A church in Trikala, whose name we did not even bother to note.
We encountered—but did not attempt to visit—this handsome structure in late morning on March 17.
Showing posts with label Greece 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece 2010. Show all posts
Friday, January 07, 2011
Church In Trikala
A church in Trikala, whose name we did not even bother to note.
We encountered—but did not attempt to visit—this handsome structure in late morning on March 17.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
En Route To Meteora II
Later on the morning of March 17, we proceeded from Lamia to Trikala, a small city of 60,000 persons situated only twenty miles from the mountaintop monasteries of Meteora, our main destination for the day.
Trikala, like Lamia, is an ancient city, with a history going back thousands of years. That history is most evident today in the ruins of an ancient fortress that rests on the city’s highest hill (the ruins of the fortress are closed off to the public by a series of formidable stone walls; apparently the ruins are dangerous).
Trikala, too, has the requisite archeological museum (which we did not attempt to visit). Otherwise, the city is very much a modern city, filled with hotels and restaurants (it is the nearest city of size to Meteora, and serves as a way-station for tourists visiting the Meteora monasteries).
We spent two hours in Trikala, walking around the center of town, examining the exteriors of a few churches, and finding a place for lunch.
The most notable building in Trikala is a 16th-Century mosque, which is supposed to be the most important mosque ever constructed in Greece.
The mosque was long ago de-consecrated and is now owned by the city of Trikala, which maintains the centuries-old structure to a high standard. The mosque now serves as a community center/arts center.
Turks occupied this particular area of Greece, on and off, for hundreds of years. Even after Greece had achieved independence, The Ottoman Empire invaded the area around Trikala very late in the 19th Century and occupied the city for almost a decade. Evidence of Ottoman occupation is visible in the architecture of the city’s residential properties.
There was one additional building in Trikala of interest to my family, and we made a special point of locating it.
This commercial property in Trikala’s central commercial district was owned by my older brother from 2001 until 2007, when he sold it to a London consortium that in turn sold it to an Eastern European property management firm.
Given what has happened in Greece since 2007, my brother is very pleased that he disposed of the property when he did.
All of us found greatly ironic the fact that my mother, my father, my middle brother and I have now seen the building in person. The only member of my immediate family that has NOT seen the building is my older brother, the building’s former owner.
Trikala, like Lamia, is an ancient city, with a history going back thousands of years. That history is most evident today in the ruins of an ancient fortress that rests on the city’s highest hill (the ruins of the fortress are closed off to the public by a series of formidable stone walls; apparently the ruins are dangerous).
Trikala, too, has the requisite archeological museum (which we did not attempt to visit). Otherwise, the city is very much a modern city, filled with hotels and restaurants (it is the nearest city of size to Meteora, and serves as a way-station for tourists visiting the Meteora monasteries).
We spent two hours in Trikala, walking around the center of town, examining the exteriors of a few churches, and finding a place for lunch.
The most notable building in Trikala is a 16th-Century mosque, which is supposed to be the most important mosque ever constructed in Greece.
The mosque was long ago de-consecrated and is now owned by the city of Trikala, which maintains the centuries-old structure to a high standard. The mosque now serves as a community center/arts center.
Turks occupied this particular area of Greece, on and off, for hundreds of years. Even after Greece had achieved independence, The Ottoman Empire invaded the area around Trikala very late in the 19th Century and occupied the city for almost a decade. Evidence of Ottoman occupation is visible in the architecture of the city’s residential properties.
There was one additional building in Trikala of interest to my family, and we made a special point of locating it.
This commercial property in Trikala’s central commercial district was owned by my older brother from 2001 until 2007, when he sold it to a London consortium that in turn sold it to an Eastern European property management firm.
Given what has happened in Greece since 2007, my brother is very pleased that he disposed of the property when he did.
All of us found greatly ironic the fact that my mother, my father, my middle brother and I have now seen the building in person. The only member of my immediate family that has NOT seen the building is my older brother, the building’s former owner.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
En Route To Meteora
Early on the morning of March 17, en route to Meteora, we stopped in Lamia, a town of 60,000 persons in Central Greece. The origins of Lamia date back 2500 years.
We spent an hour exploring the center of town, which was mostly unremarkable but very pleasant.
Lamia has four town squares, around one of which is the town’s Cathedral.
Lamia is home to an important archeological museum, but we did not attempt to locate or visit the museum.
On a hilltop at the edge of town is a fortress dating back to the Frankish occupation of Greece. The Frankish fortress was built atop the ruins of an ancient citadel constructed by the Spartans, who once ruled Lamia.
We did not attempt to visit the fortress.
Several important ancient military battles occurred in and around Lamia, making the area a vital destination for historians of ancient Greece.
We spent an hour exploring the center of town, which was mostly unremarkable but very pleasant.
Lamia has four town squares, around one of which is the town’s Cathedral.
Lamia is home to an important archeological museum, but we did not attempt to locate or visit the museum.
On a hilltop at the edge of town is a fortress dating back to the Frankish occupation of Greece. The Frankish fortress was built atop the ruins of an ancient citadel constructed by the Spartans, who once ruled Lamia.
We did not attempt to visit the fortress.
Several important ancient military battles occurred in and around Lamia, making the area a vital destination for historians of ancient Greece.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Delphi
We spent the afternoon of March 16 in Delphi, where we took a guided tour of the excavations.
Delphi flowered most brilliantly in the 6th Century B.C., when its civilization—and influence—peaked.
Located at the base of Mount Parnassus, Delphi is situated both upon the lower portion of the mountain as well as in a large and beautiful valley surrounded by mountains of the Parnassus Range. The topography of Delphi is inherently much more beautiful and much more dramatic than the topography of Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Olympia.
