Tag Archives: Greece

15 June 2015
 Katakolon, Greece: An Olympic Experience

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and a lucrative post-competitive career as a celebrity or a politician. Plus a not-all-that-surprising hint of scandal.

Ah, things have changed, haven’t they? Or perhaps not.

Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece about 40 minutes away from Katakalon, was the site of the original Olympic Games.

Competitions were held there every four years, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.

Katakolon itself is a small town on a headland overlooking the Ionian Sea; today it is essentially the gateway for cruise ship passengers heading to Olympia.

AN OLYMPIA ALBUM

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Text and images copyright 2015 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

14 June 2015
 Corfu, Greece: Between the Venetians and the Ottomans

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Throughout this cruise—indeed, throughout this region—the influence of the once-great Republic of Venice is everywhere to be seen.

It variously traded with and fought against the Venetians, the Ottomans, and other powers. It was also assaulted by pirates.

In 1386 the islanders placed themselves under the protection of Venice, which kept it for four hundred years; Kerkyra–one of the older versions of its name–was known as the “Door of Venice”.

AROUND CORFU

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Photos by Corey Sandler

The Siege of Corfu in 1537 landed 25,000 soldiers from the Turkish fleet of Suleiman the Magnificent. They pillaged parts of the island and took 20,000 hostages.

But in the city, the Venetian castle held and the Turks withdrew because of lack of supplies and an epidemic.

The second great siege of Corfu took place in 1716, during the last Turkish-Venetian War. On July 8 the Turkish fleet of 33,000 men was encountered by the Venetian fleet off the channel of Corfu and was defeated.

Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting, the Turks were unable to breach the defenses and were forced to end the siege after 22 days.

The 5,000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries, together with 3,000 Corfiotes, were victorious.

Once again Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds.

The repulse of the Ottomans was widely celebrated in Europe, Corfu being seen as a bastion of Western Civilization against the Ottoman tide.

Today,  I went with guests to the Paleokastritsa Monastery outside of Corfu Town. It is frozen in time.  Here is some of what I saw.

PALEOKASTRITSA MONASTERY

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We were last here on June 4; see my blog entry for that day for more detail and photos.

Text and images copyright 2015 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

4 June 2015
 Corfu, Greece: It’s Complicated

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Corfu is a little piece of Greece, the seventh largest of the country’s islands.

But its status is a lot more complicated.

The history of Corfu includes a long period of domination by the Venetians, a bit of French, and a few decades of British rule.

It was the occupation by the Venetians, though, and the strong fortress structures they erected that was one of the main reasons why Corfu was the only significant part of Greece never conquered by the Muslim Turks, the Ottomans.

A CORFU ALBUM

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Photos by Corey Sandler

The island, along with a few smaller islets, forms the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island’s north-eastern coastline is just 3 kilometers or 2 miles away from Albania.

I said that the island was never taken by the Ottoman Turks, but that was not for lack of trying.

The Siege of Corfu in 1537 landed 25,000 soldiers from the Turkish fleet of Suleiman the Magnificent. They pillaged parts of the island and took 20,000 hostages.

But in the city, the castle held and the Turks withdrew because of lack of supplies and an epidemic.

The second great siege of Corfu took place in 1716, during the last Turkish-Venetian War.

On July 8 the Turkish fleet of 33,000 men was encountered by the Venetian fleet off the channel of Corfu and was defeated. Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting, the Turks were unable to breach the defenses and were forced to end the siege after 22 days.

The 5,000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries, together with 3,000 Corfiotes, were victorious.

Once again Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds.

The repulse of the Ottomans was widely celebrated in Europe, Corfu being seen as a bastion of Western civilization against the Ottoman tide.

Back in Venice, hometown composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote an oratorio: “Juditha triumphans.”

Today Corfu city looks very different from most Greek cities.

The Venetians set the tone for architecture, and also created a culture more open and diverse than existed in many other places.

Today I made a visit to one of the remnants of the many other cultures that touched Corfu: Achilleion Palace, built for Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary in 1890, named (and decorated) in tribute to her hero Achilles. After her death (by assassination in one of the complex steps that led up to World War I), it was purchased by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

Wilhelm, who also had a thing for heroes and large statues, had a huge version of Achilles installed in the garden, with the inscription “To the Greatest Greek from the Greatest German.” Humble, no?

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Text and images copyright 2015 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

1 November 2014
 Rhodes, Greece: Less Than Obvious

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises 

We returned to Rodos,  the capital city of the island of Rhodes and found a hint of autumn in the air,  a near perfect day in an always intriguing place.

