The Olympic Games in antiquity were first held in 776 B.C., in honor of God Zeus. It was a highly prestigious athletic festival, that was celebrated every four years, in Ancient Olympia. For the first 13 Olympiads, the Olympics were a one-day festival and contained only one event, the stadion. As more events were added, the number of days grew, until it reached a five-day schedule.

No competitions took place on the first day of the Olympics, but the opening ceremony included the taking of oaths by the athletes. On the second day, the stadion race took place, as well as the boxing  and the pankration wrestling for the boys. On the next day, the chariot races and horse races were held in the Hippodrome. Then came the pentathlon, a combination of five events (running, long jump, discus, javelin, and wrestling), in the stadium. The fourth day opened with the foot races for the men, which were followed by wresting, boxing, and pankration wrestling. On the final day, the victors were crowned with an olive wreath, also known as kotinos.

The archaeological site of Olympia includes the ruins of the ancient Stadium. The ruins of the famous classical Temple of Zeus dominate the Altis. The gigantic ivory and gold statue of Zeus, sculpted by Pheidias, used to stand inside the temple, which was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Close to the temple of Zeus, the ruins of the temple of Hera still stand. From antiquity till nowadays, the lighting of the Olympic flame takes place at the front of the temple, and then the journey of the torch relay begins, in order to carry the message of Olympism throughout the world.

The visitors can also visit the Archaeological Museum of Olympia and get the chance to admire the findings of the archaeological site, such as the famous Hermes of Praxiteles and the sculpted decoration of the temple of Zeus. The Museum’s collection includes ancient weapons, spearheads, spear butts, breastplates and helmets, found in the sanctuary of Altis.

Visit Ancient Olympia, the cradle of the Olympic Games, explore the ancient buildings, that still “keep alive” the history of the Olympics and the universal values of Olympism and “unravel all the secrets” of the ancient sanctuary and the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
 

Before long they had turned into a favourite topic for writers, painters, and photographers alike. As a matter of fact, more than 600 of them have been installed on the Cycladic archipelago.

To build a wind mill used to be a hard and costly thing. Its spot had to be carefully chosen: the more exposed to northerly winds, the better. That’s why they stand perched on hillsides, and like vigilantes at the exits of gorges, or like lighthouses on the edge of capes. On the other side, the distance to the village was no less important, as wind mills had to be easily accessible by the beasts of burden.

The most common type of wind mills had been the stone built cylindrical ones, with a rotating and following-the-wind conic roof and a straw “hat”. White triangular sails set against some huge antennas would put in motion a system of axes and wheels, which would make a mill stone turn above another mill stone, the latter one still, to grind wheat, barley and corn into flour.

To read more, please see visitgreece.gr

Around 100 B.C., Nemea's powerful neighbor Argos moved the festival from Nemea to Argos itself, putting an end to the Games here.

But, thanks to the Society for the Revival of the Nemean Games, the Games were held here for the first time in 2,000 years on June 1, 1996, when 1,000 contestants from around the world, ranging in age from 12 to 90, participated. The 2000, 2004, and 2008 Games drew even larger crowds, and the next Games are planned for 2012. So, when you visit Nemea, you won't see just the stadium where athletes once contended, but also the site of the new Nemean Games. Contestants run barefoot, as in antiquity, but wear short tunics rather than run naked. If you want to know more about the Nemean Games, contact the Society for the Revival of the Nemean Games (tel. 510/642-5924 in the U.S.; www.nemeagames.gr).

Two excellent site guides should be on sale at the museum: Nemea (10€) and The Ancient Stadium of Nemea (2€). You'll find shady spots to read them both at the site and at the stadium.

Review of The Museum & Ancient Site

The Nemea Museum, set on an uncharacteristically Greek green lawn, is one of the most charming small museums in Greece (labels are in Greek and English). You'll get an excellent sense of the history of the excavation of Nemea and the Nemean Games, as well as the early Christian village here, much of which was built from material pillaged from ancient Nemea.

A display map just inside the museum's main gallery shows all the cities in the Greek world whose coins were found at Nemea and illustrates just how far people came to see these Games. Just as today, most fans sat together -- coins from each city were usually found in the same area of the stadium. You'll see excellent photographs of the excavations as well as enlarged photos of important finds, such as the small bronze figure of the infant Opheltes, in whose honor the Nemean Games may have been founded.


