the wine were tasty!

Before heading back to the ship, we decided to stroll around the pier area.  The boat is a tourist boat that would take folks to and from the Venetian castle that sat in the harbor.  It was originally called “Castello dello Soglio”.  The name that has ultimately prevailed is Bourtzi, which in Turkish means “Island – Fortress”.  Although it started its life as a castle, it was also used as a prison and the residence of the executioners of Palamidi, the fortress I mentioned initially.  Later it offered housing to the Greek government.  It was also a luxury hotel and restaurant, but today, it’s only open for tours.

Here’s another view of the harbor and sea from the shore before we headed back to the ship.  This was a lovely way to enjoy our last port of call before we disembarked.  But we have one more exploration to share!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

A Walk Through the Site of the First Olympic Games

 

A Walk Through of the Site of the First Olympic Games

Our next port of call was in Olympia, Greece, and we toured the site of the first Olympic Games – Ancient Olympia.  The Olympic Games were held here every 4 years from 8^th century BC to 4^th century BC.  It was almost surreal to walk over the grounds where the ancient Olympians competed – let’s get started!

The first site we saw is still being explored by archeologists.  It was the gymnasium of the ancient games.  This is where athletes could train for various competitions.  Only men were allowed to compete.  Per our guide, one time a woman dressed as a man competed and apparently did quite well.  However, it was then discovered that she was a woman.  In order to keep women from competing in what was considered a man’s sport, from that point on, the competitions were held in the nude!

These scenes are from the Palestra.  Basically, these were the wrestling ground, where wrestling was taught and performed for training purposes, in essence a wrestling school.  Below is another view of the Palestra, from inside the pillars that surrounded it.

Here are a couple of views of what remains of the Priests House.  There were actually several structures like this throughout ancient Olympia, and would be where the priests, administration, guests and athletes would stay during the Games.

The images above and below are from the Temple of Zeus.  It was built to honor the chief of the gods.  It was most likely constructed around 470 BC, when the ancient Games were at their peak.  The pillar at the left in the above image is a reconstructed pillar showing the height and structure of all the pillars that were once there.  On the right in the above image, is the base of another pillar of the Temple that was uncovered during the archeological dig of this area.  The images below show the side (upper) and front entrance (bottom) of the Temple.  You can see some of the other pillars that have been excavated, but not fully reconstructed.  The reconstruction work in this area was carried out in the early 2000’s.

In April 2017, this, the northern column of the Votive Monument of Ptolemy, was inaugurated.  During the turbulent times after the death of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic dynasty sponsored the building of this structure to honor the statues of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his wife, Arsinoe.  The statues are not in this area (probably moved to a museum in modern Olympia), but this column of the Votive Monument remains here.

Just outside the entrance to the stadium there are rows on either side of the path.  On one side are statues of the champions of the Ancient Games, and on the others, are statues of the cheaters – those found to have cheated during the Games!  In this image, you can see a stand for both types of statues, and in the center is an image of the footprints of one of the statues.  Again, the actual statues are in a museum in modern Olympia.

Here is the stadium!  It doesn’t look at all like our modern stadiums, but you can certainly see where the design of our modern stadiums came from.  On the left in the image, there is an arch that signifies the beginning of the entrance to the stadium.  The image on the right is one of us walking into the stadium – it reminded me of those images we see on TV of football teams entering their stadium.  In the center, you can see the stadium.  It’s very bare bones, and there are no seats for the spectators – they simply sat on the grass!! 

The last couple of areas we saw on our tour of this wonderful piece of history were Hera’s Temple and Hera’s Alter.  Hera’s Temple (the two lower images) is the oldest temple in this area.  Originally, the stone columns were made of wood.  In Roman times, a statue of Hermes was situated in the Temple.  Hera’s Altar (center image) was located off to the right of the Temple.  This is where the lighting of the Olympic Flame took place.  I’m sure it looked much more impressive back in the day!!

What a lovely moonrise we had as we left Olympia and headed to our next to the last port of call. 

Enjoy!