We were just here four days ago; see my blog entry for 28 October for details and photos.

Rhodes is an extraordinary place,  and we have been here dozens of times.

On today’s visit I decided to concentrate on the less-than-obvious.

Here is some of what I found:

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All photos by Corey Sandler.  All rights reserved.  If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy of an image please contact me. 

31 October 2014
 Piraeus, the Port of Athens: To the Holy Land

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

We’ve completed our voyage from the glories of Istanbul to the beaches of the Turkish Riviera. We stopped in Rhodes to pay our respects to the Colossus, had a revelation at Patmos, and enjoyed Nafplion almost to ourselves.

Arrived now in Piraeus, we bid arrivederci to some fellow travelers and benvenuti to new guests.

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Silversea Silver Cloud at anchor in Nafplion, Greece. Photo by Corey Sandler

We head out now on a trip back to the source of much of the history of this region: the Middle East. Our schedule includes three days in Israel and then a return through the Mediterranean to Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, and eventually Civitavecchia, the port of Rome.

Here’s our plan:

1433 NO Alexandria

I’ll be posting each port of call right here.

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

 

 

30 October 2014
 Navplion, Greece: Season’s End

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Nafplion is on the Pelopennesus Peninsula of the mainland of Greece. Technically it is an island because it is separated by the short and narrow Corinth Canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea.

We arrived to a near-perfect day, and even better our small ship brought just about the only tourists to town. My wife and I live on a tourist island and we understand the collective sigh or relief that arrives when the season is near its end, and we get back our beautiful place to enjoy. We saw that here today.

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Photos by Corey Sandler.

The small town of Nafplion—today the population is just under 14,000—was the first capital of modern Greece, from 1829 to 1834.

The most significant pre-classical site is the Acronafplia (the Inner Castle), which incorporates some ancient walls. Until the thirteenth century, Acronafplia was a town on its own. When the Venetians and the Franks and then the Venetians and the Ottomans arrived, they made it part of the town fortifications.

Then in 1388 was sold to the Venetians, who held it for a century and a half. The city was surrendered in 1540 to the Ottomans, who renamed it as “Mora Yenişehri” (“New City of Pelloponnes”).

The Venetians retook Nafplion in 1685, and among the first things they did was build the castle of Palamidi. Actually it was possibly the last major construction of the Venetian empire overseas.

Palamidi is located on a hill north of the old town. It was a fairly ambitious project, a Baroque fortress. Only 80 soldiers were assigned to defend the city, and in 1715 back it went to the Ottomans, who held it until 1822 when it fell during the Greek War of Independence.

The fortress commands an impressive view over the Argolic Gulf, the city of Náfplion and the surrounding country. There are 857 steps in the winding path from the town to the fortress and a few hundred more to the actual top of the fortress.

After its capture by the modern Greeks, Nafplion—with its substantial fortifications—was made the seat of the provisional government of Greece, and then in 1829 the first capital of modern Greece.

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Syntagma Square in Navplion. Photo by Corey Sandler

Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, first head of state of the newly-liberated Greece, set foot on the Greek mainland for the first time in Nafplio on January 7, 1828. But three years later, in October of 1831, he was assassinated by local warlords on the steps of the church of Saint Spyridon in Nafplio.

In 1832, Otto, prince of Bavaria, was made the first modern King of Greece.

Greece was a new independent kingdom under the protection of the Great Powers (the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire). Nafplion remained the capital of the kingdom until 1834, when Otto decided to move the capital to Athens.

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Bourtzi Castle. Photo by Corey Sandler

The castle of Bourtzi is in the middle of the harbor; we should have a good view of it as we pass by on ship’s tenders. It was completed by the Venetians in 1473 as part of its fortification against pirates and invaders.

It served as a fortress until 1865, and then as the residence of the executioners of convicts from the castle of Palamidi.

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Inside Agios Nikolaos church in Nafplion; it was built in 1713 and little has changed since. Photos by Corey Sandler

EPIDAURUS
About 45 minute east of Nafplion is the ancient city of Epidaurus, called Epidavros in modern Greek. This was one of the most popular Greek spas, a place with special baths and secret rites.

People in need of cure would come to Epidaurus and spend their first night in the enkoimitiria, a sort of dormitory.

After the introduction of Christianity and the silencing of the oracles, the sanctuary at Epidauros was still known as late as the mid-5th century, recast as a Christian healing center.

There’s not a lot left of the old city except for foundations—with one exception: the spectacular Greek theater. It has survived through the ages because it was built into the ground and not above it. Designed in the 4th century BC, the original 34 rows were extended in Roman times by another 21 rows. It seats as many as 15,000 people.