To read more, please visit frommers.com

Sometime we might organise these into some sort of order, but for now have a browse to read a bit about some of Greece’s famous and not so famous must see sights!

Mercouri Winery – Western Peloponnese
We had heard about this winery somewhere around Katakolon and one Saturday we decided to go find it. It turned out to be the Mercouri Estate and while there we got chatting with a Scottish fella by the name of Chris who happens to be helping out with the tourist program (that's multicultural Greece for you). One thing led to another and I suggested he write a quick blurb about the estate for Travels in Greece. He said yes, and here it is. For anybody in the area, a trip to the estate is well worth it, what with the lovely buildings, the old museum piece tools on display and the grounds full of peacocks. The wine is pretty good too! If you happen to get chatting with Chris, say hi to him from us, over to you Chris....

Museum of Ancient Greek Technology in Katakolon

We received an email today regarding the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology which resides on the main square of Katakolon opposite the train station and next to the church. The last time we were in Katakolo in the summer of 2009 it appeared very shut and we were told that it was unlikely to re-open, but the email seems to negate that news.

To read more, please visit travelsingreece.com

But how did a kingdom operate, and how did it differ from Classical Greece? An obvious difference lay in its geographical structure. Classical Greece was based around cities, the polis: the city and its surrounding territory. Macedonia, on the other hand, was a much larger kingdom, comprising a number of different cities – two of which vied to be the capital.

The old capital was Aegae, modern Vergina, where the kings were all buried. We have already looked at the burial of Philip II, the grandest burial of all (CWA 50). Then in CWA 51 we went on to look at the rest of Aegae: the huge palace built by Philip II, and some of the other tombs that made up the city.

There was, however, another ‘capital’: Pella was the commercial capital, the place where Philip II and Alexander the Great were born. Today, modern Macedonia is dominated by the great Medieval town of Thessalonika, the second town in Greece and, in the Middle Ages, second only to Constantinople as the queen of the Aegean.

Vergina lies 50 miles to the west, along the old Roman Via Egnatia and the modern motorway. Pella forms the third point of the triangle above Vergina to the west and modern Thessalonika to the east. Today it is 20 miles from the sea, but in Classical times it was a maritime town on a huge inlet of the sea, now long since filled in; today, it is the bread basket of Greece.

Mosaic magic

Archaeologically, the features for which Pella is best known are the pebble mosaics. The art of mosaic was perfected by the Romans, who learnt to make mosaics of tesserae – small stones cut to shape; but mosaics had already been used by the Greeks, though rather than tesserae, they used pebbles. Most of the resulting mosaics came out in black and white, but occasionally they used coloured pebbles too.
The finest examples of these are found at Pella, where a number of rich houses have been excavated in the blocks south of the agora. The finest of these represents the abduction of Helen, where Theseus has seized Helen and is about to carry her off in a four-horse chariot, and is signed by the mosaicist responsible for the composition, Gnosis.

Another large house, known as the House of Dionysus, consists of two parts formed around two central peristyle courtyards. In the southern part of the house are two andrones (banquet rooms) with the famous mosaic of a lion hunt, now in the museum.

In the centre of Pella was the agora, or market place. This is currently being excavated and restored courtesy of the EU, indeed some would say that it is being over-restored. But excavations are revealing a row of buildings with a workshop at the rear, and a shop to sell the goods at the front.

On the far side of the agora was an administrative complex, housing the city magistrates and certain cultic functions. The south-west section housed the public archives. Here, in a two-storey building with a central courtyard, public documents were transcribed, sealed, and stored. Archaeologists found scores of clay seals from the public documents which had fallen from the archives above on the second floor. They also found broken pens and ink wells, along with stores of clay and stone stamp seals. A popular image used on these seals was that of a grazing cow – which also appears on coins. The inscription ‘Pella exchange’ on another seal is indicative of the commercial activities carried out in the complex.

However, the agora at Pella is, to some extent, misleading. Whereas in a Classical Greek city the agora was not only the commercial centre but also the political centre, being surrounded by the law courts and the offices of the town council, Pella was part of a kingdom, and so the real centre of the town lay in the palace on the higher ground north of the agora.