However, there are only so many ruins (“piles of rocks”, in the terminology my brother had adopted by the third day of our tour) that one may explore before fatigue sets in—and we were already suffering ruins fatigue by the time we reached Delphi.
“I think we should have gone to Paris” was a refrain one or the other of us had been muttering since the previous afternoon, and this sentiment reached a near-boiling point shortly after we began our guided tour of Delphi, when “I think we should have gone to Paris” became a veritable nonstop chant on our part.
We were, simply put, visiting too many ancient ruined cities in too short a time—we had by this point already visited the ruins of Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Olympia—and we were no longer enjoying it.
We were duly escorted through the extensive excavations at Delphi, and we genuinely tried to pay attention to the guide’s chatter while demonstrating a modicum of enthusiasm. This became more difficult when Joshua announced, “I think I’m going to take up smoking”—and my brother responded, “And I think I’m going to take up drinking.”
I believe we successfully maintained the illusion that we were paying attention to the guide, but I doubt that more than twenty per cent of his words registered with us after half an hour. The guided tour lasted almost two hours—and, for us, it seemed an eternity.
Delphi is, perhaps, most famous for its Temple Of Apollo.
Other prominent remnants at Delphi include the Treasury Of The Athenians
And the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.
Delphi, like Olympia, also sported a stadium, a gymnasium, a theater and a palestra. It also featured a series of extensive and massive stone walls that carried religious and political significance and at which votive offerings were made.
I wish Delphi were an hour’s drive from Boston. If so, Josh and I would be happy to return any Saturday to enjoy a day’s explorations. However, given that our appetite for ancient Greek ruins had become satiated prior to the afternoon of March 16, our enjoyment of Delphi was, regrettably, limited.
At the conclusion of our escorted tour of the ruins, we visited Delphi’s archeological museum. Delphi’s archeological museum was very much like Olympia’s archeological museum, which we had visited the previous afternoon.
No doubt the museum is of vast importance, but we were not captivated by the artifacts on display—and wished we had been visiting the Louvre, which has a far finer collection of antiquities from Greece than those on display in Delphi.
After walking through Delphi’s archeological museum, we located and checked into our hotel, which was very close to the excavations site.
Our hotel was situated at the base of one of the mountains and afforded a view of the entire valley—and our rooms offered views of the valley all the way to the port city of Itea and the Corinthian Gulf.
The views were remarkable.
We were almost too crabby to enjoy them.
But not quite.
Delphi flowered most brilliantly in the 6th Century B.C., when its civilization—and influence—peaked.
Located at the base of Mount Parnassus, Delphi is situated both upon the lower portion of the mountain as well as in a large and beautiful valley surrounded by mountains of the Parnassus Range. The topography of Delphi is inherently much more beautiful and much more dramatic than the topography of Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Olympia.
However, there are only so many ruins (“piles of rocks”, in the terminology my brother had adopted by the third day of our tour) that one may explore before fatigue sets in—and we were already suffering ruins fatigue by the time we reached Delphi.
“I think we should have gone to Paris” was a refrain one or the other of us had been muttering since the previous afternoon, and this sentiment reached a near-boiling point shortly after we began our guided tour of Delphi, when “I think we should have gone to Paris” became a veritable nonstop chant on our part.
We were, simply put, visiting too many ancient ruined cities in too short a time—we had by this point already visited the ruins of Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Olympia—and we were no longer enjoying it.
We were duly escorted through the extensive excavations at Delphi, and we genuinely tried to pay attention to the guide’s chatter while demonstrating a modicum of enthusiasm. This became more difficult when Joshua announced, “I think I’m going to take up smoking”—and my brother responded, “And I think I’m going to take up drinking.”
I believe we successfully maintained the illusion that we were paying attention to the guide, but I doubt that more than twenty per cent of his words registered with us after half an hour. The guided tour lasted almost two hours—and, for us, it seemed an eternity.
Delphi is, perhaps, most famous for its Temple Of Apollo.
Other prominent remnants at Delphi include the Treasury Of The Athenians
And the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.
Delphi, like Olympia, also sported a stadium, a gymnasium, a theater and a palestra. It also featured a series of extensive and massive stone walls that carried religious and political significance and at which votive offerings were made.
I wish Delphi were an hour’s drive from Boston. If so, Josh and I would be happy to return any Saturday to enjoy a day’s explorations. However, given that our appetite for ancient Greek ruins had become satiated prior to the afternoon of March 16, our enjoyment of Delphi was, regrettably, limited.
At the conclusion of our escorted tour of the ruins, we visited Delphi’s archeological museum. Delphi’s archeological museum was very much like Olympia’s archeological museum, which we had visited the previous afternoon.
No doubt the museum is of vast importance, but we were not captivated by the artifacts on display—and wished we had been visiting the Louvre, which has a far finer collection of antiquities from Greece than those on display in Delphi.
After walking through Delphi’s archeological museum, we located and checked into our hotel, which was very close to the excavations site.
Our hotel was situated at the base of one of the mountains and afforded a view of the entire valley—and our rooms offered views of the valley all the way to the port city of Itea and the Corinthian Gulf.
The views were remarkable.
We were almost too crabby to enjoy them.
But not quite.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Patras
We spent the morning of March 16, our last morning in The Peloponnese, in the port city of Patras.
Patras is one of Greece’s main ports. Indeed, almost all trade with Italy, Greece’s primary trading partner, originates in and out of Patras.
Patras has been settled since The Mycenaean Period. The city has been occupied over the centuries by many different civilizations, foreign and Greek, and the centuries of foreign influence have graced Patras with a cosmopolitan air. Modern Patras is part Byzantine, part European (Italian and French are the leading influences), part Ottoman and part Greek.
The Patras of today has a population of approximately 200,000 persons.
Patras was a pleasant surprise for us. We were expecting nothing from Patras, as Patras is off the standard tourist route, but we found the city to be a delightful place for a morning’s exploration.
