Ancient Corinth, Sparta, Monamvasia, and Olympia

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Due to a general strike, my visit to Ancient Corinth (yes, the place where Apostle Paul wrote the letters to the Corinthians) was cut short. I did get to see some things from outside the perimeter though, like the ruins of a town located outside the city and also the temple of Apollo. The Corinthians were pagans before Paul converted them to Christianity, so temples and idols of the Olympic deities were still found among the ruins at Corinth. I was also able to see the walls of the ancient acropolis of Corinth (most ancient city centers are located on the top of a steep hill/mountain so that the city can see possible threats and also defend itself from outsiders.

After leaving Ancient Corinth, I headed to the coast of the Peloponnesus to the walled city of Monemvasia. The name of the city is very fitting, meaning one entrance in Greek. The small walled town is seated on an island that is connected to the Greek mainland only by a constructed draw bridge. In ancient times, the inhabitants were able to lift the sides of the bridge up to deter enemies from pillaging the city.

The streets of this walled city are so narrow that no cars could fit through the gate (not to mention the entrance involves stairs…) This town sits at the bottom of a steep mountain, under the protection of various lookout points and a castle; this strategic point was ideal to gain a 360 degree lookout into the Aegean Sea and thus became a coveted target of many pirates and other conquering powers. Due to the location and natural protections of the mountains, cliffs, and oceans, the city of Monemvasia was able to survive most of the attacks from outsiders.

While hiking up this mountain side, the slippery marble was certainly starting to get the best of me, (as it always does) but the view of the ocean from atop the island was well worth it! I could see literally all over the place; the ocean and other surrounding islands were definitely a sight for pictures! The ruins of the castles, churches, and houses were also worth seeing.

The next day (this was a 3 day trip!) we headed to Sparta, which hosted another medieval castle built atop a mountain and fortified with natural barriers. This castle was in better condition than the ruins in Monemvasia. In general, this area is better preserved than most due to many reconstructive efforts by the Greek government. When taking reconstructive measures to preserve antiquities, churches are the first buildings to get a face lift because they still hold an important amount of reverence today. Most of the buildings left to crumble are the houses and buildings that were privately owned by common folk.

The last day of the trip was devoted to the Olympic Games, the event that honored the chief god of the Greek pantheon, Zeus. The ruins of Olympia were quite a spectacle; there were the temples honoring the gods Hera and Zeus, the training facilities for the various events, and also the first Olympic stadium, which hosted the first ever track and field events.

My favorite part of the Olympic stadium was seeing the first “wall of shame” where statues of Zeus depicted how to properly compete and effectively participate in all Olympic events. These statues accrued as a direct result from punishment of cheaters during the Olympic games. If an athlete was caught cheating, he (only males participated in ancient Olympic games) was disqualified and forever banned from the Olympic games and was also forced to pay for the construction of the statue of Zeus completing the event properly, with perfection. In addition, these statues would have a plaque with the athlete’s name, family name, and city/town, thus condemning everyone associated with him. Although the statues themselves were not among the ruins, the ruins of the pedestals still remain, aligning the walkway into the stadium.

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