KarenToh’s Travel Tips: Greece

I visited Greece in 2002, just before they hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. To my regret, I didn’t manage to cover Santorini and Myknonos, which are two highly recommended vacation spots in Greece. Perhaps one day, when I take a leisurely cruise of the Mediterranean, I will have the opportunity to drop in ;D

My visit to Greece was focused pretty much on Ancient Greece, and my sister and I visited Athens, Corinth, Mycenae, Sparta, Olympia, Delphi, Meteora, Thermopylae.

P.S. Please note that all images in this blog are from http://en.wikipedia.org/, as I do not have any Digital Photos to share, as I visited Greece in 2002, before I took up Digital Photography with an SLR. However, should you like to view my other Photos, you can do so at my Webshots Community Album. You can also read my other Travel Blogs here.

Travel Blog References
· Contents compiled and written by Karen Toh Guek Bee.
· Wikipedia “Greece”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece
· Ancient Greece for Kids: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/
· Ancient Greece: http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/
· Sacred Destinations-Greece: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/

Photography Images:
· Courtesy of Wikipedia.com: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Understanding Greece..

The ancient greeks lived in Greece, and in countries that we now know as Bulgaria and Turkey. The ancient greeks were once a powerful empire, and had developed ideas for government, science, philiosphy, religion and art.

Ancient Greece was split into many different states, each state were ruled differently, having their own laws, government and money, although they shared the same language and religion. Athens and Sparta were to two most important city states.

Religion was important to the ancient Greeks, as they believed that it would make their lives better, and the gods would take care of them when they died. They believed in many different gods and goddesses, and that these gods and goddesses controlled everything in their lives and environment. Hence, to show their gods how important the were, the ancient greeks built temples in every town for one god or goddess. These temples were not like the modern places of worship, where worshipers could pray in, but were actually homes for statues of gods, which were cared for by priests.

In ancient times, where there were no means of communication other than by word of mouth, stories were created of their gods and goddesses. These stories were then spread around by travelers. Many of these stories are still known today, ie. Pandora’s Box, King Midas, The Trojan Horse, the Story of the Odyssey and Jason and the Golden Fleece to name a few.

To understand the Principal Gods, click here. This would help you when you travel around Greece looking for Ancient sites :p

Geographically, Greece consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkans, the Peloponnesus peninsula and numerous islands.

The greeks, like their latin counterparts like Spain and Italy, have a few things in common – the production of olive oil, their afternoon siestas, and their active night life.

Athens

Athens is the capital and the largest city of modern Greece, and is one of the world’s oldest cities, spanning around 3,400 years. In ancient times, Athens was the largest and most powerful Greek state. It was a city with beautiful public buildings, shops and public baths.

Athens deserves at least 3 to 4 days alone to absorb both modern and ancient Greece. They best way to get to know Athen is by joining Walking Tours, or by walking around on your own with a good guide and a map. Getting around Athens is pretty easy with public transportation – Athens Metro, bus and taxi.

The Acropolis: is the ancient “high city” or “Sacred Rock” of Athens, crowned by marble temples sacred to the city’s goddess Athena. It is one the most recognizable monuments in the world.

On the western and highest side of the Acropolis is the marble Parthenon, a temple, built for the Goddess Athena. It was said that there was a large gold and ivory statue of Athena. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and war and was the patron of Athens. The legend says that Athene and Poseidon had a contest to have the city named after them. Poseidon promised the riches of the sea, but Athena’s gift was an olive tree, which was felt to be more valuable.

Plaka, Monastiraki and Thissio: Charming historic districts at the foot of the Acropolis, with restored 19th century neoclassical homes, pedestrianized streets, shops and restaurants, and picturesque ruins from the city's Roman era.

Piraeus: The ancient port of Athens, Piraeus is today an independent, heavily industrial municipality located southwest of Athens, whose modern-day port serves almost all of Attica's ferry connections to Crete and the Aegean Islands.

Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos): Dominated by the old Royal Palace, Syntagma Square is the business district of Athens, complete with major hotels, banks, restaurants and airline offices.

As Athens was the host of the 2004 Summer Olympics, the city had to build and/or reconstruct buildings for the games as well as for tourism. One of the challenges the locals informed us during this period was that that every time an ancient artifact was discovered during construction, construction would come to a standstill.

Corinth

The ruins of ancient Corinth is a short drive from the modern city of Corinth, and are spread around the base of the rock of Acrocorinth, which forms a natural acropolis for the city. Most of the surviving buildings are Roman rather than Greek, dating back from the city’s prosperous age after Ceaser sacked and rebuilt much of the original Greek city. Much of the city has been toppled by recurring earthquakes over the centuries.

On the Acrocorinth itself are the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite, of which little remains. The most notable ruin is the Temple of Apollo, built in the 6th century BC. Part of the foundation and a few pillars of the remains of the Temple of Octavia, dedicated to the sister of Emperor Augustus can still be seen.

(Excerpt from Sacred Destinations: Corinth)

Mycenae

Mycenae is an archaeological site located about 90km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece.

This ancient city was once thought to exist only in the ancient Greek legend and in the epic poetry of Homer, and wasn’t discovered until 1870 by an amateur archaeologist named Heinrich Schliemann.

The Mycenaean people were known to be warriors who lived for heroic battles, were ruled by Monarchs, and whose highest rank in society comprised of priests and bureaucrats. Mycenaean traders had an extensive network with their neighboring civilizations.

Legends also says that Agamemnon is the Mycenaean Greek king who led his troops into battle against Troy, which eventually was sacked.

The ancient city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is well known for it’s Lion’s Gate at the main entrance into the citadel.

(Excerpt from this website)

Sparta & Thermopylae

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated in the southern part of Peloponnese. From 650 BC it rose to become a dominant military power in the region and was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. All male citizens of Sparta were full-time soldiers.

The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between several Greek city-states and the Persian Empire that started in 499 BC and lasted until 448 BC.

Leonidas I, was the king of Sparta, who was believed in mythology to be a descendent of Heracles, possessing much of the Greek Hero’s strength and bravery. King Leonidas died at the Battle of Thermopylae in August 480 BC. The Battle of Thermopylae was a battle that took place over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece. This occurred at the pass of Thermopylae, which was a narrow coastal passage that existed in antiquity, and named after it’s natural hot water springs.

The tomb of Leonidas lies today in the northern part of the modern town of Sparta, while the “Leonidas Monument”, a bronze statue of Leonidas can be found at the site of the Battle. A sign under the statue, reads “Come and Get Them” which Spartans said when the Persians asked them to put down their weapons.

The film 300, inspired by the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Variety was based on the story of King Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae.

(Excerpt: Wikipedia; “King Leonidas I”, “Battle of Thermopylae”, “Sparta”)

Olympia

Olympia is a sanctuary of ancient Greece, known as Altis, which was the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, held every Olympiad (every four years), dating back possibly further than 776 BC, in honor of Zeus.

The Greeks invented athletic contests and held them in honor of their gods. One of the ancient wonders was a statue of Zeus at Olympia, made of gold and ivory, placed inside a Temple, and was said to be a towering 42 feet high. The statute scuplutred by Pheidias, was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Anipater of Sidon.

The games at Olympia started as a one-day festival and expanded into five-days with many events.