Perhaps the most important building in Patras is the city’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Agios Andreas, a 20th-Century structure in the Greek Byzantine style that is the largest house of worship in Greece. The Agios Andreas houses numerous relics of The Apostle Andrew.
We very much enjoyed exploring Patras’s seaport and strolling the streets of the city center. In fact, we enjoyed Patras more than our visit to ancient Olympia the previous afternoon.
We left Patras via the new Rio-Antirio Bridge, which connects The Peloponnese with Greece’s mainland.
Our crossing of Rio-Antirio marked the end of our three days in The Peloponnese.
Patras is one of Greece’s main ports. Indeed, almost all trade with Italy, Greece’s primary trading partner, originates in and out of Patras.
Patras has been settled since The Mycenaean Period. The city has been occupied over the centuries by many different civilizations, foreign and Greek, and the centuries of foreign influence have graced Patras with a cosmopolitan air. Modern Patras is part Byzantine, part European (Italian and French are the leading influences), part Ottoman and part Greek.
The Patras of today has a population of approximately 200,000 persons.
Patras was a pleasant surprise for us. We were expecting nothing from Patras, as Patras is off the standard tourist route, but we found the city to be a delightful place for a morning’s exploration.
Perhaps the most important building in Patras is the city’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Agios Andreas, a 20th-Century structure in the Greek Byzantine style that is the largest house of worship in Greece. The Agios Andreas houses numerous relics of The Apostle Andrew.
We very much enjoyed exploring Patras’s seaport and strolling the streets of the city center. In fact, we enjoyed Patras more than our visit to ancient Olympia the previous afternoon.
We left Patras via the new Rio-Antirio Bridge, which connects The Peloponnese with Greece’s mainland.
Our crossing of Rio-Antirio marked the end of our three days in The Peloponnese.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Olympia
On the afternoon of March 15, we toured the ancient site of Olympia.
Olympia was the site of the original Olympic Games, which may have been initiated as early as 776 B.C. Games continued to be held at Olympia, at four-year intervals, until the Fourth Century A.D., when Theodosius, a devout Christian, discontinued the Games. Theodosius banned the games on several grounds: the Games were deemed to be pagan rituals, no longer in keeping with standards of an advanced civilization; the games had become unduly violent; and the games were accompanied by rampant licentiousness.
Modern-day excavations of the ancient site were undertaken in 1875 and continue to the present day. One of the first archeologists to participate in the excavations at Olympia was Adolf Furtwangler, father of the great conductor.
We took a guided tour of the site, which included a visit to all the principal ruins: the Hippodrome, the Olympic Stadium, the Gymnasium, the Palestra, The Temple Of Hera, The Temple Of Zeus and various other important historic remnants. Olympia’s structures were erected over ten centuries, beginning in The Archaic Period and proceeding through The Classical and Hellenistic Periods onto The Roman Period, in the later stages of which Olympia lost its mythic status and fell into decay and ruin.
The Temple Of Hera (Hera was the wife of Zeus) is the oldest of the ruins at Olympia—and one of the oldest Doric temples in Greece. Erected circa 590 B.C., The Temple Of Hera was destroyed by earthquake in the Fourth Century A.D.
The Temple Of Hera serves a modern-day function: it is the site where the Olympic flame is lighted every four years and sent by runners bearing torches to the appointed venue.
The Temple Of Zeus was completed circa 456 B.C. and, like The Temple Of Hera, was built in the Doric style. Placed in the very center of the site, The Temple of Zeus was the largest and most elaborate temple of Olympia.
Very little evidence of the temple remains today.
Very little of anything remains at Olympia. The ancient site has been victimized by so many natural and man-made disasters over the centuries—earthquakes, fires, invasions, acts of deliberate destruction—that the Olympia of today is little more than a pile of unearthed ancient rocks.
Even the remnants of the Olympic Stadium are little more than a few unremarkable grass-covered slopes.
Our guide escorted us through the many pathways lined with stones, telling us what each pile of stones formerly represented.
Devoted Olympics fans may find a visit to Olympia to be essential, but we were not among that number. As we maintain scant interest in Olympic Games, ancient or modern, we did not find Olympia to be especially rewarding or even particularly interesting. We were happiest when our walk through the endless piles of stones had concluded.
From the ancient site, we proceeded to the nearby Archeological Museum Of Olympia, where we spent two happy hours viewing artifacts that had been unearthed during the many excavations of Olympia.
The Archeological Museum is not large—there are only twelve exhibition rooms—and we were able to visit the entire permanent collection. We found our visit to the museum to be more worthwhile than our visit to the ancient site itself.
We spent the night in the modern town of Olympia, situated down the hill from the ancient site. The town of Olympia is not large and did not appear to possess interesting features. We did not even bother to stroll the town’s streets. Instead, Josh and my brother and I swam in the hotel pool for an hour, after which we joined my parents for dinner in the hotel dining room.
Olympia was the site of the original Olympic Games, which may have been initiated as early as 776 B.C. Games continued to be held at Olympia, at four-year intervals, until the Fourth Century A.D., when Theodosius, a devout Christian, discontinued the Games. Theodosius banned the games on several grounds: the Games were deemed to be pagan rituals, no longer in keeping with standards of an advanced civilization; the games had become unduly violent; and the games were accompanied by rampant licentiousness.
Modern-day excavations of the ancient site were undertaken in 1875 and continue to the present day. One of the first archeologists to participate in the excavations at Olympia was Adolf Furtwangler, father of the great conductor.
We took a guided tour of the site, which included a visit to all the principal ruins: the Hippodrome, the Olympic Stadium, the Gymnasium, the Palestra, The Temple Of Hera, The Temple Of Zeus and various other important historic remnants. Olympia’s structures were erected over ten centuries, beginning in The Archaic Period and proceeding through The Classical and Hellenistic Periods onto The Roman Period, in the later stages of which Olympia lost its mythic status and fell into decay and ruin.
