Exploring the Peloponnese

I had one day back from Istanbul for classes and then we were off again! This time we explored the Peloponnese for 5 days. Day one involved a view of the Corinth canal and a view from the road of Corinth's acropolis before heading out to Nemea for the sanctuary and stadium (the first of the four Panhellenic games locations we will visit over the semester, the other three being the Isthmus for the Isthmian games held at Corinth which we passed by, Olympia for the Olympic games, and Delphi for the Delphic games). It began to snow, but that didn't stop us from lining up on the start line and crossing the stadium. Afterwards we headed over to our home base of Nafplio, and were unleashed upon the Palamidi Venetian Castle to climb and not lean over bastions to get cool pictures of our friends (cough it had sturdy foot holds so it was fine), and get a sense of Greek history beyond the ancient sites we saw. The Castle was massive and overlooked the entire town and harbor below, and likewise almost everywhere we went in Nafplio you could see the castle perched above.

The second day was better than Christmas for me. I love studying the Bronze Age, and following our itinerary we went to Mycenae, and along with some snow flurries which just made everything pretty - there were flowers out too! - we saw the Treasury of Atreus, and the other Tumuli around of Clytemnestra, Aegisthus her lover, and I found the Lion's Tumulus and happily ran down from the citadel to have a look. We wandered the citadel and after studying the site I was able to visualize it more easily and the visit to the museum on site helped place the famous frescoes and objects for me.

My most emotional moment was in that museum, when I saw linear B tablets for the first time. I had learned about linear B, a proto- Ancient Greek language, but seeing the tablets, the small, burned bits of clay with indents dawned on me as so historically monumental that I very nearly teared up. My smile grew even bigger after that with an unplanned stop at Tiryns, another Bronze Age site, very well preserved (you can see me standing in the main citadel in the picture) and which I have wanted to see for some time.

We saw Epidaurus after that, and heard a piece of paper tear and a coin drop in the center of the stage from the back of the theater - incredible! - before heading to the last Byzantine capital of Mystras near Sparta the next day. Mystras was gorgeous and dotted the entire mountain with its monasteries, basilicas, and stone walkways, and even in winter had beautiful ivy and other greenery that made me feel like I could have been walking around a fairy tale set in Ireland.

For day 4 we went to Messene, where I got to sit upon the throne of Nero and Hadrian in the theater, and get a look at some Roman era mosaics. The site had fountain remains, basilica ruins, and sanctuaries everywhere in the public space along with a large and open hillside stadium surrounded by columns. Nearby we found a battlement, which I was determined to climb despite my dress and in which we had lunch!

 

It was a fascinating site, and large enough that I could have happily spent more time exploring there, but day 5 called us on to Olympia. The beauty of flowers carpeting the ancient practice areas where we talked about Olympic wrestling, and quiet as we walked past the sunny open dedicatory tholos and temple of Hera carried a silent majesty as we moved to the ancient stadium, and walked or ran its course. The temples, especially the size of the temple of Olympic Zeus, were impressive and the site along with the museum was rich and tingling with the history we were discussing.

It was an ancient site of ruins, but like the others I had seen, my studies and our discussions placed it in a historical context that I felt gave me more access to that ancient world. I cannot wait for the next adventure.