Mycenae and Epidaurus

 Sunday, February 22

12C today.  We saw our Canadian friends Robin and Pierre at breakfast and were happy to learn that they are on the same bus as us for the next few days.  Pierre and Anton have started to call Frankie and Robin sisters because they have so much in common.  One of which is that they are both gluten free!  

This morning we started our pre-tour with Viking.  Everyone had to meet in the lobby at 7:30 am.  We had 2 tour guides, Andreas and Stati. Not sure if that one is spelled correctly!

Today we were exploring part of the Peloponnese Peninsula.  It's shaped like a hand, and today we were in the thumb.  It was about a 2 and a half hour drive each way.

imagecredit https://www.britannica.com/place/Peloponnese

imagecredit https://xirokambi.com/southern-peloponnese-travel-guide/

We drove to the Corinth Canal, built in 1893 to connect the Peloponnese Peninsula with the Greek mainland.  Nero tried to build it in the 1st century but didn't get very far.  

The canal saves ships a 700 km journey around the Peloponnesian coast, and it services 11,000 ships per year.  It is 6.4 kms long, 24.6 m wide, and 8 m deep.  The walls rise 90 m above sea level, making it the world's deepest canal.  It takes 30-60 minutes to go through it.  We would have loved to have gone through it, but the tour bus doesn't float 😏

imagecredit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal

Our tour guide noticed some guys with hoodies lurking around and warned us about pick-pockets.  He called the police and apparently they drove away in a very nice vehicle.

Next we visited the Sanctuary of Asklepios in Epidaurus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was the most famous healing center in the Greek and Roman world.  Asklepios, the son of Apollo, was the ancient Greek god of medicine, healing, and physicians.  His symbol was the serpent entwined around a staff,  a symbol which is still used today in modern medicine.

imagecredit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_of_Asclepius,_Epidaurus

The Sanctuary of Asklepios is most famous for its remarkably preserved amphitheater, constructed in the late 4th century BC.  It has 55 rows of seats and yes, we climbed all the way to the top.  It is considered the best preserved ancient theater in Greece.  The acoustics are so good here that locals still stage shows here.  The round part at the bottom is actually for the orchestra.  The rectangular part was the stage.

Next, we visited the archeological site of Mycenae (pronounced my-seen-ay).  This was the city where King Agamemnon ruled (he was the commander who led the Trojan War).  After he returned in victory from the Trojan War, he was killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.  Perhaps she was a tad upset that Agamemnon had sacrificed their daughter in order to obtain favourable winds to reach Troy?  Clytemnestra was later murdered by her son Orestes to avenge the death of his father.

imagecredit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9nwYpjbsB8

The Tomb of Agamemnon was discovered when a goat accidentally fell into the hill.  The entryway has impossibly huge rocks.

Inside, it was completely circular.  When it was discovered, it was completely empty, so it must have been looted at some point.

The city of Mycenae dominated the eastern Mediterranean world from the 15th to the 12th century BC.  It was known for early Greek writing, advanced architecture and artistry, and a strong warrior culture.

We entered the city through the Lion Gate, built around 1250 BC using massive stones and the image of two lionesses.

The city walls are so impressive that ancient Greeks believed them to be constructed by Cyclops, mythical one-eyed giants.

imagecredit https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-the-cyclops-from-the-odyssey/

Mycenae was destroyed in about 1200-1100 BC, possibly from invading Dorians or from natural earthquakes.  There also seemed to be a lot of internal strife within the city.  The inner citadel was violently burned, but there is evidence that people continued to live in the outer city.

Mycenae was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.  Today the city continues to undergo extensive excavation and preservation to conserve its ruins.  Gosh, it looked like a long way to walk back to our bus!

Lunch was included in our tour, at a restaurant called the Agamemnon Palace, of course.  Big chunks of lamb, Greek salad, and honey drenched dessert for Anton.  Frankie and Robin received a bowl of fresh oranges instead, but they were the yummiest oranges, fresh from the tree in season.

The bus ride back was very quiet as everyone snoozed, including the tour guides.

When we got back around 4:30, the Syntagma Square across the street was packed with thousands of people.  Apparently we are here during the peak festival of Apokries, celebrated just before Lent.  People dress up in costumes, there are parades and much celebration.  

We went out for gelato since we were still stuffed from lunch, and all at once the square emptied out and all the people proceeded down Mitropoleos Street, which is a pedestrian street.  There were streamers and confetti everywhere, and guys with vacuum trucks cleaning up.

Our gelato was great, but according to Andreas we picked the wrong place, so we will just have to try again tomorrow ha ha.

We headed across the square to the Parliament building to watch the changing of the guard at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier.  This is right around the corner from our hotel.  The Changing of the Guard happens every hour.  These are working soldiers called Evzones (Presidential Guard).

There is a memorial here to the victims of Greece's deadliest rail disaster.  On February 28, 2023, a high speed collision occurred between a passenger train and a freight train, killing 57 people (many of them being young university students).  The station master misrouted the trains.  The combined speed of the crash was 240 km/hr.  The incident sparked protests of tens of thousands of people here at Syntagma Square (Andreas says over one million), with accusations of government cover up of illegal cargo due to the rapid cleanup and lack of transparency regarding the crash.  Every year there are mass protests on the anniversary of the crash, we are glad we will be gone by February 28!