The Temple Of Hera (Hera was the wife of Zeus) is the oldest of the ruins at Olympia—and one of the oldest Doric temples in Greece. Erected circa 590 B.C., The Temple Of Hera was destroyed by earthquake in the Fourth Century A.D.
The Temple Of Hera serves a modern-day function: it is the site where the Olympic flame is lighted every four years and sent by runners bearing torches to the appointed venue.
The Temple Of Zeus was completed circa 456 B.C. and, like The Temple Of Hera, was built in the Doric style. Placed in the very center of the site, The Temple of Zeus was the largest and most elaborate temple of Olympia.
Very little evidence of the temple remains today.
Very little of anything remains at Olympia. The ancient site has been victimized by so many natural and man-made disasters over the centuries—earthquakes, fires, invasions, acts of deliberate destruction—that the Olympia of today is little more than a pile of unearthed ancient rocks.
Even the remnants of the Olympic Stadium are little more than a few unremarkable grass-covered slopes.
Our guide escorted us through the many pathways lined with stones, telling us what each pile of stones formerly represented.
Devoted Olympics fans may find a visit to Olympia to be essential, but we were not among that number. As we maintain scant interest in Olympic Games, ancient or modern, we did not find Olympia to be especially rewarding or even particularly interesting. We were happiest when our walk through the endless piles of stones had concluded.
From the ancient site, we proceeded to the nearby Archeological Museum Of Olympia, where we spent two happy hours viewing artifacts that had been unearthed during the many excavations of Olympia.
The Archeological Museum is not large—there are only twelve exhibition rooms—and we were able to visit the entire permanent collection. We found our visit to the museum to be more worthwhile than our visit to the ancient site itself.
We spent the night in the modern town of Olympia, situated down the hill from the ancient site. The town of Olympia is not large and did not appear to possess interesting features. We did not even bother to stroll the town’s streets. Instead, Josh and my brother and I swam in the hotel pool for an hour, after which we joined my parents for dinner in the hotel dining room.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Arkadian Mountains
On the morning of March 15, we drove through The Arkadian Mountains as we made our way from Nauplia to Olympia.
In the heart of The Peloponnese, The Arkadian Mountains provide the most beautiful interior landscapes to be found in Greece. Mountains, high peaks, forests and flourishing vegetation conjoin with ancient towns and villages settled upon hilltops and nestled in valleys, allowing visitors to experience Greece much as it was two and three thousand years ago. The region has been virtually unchanged since Antiquity.
The Arkadians are believed to be the oldest inhabitants of The Peloponnese. Arkadian civilization prospered until the region was subjugated by Rome in 146 B.C., after which Arkadia fell into decline, a decline from which the region has never recovered.
In the heart of The Peloponnese, The Arkadian Mountains provide the most beautiful interior landscapes to be found in Greece. Mountains, high peaks, forests and flourishing vegetation conjoin with ancient towns and villages settled upon hilltops and nestled in valleys, allowing visitors to experience Greece much as it was two and three thousand years ago. The region has been virtually unchanged since Antiquity.
The Arkadians are believed to be the oldest inhabitants of The Peloponnese. Arkadian civilization prospered until the region was subjugated by Rome in 146 B.C., after which Arkadia fell into decline, a decline from which the region has never recovered.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Nauplia
March 14, a day that began for us in Athens and continued with stops in Corinth, Mycenae and Epidaurus, ended in Nauplia. It was the busiest of our days in Greece.
Nauplia is a seaport town, known for fishing and shipping. With several splendid beaches, Nauplia is also a resort town, known for tourism, the town’s leading industry in recent years.
The town occupies a peninsula situated on the Argolic Gulf. Nauplia was occupied, for centuries, by Venetians and Ottomans. The Venetians and Ottomans fought over the port city for almost 400 years, passing the town back and forth between them until the collapse of The Venetian Empire. (France also controlled Nauplia from 1212 until 1388, using the port city as a way station during The French Crusades).
Centuries of Venetian and Ottoman rule are reflected in the town’s architecture, a mixture of Byzantine and Italian influences.
Nauplia, from 1829 until 1834, served as the first capital of independent Greece.
Towering over the town is an ancient fortress that protected the port city and guarded its waterways until modern times. The fortress, reputed to be one of the most fascinating on the European continent, now serves purely as a tourist attraction.
We did not attempt to visit the fortress.
We spent ninety minutes walking around the center of Nauplia, exploring the narrow streets, until we returned to our hotel to have dinner.
Nauplia struck us, most of all, as an Italian outpost set amongst Greek towns and villages.
Nauplia has charm to spare. Its charm probably accounts for the fact that the town is a popular vacation spot for Germans and Scandinavians (although we did not encounter any Northern Europeans during our stay) as well as a favored weekend destination for wealthy Athenians.
Nauplia is a seaport town, known for fishing and shipping. With several splendid beaches, Nauplia is also a resort town, known for tourism, the town’s leading industry in recent years.
The town occupies a peninsula situated on the Argolic Gulf. Nauplia was occupied, for centuries, by Venetians and Ottomans. The Venetians and Ottomans fought over the port city for almost 400 years, passing the town back and forth between them until the collapse of The Venetian Empire. (France also controlled Nauplia from 1212 until 1388, using the port city as a way station during The French Crusades).
Centuries of Venetian and Ottoman rule are reflected in the town’s architecture, a mixture of Byzantine and Italian influences.
Nauplia, from 1829 until 1834, served as the first capital of independent Greece.
Towering over the town is an ancient fortress that protected the port city and guarded its waterways until modern times. The fortress, reputed to be one of the most fascinating on the European continent, now serves purely as a tourist attraction.
