Tag Archives: ancient sites

Ancient Platiana (Tipaneai or Aipy)

21 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by in Ancient Aipy, ancient Greek sites, Ancient Tipaneai

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Ancient Platiana (Tipaneai or Aipy)

(37.57 km – approx. 45 mins from Katakolon)

The remains of the ancient city (Tipaneai or Aipy) are located on a hill of the Lapitha Mountain, South of the village called Platiana (district of Olympia). This fortified, oblong city (max length: 600m, width: 200 m) is surrounded my walls, which probably date to the 4th or 3rd century BC and are preserved in quite good condition (reaching 5m in height in some places). Three large gates are set in the North-West, South-West and East side of the walls-the latter being the main gate. There are also several square or trapezoidal defensive towers. The walls are built of large blocks in polygonal masonry.

ancient Tipaneai or ancient Aipy

Ancient Platiana

One of the terraces is occupied by the theatre, whose stage-building and cavea are partially preserved. On the other terraces one can see: a) the “Acropolis”, b) the “Agora” with a large cistern carved in the natural limestone rock, c) the retaining wall of the “Temple”. In the East part of the city are the foundations of several different buildings, which may be houses of distinguished persons of the city.

plan ancient platiana

General plan

Systematic works at the acropolis were conducted during 2002-2003 by the 7th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.

Ancient Samia (Kato Samiko)

14 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by in ancient Greek sites, Ancient Samia

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Ancient Samia (Kato Samiko)

(38.15 km – approx. 35 mins from Katakolon)

 

The acropolis of ancient Samia (Kato Samiko) is probably located on the westernmost offshoot of the Eleian mountain Minthe, called Lapitha. The acropolis was founded at the end of the 5th century BC and was inhabited until the Roman period. During the 2nd century AD, the traveler Pausanias saw it destroyed.

Kato Samiko

The acropolis of ancient Samia

Its walls, which have the form of an irregular trapezium and constitute a typical example of pseudo-polygonal masonry, have a length of 1500 metres. Four small gates are set in the walls, while large rectangular towers are located on their outer side (max. preserved height: approx. 5m).

The remains of many buildings can be found inside the acropolis. In recent times a large oblong construction, whose roof was supported by columns, has been discovered. This was probably a public building. There are also several large cisterns for water supply.

This site is considered as one of the most important cities of ancient Triphylia. Samia occupied an important strategic position because it controlled the narrow coastal passage from Eleia towards Triphylia and Messenia. It took actively part in the struggle of the Triphylian cities for independence from the domination of the Eleians. In 244 BC, however, the Aitolian Polysperchon occupied the city and used it as a base of operations, in order to separate the Triphylian cities from the Arcadians and to concede them to his allies, the Eleians.

Kato Samiko

Ancient Samia

Systematic works at the acropolis were conducted during 2002-2003 by the 7th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Atiquities.

Ancient Pheia (the submerged city) & Pontikokastro

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in agios andreas, Ancient Pheia

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Agios Andreas

(1.98 km – approx. 4 mins from Katakolon)

Ancient Pheia (the submerged city) and Pontikokastro

In the bay of Agios Andreas are the remains of Ancient Pheia, which was an important harbor for ancient Olympia. Pheia was partially sucked into the sea by the earthquake that overthrew the Temple of Zeus at Olympia in the 6th century AD. Remains from the wall of Pheia can be traced under water, which were explored by several archaeologists in the 1970’s. Unfortunately, it is not allowed to dive here since there are so many antiquities. (Pheia is not the only submerged ancient city in Greece. In the southern part of the Peloponnese, there are at least 2 more prehistoric settlements (Pavlopetri and one near Methoni) that were sunk into the sea. There are actual plans to turn these submerged cities into underwater archaeological parks. Greece’s underwater wealth was first shown in the 1957 movie “Boy on a Dolphin” with Sophia Loren.)