The palace has five separate units, each with a large central courtyard surrounded by buildings erected on terraces stepped into the hillside. These units, each of which has four to five buildings, communicate with each other via gates, flights of steps, and galleries. On the south side, facing the agora, was a monumental colonnade. Unlike at Vergina, here at Pella the palace was the administrative centre as well as a grandiose royal residence. The royal household lived here along with various administrative, military, and financial services with their suites of handsome banqueting rooms and baths. There were also archives and libraries, the royal mint, and rooms for cultic purposes. For keeping fit there was a palaestra, or wrestling ground, and the portico of a gymnasium.

The original core of the palace was built towards the end of the 5th century; but most of the architectural remains discovered date to the Hellenistic period.
Collecting the best

A splendid new museum has just been opened at the site which contains many of the treasures and, unlike at the Vergina museum, one is allowed to take photos of the exhibits.

Many of the finest pebble mosaics have been conserved and laid out. However, for me the finest exhibit was many an archaeologist’s delight: a potter’s shop, which had been overwhelmed in a catastrophe, was discovered still filled with complete pots. All the pots were excavated and put on display for our inspection. Alas, they were no longer for sale as they would have been 2,300 years ago.

I was also fascinated by a case devoted to finds from the sanctuary of the god Darron. Darron was a local, rather minor god – of healing – but, nonetheless, still surviving right down to the 1st century BC, despite the onslaught of the Olympian deities from Greece. Interestingly, the artefacts from his shrine differed little from those found at the shrines of the Olympian gods.

Macedonian rulers wanted the best for their kingdom and were prepared to pay top prices to get it. The great Greek painter Apelles was lured away to do his best work at Pella, none of which, alas, has survived. The playwright Euripides spent his last days in Pella writing one of his most surreal plays, The Bacchae, where fierce women, tricked by the vengeful Dionysus, tear the king Pentheus limb from limb.

By Andrew Selkirk

Source: World Archaeology

According to mythology, the precious water flowed for the very first time when Hephaestus beat the land with his hammer. It was a favour to goddess Athena, who believed that the thermal springs would keep Hercules healthy and powerful! During the Roman times, emperors and commanders frequented the place while centuries later the springs attracted important personalities, such as Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo and Maria Kallas.

A plethora of neoclassical mansions, lush plane trees and picturesque traditional cafes and restaurants envelop the town with a unique nostalgic atmosphere. In the hydrotherapy centre of the Greek National Tourism Organisation the visitor has the opportunity to gaze at an archaeological collection comprising finds from the excavations that took place in the area. Other archaeological sites around Aidipsos, such as the Sylla Cave, have re-opened inviting the public to discover them.

A geological miracle

The springs of Aidipsos are more than 80. The composition of the waters in combination with their high temperature is particularly beneficial for the human body. Archaeological finds indicate that the point from which the waters flow had been first spotted during Prehistoric times. The centuries-old geological and paleontological history of the area is also proved by a spot found where a mammal fossil is drawn. The springs are known anyway for 20.000 years now.

The temperature of the waters ranges from 28οC to 86οC. The waters are rich in magnesium, calcium and iron while their properties are extremely healing. The springs are scattered in various points of the city and through canals supply with water all hydrotherapy centres of the area.


To read more, please go to visitgreece.gr

So I will include here my own personal favorite Greek destinations in brief, while in the other pages of this site I get to elaborate a little on each place.

The best vacations are often measured not by where one wanders, but by the friendships, the relationships, and the family bonds that one forges once there. The landscapes then act as mere vehicles for delightful moments.

A place is not enough. An open mind is also required to absorb the new social, cultural and visual signals that surround a traveler. Once this is understood, then it does not hurt to be absorbed by a unique topography, an ancient landscape, to be touched by a cool meltemi breeze, or to be lost in the azure ocean.

So then, where is the best place to visit in Greece? What is the absolute must-see locale? To answer the question one must define one's own interests first. Greece can offer an incredible gamut of activities.