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Epidauros. Photos by Corey Sandler

As is usual for Greek theaters (and different from Roman ones), the view of the lush landscape behind the stage was considered part of the theater itself and was not to be obscured. The theater has exceptional acoustics, attributed in part to the limestone seats which amplify sounds from the stage and absorb extraneous noise from the audience.

CORINTH

Just over an hour north of Navplion is the once-great city of Corinth, on the narrow isthmus that leads to the mainland of Greece; from here, Athens is about 48 miles to the east.

The city was founded in the Neolithic Age, about 6000 BC. According to one legend, the city was founded by Corinthos, a descendant of the god Helios (the Sun).

Before the end of the Mycenaean period the Dorians (an ancient Greek tribe) settled in Corinth. It seems likely that Corinth was also the site of a Bronze Age Mycenaean palace-city, like Mycenae, Tiryns or Pylos.

In the 7th century BC, when Corinth was ruled by the tyrants Cypselus and his son Periander, the city sent forth colonists to found new settlements: Epidamnus (modern day Durrës, Albania), Syracuse in what is now Italy, and Corcyra (the modern day town of Corfu) among them.

It was during the reign of Periander that there was the first to attempt to cut across the Isthmus to create a canal to allow ship traffic between the Corinthian and the Saronic Gulf. It was way beyond their abilities, but they did create the Diolkos, a stone overland ramp to haul small ships or freight.

Then came the Romans, who destroyed Corinth following a siege in 146 BC. The Roman Lucius Mummius put all the men to the sword and sold the women and children into slavery before he torched the city.

The city was all but abandoned for the next century until Julius Caesar refounded the city as Colonia laus Iulia Corinthiensis in 44 BC shortly before his assassination.

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The ruins of Corinth. Photo by Corey Sandler

The apostle Paul first visited the city (AD 51 or 52), and presided for eighteen months. It’s all right there in the Book of the Corinthians. It was during his second visit, about 58, that Paul is believed to have begun his “Epistle to the Romans” and then the several Epistles to the Corinthians.

The first serious consideration of a canal across the Isthmus of Corinth was in 602 BC by Periander, Tyrant of Corinth and one of the Seven Sages of Antiquity. He was not sage enough to figure out how to dig the ditch.

In 307 B.C., about three centuries after Periander, work actually began on excavation.  In 66 A.D., the Emperor Nero sent war prisoners from the Aegean islands and six thousand Jewish slaves to work on the canal.

It was the success in 1869 of Ferdinand de Lesseps’ Suez Canal that gave rise to the modern effort. (The Suez also helped bring about the Panama Canal and the Cape Cod Canal and many others at the end of the 19th century.)

The modern pathway follows—almost to the inch—the plans mapped out by Nero.

Sixteen million cubic yards (twelve million cubic meters) of earth had to be removed to cut out the entire passage.

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A tight squeeze through the Corinth Canal. Photos by Corey Sandler

The Corinth Canal was completed and opened on July 25, 1893. The Canal cuts the Isthmus of Corinth in a straight line just short of four miles long.

The canal is 80.7 feet wide (24.6 meters) at sea level. Consider: Silver Cloud is 70.6 feet wide, although like many of us she carries her weight around the middle and higher. Ships of our size and a little larger can easily get through, though. But extra-wide megaships cannot.

But our ship will NOT be making a crossing. Not this time. But in 2016, Silversea will return to the Corinth Canal and I hope to be aboard. See you there?

All photos copyright 2014, Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy, please contact me.

 

 

29 October 2014. Patmos, Greece
 The Island of Apocalypse

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

When most of us think of the Apocalypse, we think in dire and dramatic biblical terms.

Or perhaps in explosive, cataclysmic end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it Hollywood blockbusters. Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, War of the Worlds, Planet of the Apes, Celebrity Apprentice. You tell me which one frightens you most.

Patmos is a lovely, peaceful small island in the Aegean Sea, one of the northernmost of the Dodecanese islands of Greece.

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Above Skala, the port of Patmos. Photo by Corey Sandler

It lies just off the coast of Turkey and the continent of Asia, west of the ancient Greek and Christian site of Ephesus. It’s only about 34 square kilometers or 13 square miles, and the population hovers around 3,000, give or take a few additional thousands when a major cruise ship comes in.

The earliest remains of human settlements, pottery shards at Kastelli, date to the Middle Bronze Age (about 2000 BC).

Jumping forward to the time of the Ancient Greeks, the Patmians identified themselves as Dorians descended from the families of Argos, Sparta and Epidaurus. Later came those from Ionian Greek tribes.