Immortalized in dozens of works of fiction, the Peloponnesian War took place in the fifth century B.C. between the city-state of Athens and various armies of the Peloponnese, who called themselves the Peloponnesian League. The war lasted nearly 30 years, raging across the Aegean Sea and the northern Mediterranean. One of the cities involved in the war was Pheia, which was conquered by the Athenians and turned into a shipping headquarters for its military supply line.

Near the close of the fifth century, the area along the western coast of Greece was shaken by an earthquake that plunged the city of Pheia five meters (16 ft) below the surface of the Mediterranean. The city was lost until 1911, when an excavation team found the ancient civilization. Since then, numerous archaeologists have studied the city. Despite the global interest in the Pheia ruins, we still don’t know much about this important fragment of history.

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Ancient Pheia (Fouache and Dalongeville, 1998), which is now completely under water, situated in the Bay of Aghios Andreas, on the northern side of the cape of Katakolon in Ilia, was the port of Olympia during Greek and Roman times. It is a good example of the high tectonic activity at the front of the Aegean Arc. At the bottom of the bay a fossil beachrock and a fossil notch can be observed. At the end of the 5th century AD, a 6.5m tectonic subsiding movement drowned the site of Pheia, thus providing the sea with an enormous amount of sediments which it shaped into a prograding beach including extremely varied elements, some taken from the submerged city (ceramic, slags, stones), some from the cliff. Later, at an undetermined period, the whole lot was raised, thus leaving the archaeological vestiges 5 meters deep under water and raising the top of the intertidal zone of the beach up to 1.5 m.

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beach

Pheia’s low acropolis had a byzantine castle (Pontikokastro or “mouse” castle), which became the Beauvoir of the Villehardouins. The steep site is considerably overgrown, with low remains, one or two towers, and a plethora of potentially dangerous cisterns.

castle

The main thing here is the view, still beautiful!

Εκλογές vs Ημέρα Μουσείων

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in events, olympia, the travel insiders

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Εκλογές vs Ημέρα Μουσείων

MAY 19, 2014

Η χθεσινή μέρα, ως ημέρα των εκλογών – Δημοτικών και Περιφερειακών – αλλά και ως Παγκόσμια Ημέρα Μουσείων, ήταν μια δύσκολη μέρα. Από τη μια, όλοι όσοι είχαν αποφασίσει να ασκήσουν το εκλογικό τους δικαίωμα και από την άλλη, μια «γιορτή» και μια ευκαιρία για τους Έλληνες, να επισκεφτούν τα Μουσεία και τους Αρχαιολογικούς Χώρους της χώρας για να «κοινωνήσουν» το Αρχαίο Πνεύμα και την Ιστορία μας….

d3do_0793

Παρ’ όλα αυτά, κάποιοι συμπολίτες μας, αφού άσκησαν το εκλογικό τους δικαίωμα, είχαν προβλέψει και την επίσκεψή τους σε κάποιο Μουσείο ή Αρχαιολογικό Χώρο και αυτό είναι ίσως περισσότερο παρήγορο. Υπήρξαν δε και κάποιοι που, που παρ’ όλο που η μέρα ήταν δύσκολη, πήραν την πρωτοβουλία να προσφέρουν τον χρόνο τους και να αξιοποιήσουν όσο το δυνατόν καλύτερα τις γνώσεις τους στους πιο ευαισθητοποιημένους που προγραμμάτισαν να κάνουν και κάτι διαφορετικό εκείνη τη μέρα.

