Mediterranean Cruise 2016 Day 10

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This morning we are in Nafplion, Greece, basically a port town. But it is the gateway to some ancient ruins with a fascinating story: Corinth and Mycenae.

Our tour guide is Lalia, a no-nonsense woman with a deep knowledge of the history of the area. We board our coach and head out of town. The landscape is Greek as I remember it: dry, rolling hills, dotted with low plants, trees and shrubs, above which rocky mountain outcrops punctuate the sky. It's remarkable that, if you look carefully, virtually every mountain has some ancient ruins perched precariously on its summit.

Our first stop is the Corinth Canal. It cuts across the 6.5 km isthmus that connects the Peloponnesian Peninsula from the Greek mainland. Constructed with the help of Hungarian engineers, it was completed in 1893. But it had been a dream for centuries. Apparently even Alexander the Great speculated about building a canal here, but didn't act on it. At one point in history, the Corinthians had constructed a kind of railway and were able to move entire ships across the isthmus using human and donkey power.

We drive on to the ruins of Ancient Corinth. This is a large area right in the middle of the modern city of Corinth that is being carefully excavated. Of course, there are many ages represented in the ruins, but what we we are about to see dates primarily from Roman times, around 6th c. B.C. We see the Temple of Apollo, the Fountain of Glauce and the Temple of Octavia. Laila relates the historical and mythological stories related to these buildings.

At this point we enter the Museum of Ancient Corinth, directly on the site of the archeological dig. In an open area stand lots of beautiful marble statues, many headless. Laila explains that ancient statues tend to lose their heads for two reasons. First, the neck is inevitably a weak point because of its small diameter, and second, treasure-seekers and early archeologists found it easier to transport a head home than the entire statue.

Another room is devoted to ceramics. There are many beautiful vases, vessels and even kids' toys. Some of the decorations on the vases, often in traditional ochre and black, are exquisite.

Corinth was a centre of healing in ancient times, and people would travel here hoping for a cure for their medical problems. One room is devoted to this aspect, and it exhibits casts of various parts of the body that were healed. Yes, it includes many examples of what you just thought of.

Back at the archeological site, we proceed into the Agora. One interesting structure is a raised platform that was used for public announcements and ceremonies. It is a historical fact that Saint Paul, who sent many letters to the Corinthians, addressed the populace from this platform. The exit from the agora was once decorated with four statues of horses. These are the same ones that we saw mere days ago at the entrance to San Marco Basilica in Venice.

A short ride of the bus takes us to our lunch. The main dish is lamb, prepared in what you might call country style. Quite delicious.

We are now heading for the ancient city of Mycenae. But first, a quick synopsis of the life of a fascinating character, Heinrich Schliemann. As a boy, he read and reread the stories of Homer about Achilles, Agamemnon and the Trojan War. He became convinced that they were true. When he grew up, he set off to find ancient Troy—and to everyone's complete astonishment (including expert archeologists), he found it on the Turkish coast. Then he set his sights on Mycenae, the city that was the home of Agamemnon and that was, according to myth, founded by Perseus himself. Of course, the experts also did not believe Mycenae ever existed.

We first stop at the Tomb of Atreus, a massive round beehive-shaped structure that was lost to the world until rediscovered by (you guessed it) Schliemann. The entranceway is impressive, with massive, expertly shaped stone blocks forming twin walls leading to an entrance topped by lintel weighing 120 tons. Inside is a huge dome that forms the artificial hill. It is completely empty, looted of all contents back in the mists of time.

It's a short ride to the site of the ancient Mycenae Acropolis. When Schliemann arrived here, the entrance, now known as the Lion's Gate, was partially above ground and not a secret, but no one knew that this was in fact the site of legendary Mycenae. As our guide puts it, "There are ruins everywhere." Schliemann started digging here in 1874. It took some time, but eventually he unearthed several graves with priceless gold-covered relics. Schliemann believed that he had found the grave of Agamemnon. He hadn't, but he had found the Acropolis of Mycenae, dating from the 14th and 13th c. B.C.

"Acropolis" means "high city". An acropolis would typically include the king's palace and defensive structures and be surrounded on all sides by walls. The town itself would spread out from the acropolis down the mountainside. As the common people's homes would typically be made of wood, few traces of them would survive.

We enter the Acropolis of Mycenae via the imposing Lion's Gate, and start climbing. To the right is the area where Schliemann found the graves of ancient kings and priceless gold artifacts. We continue ascending to an open area that would have served as the main room of the king's palace. Smaller rooms behind were the private quarters of the royal family, including, yes, what is believed to be the bathroom.

We descend to the other side, where, remarkably in this arid climate, is a spring, still delivering water after all these centuries. We then make our way back to the main entrance.

That's the end of our tour, so we pile back into the bus and head back to Nafplion. We have some time in the city to shop before reboarding the ship.

We are thoroughly knackered after a long day in the hot sun. A shower revives us. Our supper guests tonight include three other couples: British, Australian and American. I thoroughly enjoy chatting with Pam, one half of the British couple. They are in their mid-80s now and have done lots of travelling, much of it backpacking on their own in exotic locales. Pam has some great travel stories to tell—and actually, so do I.

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Photos

Corinth Canal
Corinth, Greece

Ruins of Ancient Corinth
Corinth, Greece

Temple of Apollo
Corinth, Greece

Ancient Corinth, presentation area
Corinth, Greece

Entrance of Tomb of Atreus
Corinth, Greece

Lion Gate entrance to Mycenae Acropolis
Corinth, Greece

Royal tombs, Mycenae
Corinth, Greece

Comments

[Karen]

Greece
Fascinating David... educational! God of running shoes! Karen