This past Monday our entire group of
CYA students embarked on a week-long trip to the Peloponnese and Delphi. The
Peloponnese is the large are of Greece south-west of the mainland and Delphi is
an amazing site about two hours north of Athens. Given the fact that I took
almost 500 pictures and visited eleven different sites ranging from Bronze Age
palaces to Venetian castles, there is no way I can describe everything I saw
and did. Therefore, I’ve decided to talk about my three favorite sites:
Mystras, Mycenae, and the Palace of Nestor.
The first site on our itinerary for
Wednesday was the medieval town of Mystras.
Built into the mountains near the modern town of Sparta, this abandoned
town includes twenty-four medieval churches with original wall paintings, a
large palace complex, fortifications, and many other structures. The views from the mountain are spectacular
and the churches are incredibly well preserved. Below are a few pictures from
around Mystras, including a shot of one of the church domes with a depiction of
Christ Pantokrator (Christ the Judge). This image of Christ in the central dome
is a feature shared by almost all Greek Orthodox churches.
Two of my other favorite sites in
the Peloponnese are Mycenae and the Palace of Nestor (located in Pylos). Although I visited Mycenae during my senior
year of high school, the scale and richness of the site amazed me yet again.
Mycenae also holds a special place in my heart because of its repeated
references in Homer’s Iliad (one of
my all time favorite texts). This large
palace complex is the supposed territory of the wanax (king) Agamemnon. Inhabited during the Bronze Age in Greece,
Mycenae is especially known for its cyclopean masonry and the large amount of
gold objects and bronze weaponry found in its graves. Many of these prestigious
items are now located in the museum at Mycenae and at the National
Archaeological Museum here in Athens. The rocks used to construct the walls are
so huge that I had to take a picture standing in front of one for scale. Some of the rocks are as tall as me!
The Lion Gate
That's just ONE of the stones in the wall!
Another of my favorite Bronze Age
sites is the Palace of Nestor at Pylos. Like
Mycenae, the Palace of Nestor was inhabited by the Mycenaean people and is said
to have been ruled by the wanax/king Nestor (who is also featured in the Iliad). This site was especially amazing
because we had the privilege of speaking to many of the archaeologists who are
currently excavating the palace. They even showed us some of their test pits
that revealed many different stratigraphic layers of the palace. I also enjoyed this site because of its
well-preserved “megaron.” The megaron is the central room of a Mycenaean
palace. It is characterized by columns
and a large round hearth in the center.
Scholars speculate that this room served as a receiving/throne room for
the king.
Archaeologists at the Palace of Nestor
I had an amazing time exploring the
Peloponnese and Delphi, but now its back to classes and midterms. Check back over the next couple of weeks to
see some pictures from my parents’ visit (they arrive in a few days!) and some
stories from my up-coming trip to Istanbul and England!
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