Με μεγάλη μας έκπληξη είδαμε στον Αρχαιολογικό Χώρο της Ολυμπίας, ένα γκρουπ Έλληνες να περιδιαβαίνουν και να ξεναγούνται στις «αρχαίες πέτρες» του Ιερού. Η πρωτοβουλία όπως μάθαμε ανήκει στο ταξιδιωτικό γραφείο «The travel insiders» που εδρεύει στον Πύργο, το οποίο αφιλοκερδώς προσέφερε τη μεταφορά (από τον Πύργο) και την ξενάγηση στους ενδιαφερόμενους. Η πρωτοβουλία αυτή, ιδιαίτερα σε καιρούς που όπως περιγράψαμε πιο πάνω, η καθημερινότητα είναι τόσο μα τόσο αποπνικτική που δύσκολα σου αφήνει περιθώρια να σκεφθείς κάτι εκτός από το πώς θα «τα φέρεις πέρα», είναι κάτι παραπάνω από αξιόλογη. Υπάρχουν ευτυχώς συμπολίτες μας που έχουν συνειδητοποιήσει μερικά πράγματα παραπάνω και που μπορούν με ελάχιστη προσπάθεια να τα κάνουν πράξη. Αξίζουν συγχαρητήρια – και δεν τα απευθύνουμε μόνο στους διοργανωτές – αλλά και σε όλους όσους είχαν το μεράκι και τη διάθεση να βάλουν στο ημερήσιο πρόγραμμά τους και την επίσκεψη στις αρχαιότητες….

continue reading…dioskouroiolympia96

 

 

day trips

23 Sunday Mar 2014

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Ancient Messene

History

Messene was founded in 369 BC by the Theban general Epaminondas following his victory at Leuktra. It was part of the strategic barrier against Sparta, the southernmost of a chain of walled cities including Megalopolis and Argos; these 3 strongholds had to confine Sparta to its own borders once and for all.

In the previous centuries the Spartans had given the Messenians a hard time. Since they were busy with becoming good warriors all the time, they needed other people (servants!) to provide them with their daily bread. In the 8th century BC, they crossed the Taygetos Mountains and invaded the fertile area of Messenia. The people who were living there became slaves and a lot of them fled and settled in other areas all around the Mediterranean. When Sparta was finally defeated in 369 BC, the Theban general Epaminondas invited the Messenians, who had been exiled from the area centuries before, to come back and build the city of dreams!

The ruins might not draw many tourists although it is a remarkable. The charming town of Mavromati sits above the ruins of ancient Messene and provides an exceptional view of the valley all the way to the coast. Systematical excavations of the site began only 25 years ago and continue up to this day.

Site

You will enter this city through one of the original city gates just like ancient travellers did 2300 years ago. The 9 km long city wall is among the best preserved city walls all over Greece. At some points they reach a height of 7 meters.

Once in the archaeological site, take your time to admire the theatre. After 1700 years of silence, the theatre was reopened last summer with a beautiful opera gala. When the archaeologist first started the excavations, they were discouraged. The theatre was practically nonexistent, the only thing left were some retaining walls.

The restoration of the theatre lasted more than 20 years. The archaeologists managed to reunite the scattered pieces and put more than 2000 seats into place. Works at the cavea have not been completed yet. Now it has been restored up to its 15th row. After its completion the capacity is estimated to reach 5000 seats which is half the capacity it had in antiquity.

Other places of interest are the agora, (the town’s large market area), the town’s central shrine and the very impressive stadium and gymnasium which form one architectural unit, an architectural rarity.

From here you will have a breathtaking view over the Messenian plain.

Tip: After your visit of the site, have lunch in the tavern just opposite the spring in the charming town of Mavromati .It is situated  above the ruins of Ancient Messene and provides an exceptional view of the valley all the way to the coast.

day trips

23 Sunday Mar 2014

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Temple of Apollo Epikourios

History

In the beginning of the 7th century BC, the Spartans captured Phigaleia and the inhabitants abandoned their city to save themselves. They consulted the oracle of Delphi to learn how they could recover their city. The oracle told them that they had to fight the Spartans hiring one hundred warriors from a neigbouring city and that god Apollo would help them as well. When the people of Phigaleia were restored to their homeland, they wished to thank Apollo for assisting them in returning to their native city. Thus, 8 km from their city they built, on a natural plateau, a temple dedicated to the god (Apollo the Helper). The first temple of Apollo Epikourios was made of wood. A few centuries later, during the fifth century BC, when Apollo saved them once more from the plague, the inhabitants decided to call Ictinus, the architect from Athens, to build them a new temple so as to satisfy Apollo once more.