The cultural and historical background of Greece has sprinkled the landscapes with ruins that span six thousand years. The alternating invaders, the peacefull settlers, and the country's position at the crossroads between east and west, have all left their mark on the Greek cultural landscape. Archaeological sites abound in the country side, and museums in cities protect priceless artifacts from antiquity. It would be an omission to visit Greece and leave without experiencing the ancient Greek culture; the culture that is credited with the birth of western civilization.

Source: Greeklandscapes.com

Actually, there are two towns on the island – the lower town, at sea level, which has been slowly (and tastefully) restored; and the upper town or citadel, still in ruins, where you can wander alone among the old streets and fallen houses, with the cicadas singing around you.

Spring is the best time for southern Greece, when the grass is green and the wild flowers are in bloom. Otherwise, go in autumn.

How do visitors get there?

Monemvasia is almost an island; its only link to the mainland of southern Greece is a narrow causeway. To reach it, it’s best to go by road from Athens, either by car or coach, which takes about five hours. Sometimes ferries call; sometimes not. If you’re thinking of going and don’t have your own transport, the hotels or a good travel agent will give you the latest advice about what’s running. For train-lovers, there’s a quirky little railway that follows a circular route around the Peloponnese from Athens; but you’ll still need to combine that with a bus/coach/car journey. There are also luxury cruises that call in.

Where are your favourite places to eat?

Twenty years ago an old, black-clad grandmother cooked me a dish of beans on a Primus stove in Matula’s taverna (www.matoula.gr). I think it was the only place to eat in those days. Now there are others – the Kanoni taverna, Mariantha’s taverna and places across the causeway on the mainland. Greek cuisine isn’t really “haute”, but it’s fresh, lively and local. Try the fish, and perhaps the local Malvasia wine – Shakespeare’s Malmsey.
 

To read more, please visit telegraph.co.uk

By Paul Waters
 

The Monasteries of Meteora may be visited year round but the weather is wet and cool from December to March. Crowds and high season rates are guaranteed from July 1st to October 15th. May and June are the best months for comfortable weather, low season rates and the opportunity to leisurely explore the area.

Buses to Kalampaka are available from Ioannina, Trikala, Thessaloniki and Athens. It is also possible to take the train from Thessaloniki or Athens with a switch at Larissa. If you are traveling from Athens, take a morning train so that you can enjoy the spectacular scenery as you pass through the mountains between Livadia and Lamia.

Appropriate clothing is required to visit the monasteries. Sleeveless clothing and shorts are prohibited. Skirts and shawls are available at the entrance for those who are deemed to be unacceptably dressed (including guys wearing shorts and tanktops).

A visit to the Monasteries of Meteora is highly recommended. Each monastery charges a small admission fee. The nearby towns of Kalampaka and Kastraki have become very touristy with accompanying higher rates than the outlying areas. We suggest combining a trip to Meteora with another destination such as Zagoria or the Halkidiki peninsula. If you do not plan to travel to other areas in northern Greece or if your time is limited, the most efficient way to visit Meteora is to take a bus tour from Athens. You can usually negotiate a good deal with any of the several travel agencies to be found around Syntagma Square.

A listing of hotels can be obtained from the local Tourist Police located near the bus station (Pindou & Ioannininon, Kalampaka Tel: +30 2432078000, +30 2432078516).

The village of Kastraki is closer to the monasteries and convenient for those who want to visit by foot but there are more options for food and lodging in Kalampaka.

Tips:

• Plan to spend a full day at Meteora. You will delight in the play of light on the rocks and their changing moods. On sunny mornings, the red roof tiles of the monasteries glisten in sharp contrast to the weather-stained grayness of the rocks while the late afternoon sun bathes the landscape with a golden glow. At nighttime, the rocks are dramatically illuminated by spotlights while autumnal mists shroud them in an ethereal mysteriousness that must have appealed to the hermits and monks who sought refuge from the things of the world.
• Explore the paths between the rock towers but be careful because they are not all intact and some scrambling over uneven ground is required.
• Acquaint yourself with Greek Orthodoxy. It will enhance your appreciation of the Churches and Monasteries of Meteora and their valuable displays of Byzantine art. There are volunteers at the Church of the Transfiguration who will explain the rich tradition of Byzantine iconography.
• Remember to carry bottled water, especially if you are visiting the monasteries by foot. There are refreshment vendors along the road by the monasteries but their prices are excessive.

Source: Great Adventures