We did not attempt to visit the fortress.
We spent ninety minutes walking around the center of Nauplia, exploring the narrow streets, until we returned to our hotel to have dinner.
Nauplia struck us, most of all, as an Italian outpost set amongst Greek towns and villages.
Nauplia has charm to spare. Its charm probably accounts for the fact that the town is a popular vacation spot for Germans and Scandinavians (although we did not encounter any Northern Europeans during our stay) as well as a favored weekend destination for wealthy Athenians.
Friday, May 07, 2010
The Theater At Epidaurus II
The magnificent Theater At Epidaurus, the most beautiful and most perfect of Greek theaters, was planned and constructed in the last quarter of the Fourth Century B.C.
Splendidly and harmonically placed within its landscape, The Theater At Epidaurus is the world’s leading Classical amphitheater exemplar as well as the best-preserved Classical structure in Greece.
Designed by sculptor and architect Polyclitus The Younger (an attribution that has not gone unchallenged in modern times), the circular theater—hollowed out of the side of a hill—had 34 rows of seats when new. During The Roman Era, another 21 rows of seats were added, resulting in a theater that could accommodate almost 14,000 spectators. The uppermost rows on opposite sides of the seating circle are 350 feet across.
The theater is famed for more than its extravagant beauty and timeless proportions—the acoustics are miraculous. A whisper emitted from center stage may be heard throughout the entire seating area.
The special acoustical properties are the result of the limestone used for the seating. The limestone serves as filter for low frequencies while highlighting and reflecting high frequencies. Further, ridges and grooves on the limestone surfaces act as natural sound traps. The result is that audience murmur is minimized while speech from the stage is magnified and clarified. It is unknown whether the Greeks understood the scientific bases for the remarkable acoustical properties of their outdoor theaters.
The Theater At Epidaurus was in continuous use for almost 800 years. It was during the reign of Roman Emperor Theodosius, in the Fifth Century A.D., that use of The Theater At Epidaurus was discontinued.
Over succeeding centuries, the theater became covered with silt. The remains of the great structure were completely hidden from view until modern-day excavations were begun in 1881. It was not until 1963 that excavations were complete, and the theater could once again be used for performance.
Splendidly and harmonically placed within its landscape, The Theater At Epidaurus is the world’s leading Classical amphitheater exemplar as well as the best-preserved Classical structure in Greece.
Designed by sculptor and architect Polyclitus The Younger (an attribution that has not gone unchallenged in modern times), the circular theater—hollowed out of the side of a hill—had 34 rows of seats when new. During The Roman Era, another 21 rows of seats were added, resulting in a theater that could accommodate almost 14,000 spectators. The uppermost rows on opposite sides of the seating circle are 350 feet across.
The theater is famed for more than its extravagant beauty and timeless proportions—the acoustics are miraculous. A whisper emitted from center stage may be heard throughout the entire seating area.
The special acoustical properties are the result of the limestone used for the seating. The limestone serves as filter for low frequencies while highlighting and reflecting high frequencies. Further, ridges and grooves on the limestone surfaces act as natural sound traps. The result is that audience murmur is minimized while speech from the stage is magnified and clarified. It is unknown whether the Greeks understood the scientific bases for the remarkable acoustical properties of their outdoor theaters.
The Theater At Epidaurus was in continuous use for almost 800 years. It was during the reign of Roman Emperor Theodosius, in the Fifth Century A.D., that use of The Theater At Epidaurus was discontinued.
Over succeeding centuries, the theater became covered with silt. The remains of the great structure were completely hidden from view until modern-day excavations were begun in 1881. It was not until 1963 that excavations were complete, and the theater could once again be used for performance.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
The Theater At Epidaurus
A bird's-eye view of the amazing Theater at Epidaurus, which we visited on March 14 and about which I plan to write soon.
Friday, April 23, 2010
"I Have Gazed Upon The Face Of Agamemnon"
On March 14, a very busy day for us, we visited Mycenae after our visit to Corinth.
Mycenae was the capital city of the powerful ruling dynasty that governed most of the Eastern Mediterranean for 500 years during The Late Bronze Age. Indeed, Mycenae was so influential from 1600 B.C. to 1100 B.C. that those five centuries are often referred to as The Mycenaean Period.
Unique for the age, the royal city of Mycenae was situated neither upon water nor upon a well-traveled trade route. Instead, the city was erected amidst rugged terrain in the mountainous interior of The Peloponnese. It is believed that the city was intentionally founded upon a site ideal for defense against foreign invasion.
Most of the ruins to be seen in Mycenae today are remnants of structures built between 1350 B.C. and 1200 B.C., the peak years of Mycenaean civilization.
One enters the city proper (The Citadel) through the Lion’s Gate, erected circa 1250 B.C.
The Lion’s Gate is reached only after an arduous climb up a steep, rocky, winding road built during The Late Bronze Age. The road was constructed so as to make attempted invasions of the royal city exceedingly difficult.
While city walls and foundations of the royal palace are still visible, the most important Mycenae monuments visible today are grave circles (funerary enclosures used for the burials of non-notables) and royal tombs (the monumental graves of Mycenae’s rulers and aristocrats).
The photograph below shows one of Mycenae’s two large grave circles.
It is unknown how many persons were buried in each of the grave circles. While the remains of dozens of persons have been uncovered in both grave circles, it is likely that the grave circles represented a symbolic place to pay tribute to the dead rather than a final resting place (the common practice in Mycenaean civilization was to incinerate, not to bury, the dead).
Important personages were not buried in grave circles. Important personages were, instead, granted individual burial monuments.
Mycenae buried its nobles in beehive tombs (large, circular burial chambers with high vaulted roofs). The tombs featured solemn, even dramatic, entranceways lined with stone.
