Mycenae / Nafplio

Saturday, May 30, 2015

We started our day in Nafplio with a guided tour of the old town.  Nafplio was at various points settled by the Mycenaeans, the Ancient Greeks, the Venetians (who used and fortified the port as a Naval Base and shipping center), the Ottoman Turks and the Greeks again.  The town's architecture has elements of all of these periods but the old town feels a lot like Venice with it's winding narrow streets and occasional relief of the winged lion of St. Mark on the fortifications.  

Hotel View

Old Town Nafplio

Davis outside the church where the first president of modern Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, was assassinated.  The bullets passed through and hit the church and the impressions have been preserved.   Apparently Kapodistrias ticked off one too many special interest groups...

After our tour we visited the local farmers' market/ flea market--set up every Saturday morning.   

These live snails were crawling out of their bowl--yum!

Olives of all varieties

MYCENAE

After a break for lunch we meet our guide again at Mycenae, which is about 30 minutes inland from Napoli and was a fortified city on a hill that was active 1600-1200 BC (before the classical Greeks).  The citizens of Mycenae fought the Trojan War and legend has it that Homer's Agamemnon was their king.   Some archaeologists also believe that the Trojan War led essentially to the bankruptcy of the kingdom with resultant social disorder and decline of the civilization.

Approaching the city ruins on a foothill of the adjacent mountain.  The pink oleander is in bloom everywhere and is quite lovely.

Outside the legendary Lion's Gate--the entrance to the city.  The Lions have stood guard over this spot for 3500 years. 

Outside one of the "beehive" tombs.  These were built out of massive limestone blocks moved into place with primitive methods.   The amount of man-hours required is staggering.

Inside the dome of the tomb

This tomb wall, outside the treasury of Atreus, is the oldest intact standing structure in Greece.  The tomb has been looted thousands of years ago but the structure has not been rebuilt or modified in 3600 years and is in perfect shape.  Now that's some engineering!

All kinds of things found in local excavations are in the associated museum.  Who knew a Grecian Urn could have so many shapes.

 After Mycenae we drove back to Nafplio and explored the largest, and highest of the three Venetian Fortresses--the Palamidi.

Everlie showing acrophobia who's boss!

The boys are starting to show some signs of "museum fatigue" but are holding up well.  We are putting them to bed early tonight.  They need more than the 7 hours we've been allowing some nights!

View from the computer.  Tough duty.  Did we mention the absolutely beautiful weather?

Tomorrow:  Epidavros (the largest and best preserved ancient Greek Theatre), Corinth and on to Athens.