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The Monastery of St. John the Theologian. Photos by Corey Sandler

APOCALYPSE WHEN?

So why is this the island of Apocalypse?

Because it is believed that it was here that the final book of the New Testament was written. And that book, written in Koine Greek, received its title from its first word: apokalypsis.

It does not mean “The end of time” or “the destruction of life as we know it. Literally translated, APO-KALYPSIS means “un-covering.”

Over time and through countless religious analyses, it has come to mean unveiling of a hidden truth, a revelation. And that is the name in many cultures for that last book of the New Testament: the Book of Revelation

The book’s introduction states that its author, John, was on Patmos when he was received a vision from Jesus and wrote it down; in some recountings John had a helper, Prochorus, who did the transcribing.

John says that it was on Patmos that he “heard … a great voice, as of a trumpet,” commanding him to write a book and “send it unto the seven churches.” Most modern scholars believe it was written around AD 95, although some date it from around AD 60.

Some academics question the authorship of the book: John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos. Some say they are three separate individuals. Some conflate John the Apostle and John of Patmos.

And for good measure, he is also identified in some places—including here in Patmos—as John the Theologian.

It is worth noting that this last book of the New Testament is a bit out there.

It is full of very rich, very extravagant, and very obscure references: the Whore of Babylon, the Beast. Its final section details a core Christian belief, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the anticipated return of Jesus to Earth.

Some theologians treat the Book of Revelation as just that, a description of some pretty unusual future events.

Others see in it a hopeful allegory of the fall of the Roman Empire. And then there are those who think of it as more symbolic: a reference to the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.

Meanwhile, the people of Patmos enjoy their special place in the world, a mix of things sacred and secular.

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Dancers at a taverna in Patmos. Photos by Corey Sandler

 

28 October 2014. Rhodes
 The Far East of Greece

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Through its location and its history, Rhodes has faced in many directions.

Rhodes has looked east and north to Turkey in the eastern Aegean Sea 11 miles away, looked north toward Asia Minor, south toward Egypt, southeast to Jerusalem, and west toward Europe and the mainland of Greece.

It is, of course, most famous as being the site of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

There really was a great statue at or near the entrance to the harbor in Rhodes. And it probably was worthy of wonder. But we don’t know exactly where it stood, what it looked like, and where it has gone.

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Rodos, the principal city of Rhodes. Somewhere around here stood the Colossus. Photos by Corey Sandler

Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands (“Twelve Islands”) of Greece, about 540 square miles or 1,400 square kilometers. About 117,000 people live on the island, about half in the capital city of Ródos at the northern tip of the island, surrounding the ancient and modern harbor there.

The ancient city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Like almost all of the ports in this part of the world, Rhodes has gone through an encyclopedia of owners and antagonists.

There were inhabitants as far back as Neolithic times at the end of the Stone Age about 9000 BC, although we know little about them.

In the 16th century BC the Minoans arrived. In the 15th century BC, the Achaeans (Ancient Greeks) invaded. By the 11th century BC the island started to flourish, administered by the Dorians, one of the three major tribes of the ancient Greeks: the Dorians, Ioanians, and Aeolians.

In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son Demetrius to besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt.

Demetrius created huge weapons, including a 180 foot battering ram and a siege tower called Helepolis (taker of cities) that weighed 360,000 pounds.

It didn’t work.

One year later Demetrius relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment.

The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god, Helios: the statue we now call the Colossus of Rhodes.

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Mosques next to churches next to synagogues in Rhodes. Photos by Corey Sandler

LINDOS

On the east coast of Rhodes, about 35 miles or 55 kilometers south of the city of Rhodes, is the town of Lindos.

It is known for many things: its fine beaches, large bay, and the small resort of Haraki.

It exists, though, because of the acropolis of Lindos, a natural citadel which was fortified successively by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Knights of Saint John and the Ottomans.

That mix of one civilization on top of another makes it difficult for archaeologists to fully understand the site.

Lindos was founded about the 10th century BC by the Dorians. The location of Rhodes in the east made it a natural meeting place between the Greeks and the Phoenicians, and by the 8th century BC, Lindos was a major trading center.

Its importance declined after the foundation of the city of Rhodes in the late 5th century BC.

The massive temple of Athena Lindia reached its final form around 300 BC.

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Lindos. Photo by Corey Sandler

By early medieval times the buildings fell into disuse, and in the 14th century they were partly overlaid by a massive fortress built on the acropolis by the Knights of Saint John to defend the island against the Ottomans.