The tombs, vandalized only a few generations after they were first erected, were richly adorned when new. The dead, laid to rest in sitting positions, were buried with gold masks, tiaras, jeweled armor and weapons, and other luxuries befitting their exalted statuses.
The largest and most famous tomb of Mycenae is today known as The Treasury Of Atreus. Historians speculate that it may have served as the tomb of Agamemnon, although there is no direct evidence to support such a claim.
The photograph below shows the entrance to The Treasury Of Atreus.
The photograph below shows the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus, illuminated with its single source of natural light.
By 1100 B.C., Mycenae was abandoned, a victim of earthquakes, fires and waves of destruction by foreign invaders. The abandonment of the city was coincident with the sudden collapse of Mycenaean civilization, a collapse that attended the end of The Late Bronze Age.
The swift demise of Mycenaean civilization resulted in a great and lasting Dark Age for the entire Eastern Mediterranean, a Dark Age whose long-term effects vastly exceeded the effects of the Dark Age that was to follow the collapse of The Roman Empire sixteen centuries later.
Trade and commerce came to a halt. Literacy disappeared (as did entire languages). Ruinous declines in population occurred. Flourishing city-states with sophisticated political structures ceased to exist almost overnight, replaced by scattered and thinly-populated villages that lacked significant contact with the outside world. Mycenaean culture, known for art and architecture, advanced naval vessels and land weaponry, and high-technology coinage and communication and record-keeping systems, was wiped from the face of the earth in a near-instant.
Greece was not to begin to recover from this particular Dark Age for 400 years.
The highly-developed civilizations of Anatolia in present-day Turkey were to take even longer to rebound, not to emerge from this Dark Age for over 1000 years.
Addendum Of 14 August 2010: The photograph of the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus, which I found on a Greek travel website and which may be viewed elsewhere on the worldwide web, was taken in 2009 by Mr. Richard Buck of Oxford, United Kingdom. Mr. Buck’s photograph is by far the finest photograph I have encountered of the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus. The original photograph may be viewed, in ultra-high resolution, on Mr. Buck’s Flickr page, which may be found [link disabled, pursuant to Blogger request, on 8 September 2010] .
Addendum Of 28 August 2010: The very same photograph of the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus also appears in a 2003 disc of photographs distributed by the U.S. arm of The Tourist Authority Of Greece and mailed to prospective U.S. travelers in response to requests for information about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The photograph was clearly taken by a professional photographer during a period in which the historic attraction was closed to the public—there are no tourists milling about, inside or out, and no tourist shadows, and no modern torches illuminating the interior of the dark cavern, all of which are in conspicuous evidence during visitor hours. In the booklet accompanying the 2003 photo disc, the photographs contained on the disc are credited to: S. Adrianou, G. Efstathiou, D. Karvelas, A. Michelis, B. Ostroff and C. Thiamis.
Addendum Of 8 September 2010:
Email Message from support@blogger.com to Drew80MN@aol.com on 7 September 2010 at 7:31 p.m.:
Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to "draft" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again.
A bit of background: the DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. If you believe you have the rights to post the content at issue here, you can file a counter-claim. For more information on our DMCA policy, including how to file a counter-claim, please see http://www.google.com/dmca.html.
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Sincerely,
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Affected URLs:
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Mycenae was the capital city of the powerful ruling dynasty that governed most of the Eastern Mediterranean for 500 years during The Late Bronze Age. Indeed, Mycenae was so influential from 1600 B.C. to 1100 B.C. that those five centuries are often referred to as The Mycenaean Period.
Unique for the age, the royal city of Mycenae was situated neither upon water nor upon a well-traveled trade route. Instead, the city was erected amidst rugged terrain in the mountainous interior of The Peloponnese. It is believed that the city was intentionally founded upon a site ideal for defense against foreign invasion.
Most of the ruins to be seen in Mycenae today are remnants of structures built between 1350 B.C. and 1200 B.C., the peak years of Mycenaean civilization.
One enters the city proper (The Citadel) through the Lion’s Gate, erected circa 1250 B.C.
The Lion’s Gate is reached only after an arduous climb up a steep, rocky, winding road built during The Late Bronze Age. The road was constructed so as to make attempted invasions of the royal city exceedingly difficult.
While city walls and foundations of the royal palace are still visible, the most important Mycenae monuments visible today are grave circles (funerary enclosures used for the burials of non-notables) and royal tombs (the monumental graves of Mycenae’s rulers and aristocrats).
The photograph below shows one of Mycenae’s two large grave circles.
It is unknown how many persons were buried in each of the grave circles. While the remains of dozens of persons have been uncovered in both grave circles, it is likely that the grave circles represented a symbolic place to pay tribute to the dead rather than a final resting place (the common practice in Mycenaean civilization was to incinerate, not to bury, the dead).
Important personages were not buried in grave circles. Important personages were, instead, granted individual burial monuments.
Mycenae buried its nobles in beehive tombs (large, circular burial chambers with high vaulted roofs). The tombs featured solemn, even dramatic, entranceways lined with stone.
The tombs, vandalized only a few generations after they were first erected, were richly adorned when new. The dead, laid to rest in sitting positions, were buried with gold masks, tiaras, jeweled armor and weapons, and other luxuries befitting their exalted statuses.
The largest and most famous tomb of Mycenae is today known as The Treasury Of Atreus. Historians speculate that it may have served as the tomb of Agamemnon, although there is no direct evidence to support such a claim.
The photograph below shows the entrance to The Treasury Of Atreus.
The photograph below shows the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus, illuminated with its single source of natural light.
By 1100 B.C., Mycenae was abandoned, a victim of earthquakes, fires and waves of destruction by foreign invaders. The abandonment of the city was coincident with the sudden collapse of Mycenaean civilization, a collapse that attended the end of The Late Bronze Age.