Site

This remote temple is situated high up in the mountains at a height of 1130 m. The fact that it is so well preserved has partly to do with the inaccessibility of the area. In other areas they would have used the temple material to build their houses or churches. The temple escaped both these fates since it was not easy to get here. In the autumn of 1987, the monument was covered with a temporary canopy. The tent was constructed to protect the temple against the elements (weather can be quite rough at this altitude).

The temple, as we see it today, was built during the 5th century BC by the very famous architect from Athens, Ictinus (the same architect who built the Parthenon).

The building material used for the temple is the local limestone and what makes this building really special is that it combines all three architectural orders (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian).

Apart from all the special architectural features of the temple, it is worth seeing how technology has been applied in order to preserve the temple. For example, a network of special devices has been set in place to record seismic events and the behavior of the individual parts. If you decide to visit, ask the guard to show you the documentary which explains everything about the restoration project.

ancient elis

18 Tuesday Mar 2014

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Ancient Elis

History

Ancient Elis (58 km from Olympia) was the city which had, under its supervision, the organization of the Olympic Games. One month before the games, all the athletes and trainers had to gather there to train under the supervision of the local judges. They would see if the athletes were good enough, otherwise they were excluded from the Games, and they would divide them into categories. Of course, in those times, they didn’t have birth certificates, so they would determine which category they belonged to from their built and body hair. Two days before the Games began, a procession set out from this city-state and all the athletes and trainers had to walk the whole distance to Olympia (58 km).  Imagine how tiring it must have been to walk such a distance before even competing in the stadium.

This procession was meant as spiritual cleansing, to prepare themselves psychologically for the religious games they were about to take part in.

Site

At the site, the remains are scattered and, with the exception of the theatre, considerably neglected. There are also remains of training facilities, a marketplace (agora) and roman baths.

During the summer a theatre festival takes place here and people from all over the area have the opportunity to watch ancient tragedies, comedies etc. under the moonlight.

Museum

Find out that women in antiquity were just as vain as they are today since a large number of bronze mirrors and jewellery pieces were found in the archaeological site.

olympia

16 Sunday Mar 2014

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Olympia

History

Olympia is the place where the very first Olympic Games were organized. These Games were held in honour of Zeus, once every four years, as part of a religious festival. They were greatly respected and even had the power to suspend wars for a period of three months.

In the beginning these games had a local character and only Greeks from the area of Olympia could take part. Over time, however, they got a Pan-Hellenic character and Greeks from all over the then known Greek world would travel to Olympia in order to be part of this feast. The highest moral award for an Olympic winner was a wreath made out of the branches of a wild olive tree. Victory symbolized by a wreath meant rather more than sponsors, deals and advertising campaigns. The Olympic winners won immortal fame.

The archaeological site

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to run the original Olympic track. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity! Other spots of interests are the training facilities where the athletes would warm up their muscles, the hotel for VIPs’ only and the place where the Olympic flame is lit twice every four years.

The archaeological museum

The Archaeological Museum of Olympia houses the most important finds of the excavations, which began in 1875 by the German archaeologists.

Some of the highlights are the original marble sculptures of the Zeus temple, the metopes of the temple which depict the 12 labours of Hercules (the idol of all muscle –men in ancient times), the Nike statue and the late-classical Hermes statue which has the perfect proportions. Don’t forget to walk around the statue because his “behind” is really worthy of seeing as well. Other finds of interest are the ancient “strigils”, scrapers. In ancient times the athletes would get really dirty since they would rub themselves with olive oil and sand to protect their skin from the sun. After training they would use these scrapers as a kind of peeling.

Hermes of Praxiteles

The museum of the history of the Olympic Games

Here you will find “ancient Playmobil”, small stylized statuettes of animals which were actually the offerings of the poor people. If you didn’t have the money to sacrifice a real animal to Zeus, you could buy a little votive offering at one of the ancient souvenir stands in Olympia and dedicate this to Zeus.