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It’s a bit of a hike up the hill to Lindos. If you prefer, you can sit on your…donkey. At right, the taxi rates on a recent visit. Photos by Corey Sandler

All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

 

17 October 2014
 Piraeus, the Port of Athens

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Even our wondrous small ship cannot sail into Syntagma Square in Athens.

We instead dock  the port of Piraeus, about 10 traffic-clogged miles from Athens.

On this cruise, we are just passing through, in the middle of our cruise. And so we docked at the outer harbor at a set of quays built for the 2004 Olympics.

Piraeus is not a place where many tourists come to linger; it’s a very busy port for ferries to the Greek Isles and elsewhere, and also much used as a cruise ship port.

Think of it as a Greek version of Civitavecchia—the port for Rome—and you’re on the right track.

Piraeus is the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe, and by some estimates the third busiest in the world, servicing about 20 million passengers per year—most of them on ferries.

The Acropolis, the fortified citadel and the state sanctuary of the ancient city of Athens, is fully deserving of a spot on anyone’s bucket list.

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The Parthenon. Photo by Corey Sandler

The Acropolis is perched on a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in what is now the heart of the city of Athens.

In the Late Bronze Age, the Acropolis was surrounded by a massive fortification wall like those at Mycenae and Tiryns in southern Greece. This wall remained in use long after the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, and functioned as the fortifications of the Acropolis for several centuries.

By the middle of the 8th century B.C., at least part of the Acropolis had been redeveloped into the sanctuary of the goddess Athena, the patroness of the city. Athena, as in Athens.

In the 6th century B.C., the first monumental stone, Doric temple of Athena is built on the Acropolis.

However, the Acropolis was captured and destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C. But the Athenians were persuaded by the statesman Pericles to rebuild the temples on the Acropolis on a grand scale.

It was during the second half of the 5th century B.C. that the most famous buildings on the Acropolis — the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaia, and the temple of Athena Nike, were constructed.

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The Acropolis, seen from the new museum at its base. Photo by Corey Sandler

For more than a millennia, the structures on the hill stood there—crumbling, shaken by earthquakes, an explosion in an Ottoman arms dump, and sometimes looted for building materials or souvenirs.

The first modern archaeological studies and excavations, and the necessary conservation, study, and publication of the monuments, were begun in the 1830s soon after Greek independence. Work continues to the present day

Today the Parthenon is considered the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, the culmination of the development of the Doric order.

In 1806, in an act some Greeks consider vandalism, Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin (the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799–1803), was given permission by the Ottoman Turks to remove some of the surviving sculptures and friezes.

Elgin’s agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as architectural members and sculpture from the Propylaea and Erechtheum.

Elgin at first used many of the pieces to decorate his mansion in Scotland. Later, he decided to sell off his holdings to pay debts.

Following a public debate in Parliament and subsequent exoneration of Elgin’s actions, what are now known as the Elgin Marbles or the Parthenon Marbles were purchased by the British government in 1816 and placed on display in the British Museum, where they can still be seen.

The Greek government has been seeking the return of the sculptures for decades.  And even if you’ve been to Athens before, the Greeks—never mind all of their financial foibles—have done an extraordinary job with the design and construction of the New Acropolis Museum, which opened in June of 2009.

The museum is located directly opposite the Acropolis, near the Acropolis Metro station (Line 2).

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The Athens Metro at the Acropolis. The commuter train connects to Piraeus. Photo by Corey Sandler

More than four thousand items are on display, including a portion of the frieze of the Parthenon—the part that is not in the British Museum, they will remind you.

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Inside the Acropolis Museum. Photos by Corey Sandler

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Athens at the base of the Acropolis. Photos by Corey Sandler

All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

 

16 October 2014
 Volos, Greece: Between Earth and Sky

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Volos a place known for its Milk, a much-sought-after Fleece, and its Hard Rock cafés.

Milk, as in Milk of Magnesia.

Fleece, as in the Golden sheepskin sought after by Jason.

And many of the cafés—and half a dozen spectacular monasteries—of this region are perched on rocks, seemingly defying God and nature to return them to earth.

According to legend, it was here—from Iolkos—that Jason set sail on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece; the Argonauts intended to bring back the booty from Colchis, which is today the Black Sea coast of Georgia.

Modern Volos has one of the largest cargo ports of Greece, a fishing fleet, plus ferry and hydrofoil to the nearby Sporades Islands, which include Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos.

We eat rather well here aboard ship. But if you somehow become peckish while ashore, the local specialty are “Tsipouradika” shops, more than 400 spread through the city.