The swift demise of Mycenaean civilization resulted in a great and lasting Dark Age for the entire Eastern Mediterranean, a Dark Age whose long-term effects vastly exceeded the effects of the Dark Age that was to follow the collapse of The Roman Empire sixteen centuries later.
Trade and commerce came to a halt. Literacy disappeared (as did entire languages). Ruinous declines in population occurred. Flourishing city-states with sophisticated political structures ceased to exist almost overnight, replaced by scattered and thinly-populated villages that lacked significant contact with the outside world. Mycenaean culture, known for art and architecture, advanced naval vessels and land weaponry, and high-technology coinage and communication and record-keeping systems, was wiped from the face of the earth in a near-instant.
Greece was not to begin to recover from this particular Dark Age for 400 years.
The highly-developed civilizations of Anatolia in present-day Turkey were to take even longer to rebound, not to emerge from this Dark Age for over 1000 years.
Addendum Of 14 August 2010: The photograph of the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus, which I found on a Greek travel website and which may be viewed elsewhere on the worldwide web, was taken in 2009 by Mr. Richard Buck of Oxford, United Kingdom. Mr. Buck’s photograph is by far the finest photograph I have encountered of the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus. The original photograph may be viewed, in ultra-high resolution, on Mr. Buck’s Flickr page, which may be found [link disabled, pursuant to Blogger request, on 8 September 2010] .
Addendum Of 28 August 2010: The very same photograph of the interior of The Treasury Of Atreus also appears in a 2003 disc of photographs distributed by the U.S. arm of The Tourist Authority Of Greece and mailed to prospective U.S. travelers in response to requests for information about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The photograph was clearly taken by a professional photographer during a period in which the historic attraction was closed to the public—there are no tourists milling about, inside or out, and no tourist shadows, and no modern torches illuminating the interior of the dark cavern, all of which are in conspicuous evidence during visitor hours. In the booklet accompanying the 2003 photo disc, the photographs contained on the disc are credited to: S. Adrianou, G. Efstathiou, D. Karvelas, A. Michelis, B. Ostroff and C. Thiamis.
Addendum Of 8 September 2010:
Email Message from support@blogger.com to Drew80MN@aol.com on 7 September 2010 at 7:31 p.m.:
Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to "draft" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again.
A bit of background: the DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. If you believe you have the rights to post the content at issue here, you can file a counter-claim. For more information on our DMCA policy, including how to file a counter-claim, please see http://www.google.com/dmca.html.
The notice that we received, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Chilling Effects at http://www.chillingeffects.org. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can search for the DMCA notice associated with the removal of your content by going to the Chilling Effects search page at http://www.chillingeffects.org/search.cgi, and entering in the URL of the blog post that was removed. If it is brought to our attention that you have republished the post without removing the content/link in question, then we will delete your post and count it as a violation on your account. Repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account including deleting your blog and/or terminating your account. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel.
Sincerely,
The Blogger Team
Affected URLs:
http://andrewvanz.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-have-gazed-upon-face-of-agamemnon.html
Friday, April 16, 2010
On Ancient Athens
In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all: security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Corinth
On March 14, we visited the excavations at Corinth.
Corinth has a long and distinguished history.
Corinth was Greece’s largest and wealthiest city before The Roman Era—it is estimated that Corinth had at least 800,000 inhabitants, five times the population of Athens, before the Romans destroyed the city in 146 B.C.—and was for centuries the political and economic capital of The Peloponnese.
In 44 B.C., 102 years after the city’s destruction, Julius Caesar decided to reestablish Corinth, planning a Roman city atop the Greek ruins. Within fifty years, Corinth was once again the primary city of The Peloponnese, with a population exceeding 100,000 persons.
The Greek Temple Of Apollo is the only structure from pre-Roman times that continues to stand in Corinth. Corinth’s Temple of Apollo was erected in 580 B.C., approximately 100 years before similar Greek structures, making it one of the oldest temples to be seen in Greece. Seven of the original 38 pillars remain standing.
All other Corinth structures uncovered after more than a century of excavations date from The Roman Era.
The square in the photograph below, with a Roman fountain in its center, lies in the very center of Roman-Era Corinth.
The Apostle Paul surely walked this very square almost two thousand years ago.
Corinth has a long and distinguished history.
Corinth was Greece’s largest and wealthiest city before The Roman Era—it is estimated that Corinth had at least 800,000 inhabitants, five times the population of Athens, before the Romans destroyed the city in 146 B.C.—and was for centuries the political and economic capital of The Peloponnese.
In 44 B.C., 102 years after the city’s destruction, Julius Caesar decided to reestablish Corinth, planning a Roman city atop the Greek ruins. Within fifty years, Corinth was once again the primary city of The Peloponnese, with a population exceeding 100,000 persons.
The Greek Temple Of Apollo is the only structure from pre-Roman times that continues to stand in Corinth. Corinth’s Temple of Apollo was erected in 580 B.C., approximately 100 years before similar Greek structures, making it one of the oldest temples to be seen in Greece. Seven of the original 38 pillars remain standing.
All other Corinth structures uncovered after more than a century of excavations date from The Roman Era.
The square in the photograph below, with a Roman fountain in its center, lies in the very center of Roman-Era Corinth.
The Apostle Paul surely walked this very square almost two thousand years ago.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
". . . Which Have Not Entered The Heart Of Man"
Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man: all that God has prepared for those who love him.
The Apostle Paul
First Epistle To The Corinthians
________________________________________________
While we were in Corinth, it was, of course, impossible not to think of The Apostle Paul, who for eighteen months in 50-52 A.D. lived and preached in Corinth.
We toured the excavations in Corinth, and walked the very streets Paul had walked almost two thousand years before.
It was one of the great moments of my life.
It is fitting, during these holy days, to remember our visit to Corinth.
