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Nafplio, Old City - Palamidi Castle

Touring the old city of Nafplio is a fascinating experience; you will be walking through traditional buildings and monuments of the past that seem as if they are ready to speak and tell their story. And this story you will be listening to from your guide’s mouth!

The strategic location of Nafplio both as a powerful fort and a safe harbour defined its luck from the 13th century B.C. till the foundation of the Modern Hellenic state in the 19th century. After the early period of the Frankish rule, Nafplio became the “apple of discord” between the Venetians and the Turks who continually fought for its occupation. Reminders of their conflicts are the buildings and the castles they left behind.

Classical Athens, Acropolis, Acropolis museum, ancient Agora

The tour of Athens focuses on the classical period, that is, on the 5th and 4th centuries BC. During the aforementioned centuries a ‘cosmogony’ took place in Athens, which can be seen as the result of the slow social, economical and political changes of the Archaic period (6th – 7th centuries BC ).

The unprecedented experiment of democracy, despite its limitations, and the victories during the Persian wars provided the ideal context for the Athenians to achieve a creative outburst in art, philosophy and in every aspect of intellectual and social life.

The masterpieces of the Athenian art and monumental architecture as well as the framework within which they were created are the centre of the tour.

Mycenae

The tour begins from the vaulted tomb, known as «Treasury of Atreus», one of the most impressive works of Mycenaean burial architecture. To continue with, we will head towards the main archaeological area and the Lion Gate, the impressive entrance of the acropolis in order to admire its famous relief and to talk about the cyclopean masonry.

Next stop Grave Circle A, which was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876. Such was the variety of the findings that Schliemann believed he had found Agamemnon’s tomb, mistaken as we know today. At this point we have a panoramic view of the Argolic plain and we shall talk about the strategic location on which Mycenae was built.

Ancient Nemea

Nemea was one of the four Pan-Hellenic athletic centres of antiquity. Although ancient Greeks never founded a uniform nation state, they were well-aware of their common religious, cultural and linguistic bonds. They would organise athletic and/or musical games, where only Greeks could participate, to honour their gods every four or two years, as in the case of Nemea. The Olympic Games were held in Olympia, the Pythian Games in Delphi, the Isthmian Games at the canal of Corinth and the Nemean Games in Nemea, where Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon and Zeus were worshipped respectively.

Epidaurus

Epidaurus is famous for its theatre and for its natural environment of special beauty.

How many nevertheless know that it was one of the most famous healing centres of the ancient world and that the theatre used to be part of the therapy in the structure of a holistic and mental model confrontation in order to treat health problems? During the tour at the Sanctuary of Asclepius we will have the chance to talk about Medicine in ancient Greece and the transition from the healing through god’s power to science therapy.

We will also talk about the social and political conditions that allowed the evolution of the theatre from the primitive religion type to the form it took during the Classical period

Olympia

Olympia, one of the major archaeological sites in Greece, is situated between the River Alpheios and the River Kladeos, a place of outstanding natural beauty. The Modern Olympic Games were inspired and named after the Games that used to take place there in antiquity. Although the Ancient Greeks never founded a unified nation state, they were aware of the fact that they were bound together by linguistic, religious and cultural ties: therefore, they used to organize athletic games and/or music competitions in order to honour their gods, in which only the Greeks could participate. Those were the Olympic Games at Olympia, the Pythian Games at Delphi, the Isthmian Games at Isthmia and the Nemean Games at Nemea, held in honour of Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon and Zeus respectively.

Tiryns

Mycenae may allure the attention of massive tourism industry but the walls of Tiryns, built between 1.400 and 1.200 BC are more than impressive and its megaron ( palace ) is ideal for the comprehension of the structure of the Mycenaean palace. These are some of the reasons that urged UNESCO to inscribe it in its world heritage list. During our tour we are going to seek the true meaning of the Mycenaean civilization, its essential political, economical and social features, the reasons for its blooming and its decadence. We will talk about the myths and to what extent they are attested by the archaeological findings.

Last but not least we will focus on the Argolic plain and how it contributed to the growth of human civilization.

Ancient Corinth

Ancient Corinth was one of the most prosperous Greek city-states due to its fertile plane, its strategic location- at the intersection of the Peloponnese and the rest of Greece- its ports that could ensure easy access to the seaways of the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea and its intensive craft production. The Corinthians also created the Diolkos, a paved portage road which ran across the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow strip of land that connects the Peloponnese with the rest of Greece. The Diolkos was used to transfer ships from the Saronic to the Corinthian gulf without having to circumnavigate the Peloponnese. It was an expensive service that would be paid to the Corinthians but navigation became faster and safer.