These are basically bars that sell tsipouro. Then choose an accompaniment: a tasty tidbit of fish, meat, nuts, olives, dried fruits, halva, or paximadi (rusk or twice-baked bread.) Think of Mezes from Turkey, or Tapas from Spain.

Tsipouro is a pomace brandy, particular to this part of Greece as well as Crete.

It’s a strong distiled spirit, about 40 to 45 percent alcohol by volume, and is produced from the pomace (the residue of the wine press). The anise-flavored version is similar in taste and effect of ouzo, although the two drinks are made very differently.

METEORA

Metéora is one of the largest and most important groups of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece.

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Photos by Corey Sandler

They are also some of the most spectacular places in this part of the world, on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The word Metéora is derived from old Greek meaning “middle of the sky”. From the same origin we have the words “meteor” and “meteorite”, rocky asteroids that enter into the earth’s atmosphere and burn up or explode.

These cosmic events were certainly noticed by the ancients, unexpected changes in the middle of the sky. The name for the monasteries, therefore, is self-evident.

The monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pindus Mountains, in central Greece about two-and-a-half hours away from Volos by car or coach.

The pinnacles are believed to be about 60 million years old, the remnants of an ancient sea.

In modern times, the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit m­onks moved up to the ancient pinnacles to live in caves and cutouts in the rocks as much as 1800 feet or 550 meters above the plain. They were not much disturbed by visitors.

By the late 11th and early 12th centuries, a rudimentary monastic state had formed, centered around the still-standing church of Theotokos (mother of God).

More than 20 monasteries were built; six remain today: four were inhabited by men, and two by women, each with fewer than 10 inhabitants.

Originally, the only means of reaching the monasteries was by climbing a long ladder, which was drawn up whenever the monks felt threatened. Food and supplies and occasionally people were hauled up in large nets.

According to oral history, the ropes were replaced only “when the Lord let them break”.

It was only in the 1920s that steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible by bridge from the nearby plateau.

Two of the buildings are open to tourists. The Agios Stephanos Convent, which is relatively easy to reach, and the Varlaam Monastery which requires ascent of stairs.

And today you can drive there–most of the way–by motor coach or private car. If you’re concerned about heights, have a shot of tsipouro. Give the driver a bottle of cool water.

Photos by Corey Sandler. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy of an image, please contact me.

————————

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

 

 

15 October 2014
 Thessaloniki, Greece: A City of Ghosts

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Thessaloniki is the Second City of Greece.

A poet of about a century ago described it as a “city of ghosts”, inhabited by the reminders of ancient Romans, ancient and modern Jews and Muslims, and a city destroyed by fire in 1917.

Athens is way out front with four million residents in its metropolitan area and most of the fame;Thessaloniki, not nearly so well-known, is home to about one million in and around the city.

And it has an honorific title: co-capital. But co-capital NOT with Athens. The honorific reaches back more than a millennia to Thessalonki’s status as the co-reigning city of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, alongside Constantinople, now Istanbul.

And though it is today a modern city, it is built on a foundation of Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, and Sephardic Jewish cultures, somewhat different from Athens. Salonika was at one time a predominantly Jewish city, with a population made up of Sephardic Jews living alongside substantial groups of Muslims and Orthodox Christians.

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It is believed that the first Jewish residents in Greece were in Salonika, brought from Alexandria, Egypt in 140 BC by Alexander the Great’s brother-in-law Kasandros because of their expertise in maritime trade.

These “Hellenized” Jews built their first synagogue. Two centuries later, Paul the Apostle preached at the synagogue, apparently gaining no converts.

It was after the breakup of the Roman empire in 395 that Salonika became the second most important city–after Constantinople–in the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine emperors sought to “Christianize” their subjects, and Salonika—at the outer reaches of the empire—was subject to bans on religious practices and in some cases orders to convert or leave.

The Jewish population remained quite small until the second half of the 14th century as persecution in Europe began to drive Jews out of Hungary and then Iberia. In 1394 there was a migration from Provence.

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The 15th-century White Tower, an Ottoman relic along the waterfront

Meanwhile the Ottoman Empire was on the rise, moving westward from Constantinople. At the same time the Venetian Republic was once again expanding toward the east. The siege of Thessalonica, between 1422 and 1430, was an ultimately successful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to take the Byzantine city of Thessa­lonica.

And then in 1453, Constantinople—the capital of the Byzantine Empire—fell to the Ottomans led by 21-year-old Sultan Mehm­ed II. This marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state which had lasted for nearly 1,500 years.

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The remains of the Arch of Galerius in the heart of the city

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The spectacular Rotonda, built by the Romans in the year 309

For much of the 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, Salonika was essentially a Jewish city—at first within the Muslim Ottoman Republic and then within Orthodox Christian Greek Republic.