The Apostle Paul
First Epistle To The Corinthians
________________________________________________
While we were in Corinth, it was, of course, impossible not to think of The Apostle Paul, who for eighteen months in 50-52 A.D. lived and preached in Corinth.
We toured the excavations in Corinth, and walked the very streets Paul had walked almost two thousand years before.
It was one of the great moments of my life.
It is fitting, during these holy days, to remember our visit to Corinth.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
The Corinth Canal
On March 14, we toured The Corinth Canal, the six-kilometer canal that connects The Gulf Of Corinth with The Aegean Sea.
The Corinth Canal cuts through The Isthmus Of Corinth, which connects the Greece mainland with The Peloponnesian Peninsula. The purpose of the Canal is to provide passage for ships through The Isthmus Of Corinth, thereby eliminating the need to sail 400 kilometers around The Peloponnese.
Plans for a canal through The Isthmus Of Corinth go back 2600 years. Numerous rulers from Greek and Roman antiquity—including Demetrius I, Julius Caesar and Nero—foresaw the need for such a canal. Preliminary work for the canal was conducted over several centuries and substantial excavations were undertaken in the 1st Century A.D., only to be abandoned in 68 A.D. shortly after Nero’s death.
The Corinth Canal came to fruition only in modern times. Plans were prepared in the 1870’s, construction began in 1881, and the Canal was completed in 1893. Today’s canal path is identical to that projected in Nero’s time.
Still in use, The Corinth Canal is too narrow (it is 21 meters wide) to accommodate modern freighters. The Canal is used today primarily by tourists ships. Almost 1000 ships traverse the Canal each month.
Numerous conventional and suspension bridges span the Canal. In addition, there are submersible bridges at each end that allow vehicular traffic to cross the Canal. The submersible bridges are lowered to the bottom of the Canal when ships enter and exit the passageway.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
. . . And Returns
Joshua and I returned from Greece on Sunday evening.
We enjoyed our trip very much—and so did my parents and so did my brother—and we were pleased that we had an opportunity to view so many of Greece’s most important and most historic attractions.
Nevertheless, our trip to Greece was not the vacation of our dreams. In fact, it may have been the most disappointing trip to Europe we have ever undertaken.
The miraculous theater at Epidaurus was the highlight of our journey. My mother wept when she saw the magnificent structure.
Our visit to Thermopylae was the low point.
The topography at Thermopylae has changed considerably since 480 B.C. The narrow valley in which Leonidas attempted to halt the massive Persian invasion of Greece no longer exists. Mountain ranges have crumbled, rivers have changed courses, and shorelines have altered over the last 2500 years. Today it is impossible to recreate in the mind’s eye the drama of 480 B.C because the present terrain is so drastically different from that extant during the seven days of the battle.
Modern multi-lane highways crisscross the Thermopylae of today. Giant concrete parking lots accommodate rows of tourist buses. Two cheesy modern monuments lend additional indignity to what should be a near-sacred site.
We were appalled.
In hindsight, it may have been a mistake for us to cram the highlights of Greece into eight days. However, in our defense, eight days were all that were available to us.
We enjoyed each other’s company, and we had a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful throughout our journey. We are, nonetheless, of no mind to return to Greece anytime soon.
Greece is a very poor country, practically primitive by American standards. The infrastructure from The Classical Era continues to rot, centuries after the nation should have implemented a serious plan to control its deterioration. The nation’s museums devoted to Greece’s cultural heritage are insufficiently maintained. The city of Athens is unattractive—unclean, disheveled, chaotic—and the country’s current efforts to preserve its cultural monuments appear to be driven largely by profit motive.
It was all very depressing.
________________________________________________
Joshua and I now enter our busiest time of year.
Spring break now over, Josh is back at the books and soon enters his exam period.
I was thrown several complicated and extensive projects at work first thing Monday morning.
I think our fun is behind us for now.
We enjoyed our trip very much—and so did my parents and so did my brother—and we were pleased that we had an opportunity to view so many of Greece’s most important and most historic attractions.
Nevertheless, our trip to Greece was not the vacation of our dreams. In fact, it may have been the most disappointing trip to Europe we have ever undertaken.
The miraculous theater at Epidaurus was the highlight of our journey. My mother wept when she saw the magnificent structure.
Our visit to Thermopylae was the low point.
The topography at Thermopylae has changed considerably since 480 B.C. The narrow valley in which Leonidas attempted to halt the massive Persian invasion of Greece no longer exists. Mountain ranges have crumbled, rivers have changed courses, and shorelines have altered over the last 2500 years. Today it is impossible to recreate in the mind’s eye the drama of 480 B.C because the present terrain is so drastically different from that extant during the seven days of the battle.
Modern multi-lane highways crisscross the Thermopylae of today. Giant concrete parking lots accommodate rows of tourist buses. Two cheesy modern monuments lend additional indignity to what should be a near-sacred site.
We were appalled.
In hindsight, it may have been a mistake for us to cram the highlights of Greece into eight days. However, in our defense, eight days were all that were available to us.
We enjoyed each other’s company, and we had a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful throughout our journey. We are, nonetheless, of no mind to return to Greece anytime soon.
Greece is a very poor country, practically primitive by American standards. The infrastructure from The Classical Era continues to rot, centuries after the nation should have implemented a serious plan to control its deterioration. The nation’s museums devoted to Greece’s cultural heritage are insufficiently maintained. The city of Athens is unattractive—unclean, disheveled, chaotic—and the country’s current efforts to preserve its cultural monuments appear to be driven largely by profit motive.
It was all very depressing.
________________________________________________
Joshua and I now enter our busiest time of year.
Spring break now over, Josh is back at the books and soon enters his exam period.
I was thrown several complicated and extensive projects at work first thing Monday morning.
I think our fun is behind us for now.