More than half of the pre-World War II population of about 100,000 were Jewish. Most had arrived over the centuries from such countries as Hungary, Germany, Spain, Sicily, and Portugal to find safe harbor from pogroms, economic hardship, and wars.

The Jews ran the port and other industries including the silk trade. They built about 40 synagogues and many libraries and other places of education and culture.

Reports of the time noted how the city was all but closed on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Not Friday as it would be in an observant Islamic region or Sunday as would be the case in a Christian city.

When World War I began in 1914, Greece maintained neutrality although it cooperated with the Allied or Entente Forces. Thessaloniki became a transit center for Allied troops and supplies, and the city filled with thousands of French and British soldiers, as many as 100,000.

It was during that time, in August 1917, that two-thirds of the city was destroyed in the Great Fire that erased most traces of what was once a bustling city. Today, a rebuilt city . . . with many ghosts.

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At the Macedonian Cultural Center, preparations were underway for “Alexander the Great, the Rock Opera.” The mind boggles

All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy of any image, please contact me.

 

 

14 October 2014
 Kavala, Greece: In the Footsteps of Paul

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

In journeying to Kavala, we are going back in time to a place that has been inhabited without interruption since the 7th century B.C.

But its story is not at all straightforward.

It’s a wondrous mix, a much more complex back story than is possessed by your typical Greek island of beaches, ouzo, and olives.

Kavala is on the mainland of Greece, in many ways more influenced by other cultures: ancient tribes, the Romans, the Bulgarians, the Macedonians, the Turks, the Ottomans.

An ancient city at one time called Neapolis—the new city—and in the Middle Ages as Christoupolis, city of Christ.

Its strategic and economic importance was due to its location on the Roman road the Via Egnatia, its port, and the natural fortification of the peninsula.

But the name we call it now, Kavala, is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps derived from the Italian cavallo, meaning horse.

The city was founded in the late 7th century B.C. by settlers from the Greek island of Thassos, the country’s northernmost island, close to the coast of Thrace and near Macedonia.

The Thassians came ashore to exploit rich gold and silver mines in the area.

The Romans built the Via Egnatia in the 2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace, running through parts of what is now modern Albania, Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.

Its western end was at Dyrrachium (now Durrës) on the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Appulia region of Italy—the heel of the boot of Italy. Crossing over by water, it connected to the Via Appia to ancient Rome.

The armies of Julius Caesar and Pompey marched along the Via Egnatia during Caesar’s civil war, and during the Liberators’ civil war Mark Antony and Octavian pursued Cassius and Brutus along the Via Appia to their fateful meeting at the Battle of­ Philippi.

The road was used by the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey as he traveled from Philippi to Thessalonica (Acts 16-17).

The Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, is considered one of the most important of the 1st century missionaries, founding Christian churches in Asia Minor and Europe.

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The remains of Philippi

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Today a modern basilica celebrates the visit of Paul

He was not one of the original Twelve Apostles. Paul used his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to advantage in his ministry to both Jewish and Roman audiences.

Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul, and approximately half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with Paul’s life and works.

This is said to be the first place in Europe where Christianity was introduced. In the year 49 or 50, Paul the Apostle preached to women gathered on the banks of Zigaktis river.

During the Crusades, armies traveling to the east by land followed the road to Constantinople before crossing into Asia Minor.

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The Kamares, or arches, are an enduring symbol of Kavala. The original structure may have been erected by the Romans. The well-preserved structure you see today was rebuilt about 1550 by Sultan Suleiman II, Suleiman the Magnificent.

The double arches bridge the Panagia peninsula to the foot of Lekani mountain of Lekani, bringing water from the hills. It remained in use until 1911.

All photos by Corey Sandler; all rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy, please contact me.

 

10 October 2014
 Santorini, Greece

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Santorini is a picture-postcard Greek Island, one of the more spectacular sights in the Aegean, a half-circle of steep cliffs topped with two horizontal towns of white and blue.

Oh, and one more thing: It’s a picture-perfect Greek island that also sits atop a ticking time bomb. The cliffs are actually the rim of a huge volcano.

A huge dormant—not dead, just sleeping—volcano.

Santorini and a few surrounding fragments are essentially the remains of an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements on a single island.

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A new-ish volcanic cone rises in the caldera of Santorini.

The homeland of the Minoan culture was on the island of Crete, and the famed palace complex of Knossos is one of the wonders of the Aegean.

This Bronze Age civilization thrived between 3000 to 2000 BC, and reached its peak in the period 2000 to 1580 BC.

What happened about 1500 BC? The big boom on Thera; the volcano on Santorini.

Excavations begun in 1967 on Santorini have established its importance as one of the outlying centers of the Minoan culture.

A SANTORINI ALBUM. All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

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SCENES OF AKROTIRI ON SANTORINI. All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

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Santorini Akrotiri 22Apr2014_DSC1045 Santorini Akrotiri 22Apr2014_DSC1042

All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

 

 

9 October 2014
 Mykonos, Greece

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Mykonos is an island of beauty and a bit of history, but for many people it is best known as a party island: an Aegean version of Ibiza in the Mediterranean or Monaco or St-Tropez.

In the 1960s, it was one of the homes of the Jet-Setters—the beautiful people who hopped on the jets when they first began crossing the ponds: like the characters in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita.

I find it hard to imagine what the ancient Greeks would think of it all, especially when you consider that at one time Mykonos had as its principal role raising food and delivering supplies to the nearby sacred island of Delos.

On Mykonos, the Little Venice district is an area along the water that was home to many of the old ship’s captains. Today it is home to some of the fancy clubs that the captains probably could not have gotten into.

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All photos by Corey Sandler

Up on a hill above the town are some of the famous windmills of Mykonos, reminders of the time when the wind was used to grind grain produced on the island. They’re there because the wind blows pretty strongly and often on Mykonos.

I’ve not counted personally, but we are told there are 365 churches on the island–enough to visit one per day. A different form of worship takes place on the dozen or so fine beaches. Although you do have to contend with many beaches that are going to be quite crowded with…young people. Loud. Alcoholically enhanced. Barely clothed, if not nude as a classical statue.

DELOS

From the profane to the sacred: let’s consider the island of Delos, more or less in the center of the ring of islands called the Cyclades.

Delos is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. That’s saying quite a lot, in a country that includes the Acropolis of Athens, Delphi, and so much more.

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Delos had already been considered a holy sanctuary for a thousand years before the Olympian Greeks declared it to be the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis.

It’s a tiny island, about 1.5 square miles or 4 square kilometers. It takes about 45 minutes to reach it by boat, and there’s a fair amount of walking to be done; bring a hat and sunscreen.

After the Persian Wars the island became the natural meeting-ground for the Delian League, founded in 478 BC, the congresses being held in the temple (a separate quarter was reserved for foreigners and the sanctuaries of foreign deities.)

The League’s common treasury was kept here as well until 454 BC when Pericles removed it to Athens.

All this on an island that was nearly barren, unable to provide food or water.

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A number of “purifications” were required by the city-state of Athens to render the island fit for the proper worship of the gods.

The first took place in the 6th century BC, when the tyrant Pisistratus ordered all graves within sight of the temple be dug up and the bodies moved.

Archeologists believe that about 426 to 425 BC, under the advice of the Oracle of Delphi, the island of Delos was cleansed of all dead bodies and much of the accompanying items in their tombs and graves.

It was then ordered that no one should be allowed to either die or give birth on the island due to its sacred importance and to preserve its neutrality in commerce, since no one could then claim ownership through inheritance.

And so, if you’re looking to buy yourself a private Greek island…this one is not for sale.

All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

 

22 April 2014: Santorini, Greece

A Legend of Fire and Water

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Santorini is a picture-postcard Greek Island, one of the more spectacular sights in the Aegean, a half-circle of steep cliffs topped with two horizontal towns of white and blue.

Oh, and one more thing: It’s a picture-perfect Greek island that also sits atop a ticking time bomb. The cliffs are actually the rim of a huge volcano.[whohit]-Santorini 22Apr-[/whohit]

A huge dormant—not dead, just sleeping—volcano.

Santorini and a few surrounding fragments are essentially the remains of an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements on a single island.

The homeland of the Minoan culture was on the island of Crete, and the famed palace complex of Knossos is one of the wonders of the Aegean.

This Bronze Age civilization thrived between 3000 to 2000 BC, and reached its peak in the period 2000 to 1580 BC.

What happened about 1500 BC? The big boom on Thera; the volcano on Santorini.

Excavations begun in 1967 on Santorini have established its importance as one of the outlying centers of the Minoan culture.

A SANTORINI ALBUM. All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

B-Santorini Akrotiri 22Apr2014_DSC1019 Santorini2 Santorini7 Santorini6 Santorini5 Santorini4 Santorini3 Santorini1

B-Santorini Akrotiri 22Apr2014_DSC1068

SCENES OF AKROTIRI ON SANTORINI. All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

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– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer  (Kindle Edition)