Port 51 Piraeus, Greece

by Ed · April 23, 2022

Yasu!

We were already docked when we woke at 5 AM on Apr 18th, 2022!

Before I proceed, this is the start of a new segment, so I want to share with you what our itinerary is for the next few weeks.

It’s wonderful that the terminals here have names, not just numbers or letters! This is new since the last time we were here, almost 6 years ago.

I guess we’re really here!

I have an excursion today to see Corinth and Mycenae. As the bus leaves Piraeus we swing around the stadium. Our tour guide, Eleni, points out the triangular hill in the distance, and the little square bump to the right of it. “That’s the Parthenon!” she declares. I zoom in…

…and there it is! Not a great shot, but at least I can say I saw it again.

On our way to Corinth we make a stop at the Corinth Canal. This is a sculpture at the bridge. If you haven’t heard of the Corinth Canal it is a manmade canal across the narrow neck of the isthmus of Corinth. This allows boats to cross the land and save a lot of time by not having to sail around Corinth!

All I could say when I first saw this was “Holy sh**!” This is awesome! I apologize that photos do not do it justice!

The water is about 150 feet below me! It is supposed to be about 80 feet wide. The seagull is a mere spec at this distance. Whew! OK, moving on…

…I run across this little fella. This is the cutest trash can I have ever seen!

We arrive at Corinth. The mountain with the walled city is cast in clouds. Light rain teases us, not drenching, but wetting.

Zooming in, nope, no Corinth.

We go through the museum to see the artifacts and see the progression of art and the realism projected by the artists. Then we venture out into the site.

This is marketplace. Picture a series of shops to the left – those are the northwest shops, and to the right – those are the central shops. Portions of the marble floor still exist across the field.

On the south side is this structure. It is called a bema. It is a stand on which speechs are made, proclamations are read to the people.

What makes this bema more insteresting to me is this is where the Apostle Paul was brought before proconsul Gallio on charges from the Jewish community of conducting illegal teachings. Simply stated, the proconcul refused to hear the case as it was a dispute between religious factions. Pretty cool to think I was walking on the same platform that St Paul walked! I feel privileged to be here!

This is the north basilica, set along the road.

This is the Fountain of Peirene.

And we end with the corner of the Temple of Apollo. Picture this 6 columns wide rather than 5, and 15 columns long, rather than 3! That’s how big this once was. And see the silhouette of a person on the far left? That gives you an idea of how beig the really was!

Finally, as we’re leaving for our next stop, the clouds lift and we can see the Corinth Castle on top of the hill!

A short while later we arrive at the hilltop walled city of Mycenae. As you can see, the weather is still not cooperating. It is drizzly and cold!

Eleni informs us we will not be going up the hill – there is not enough time. Our entire tour will be in the museum. A few of us ask to skip the museum and go onto the site, and she grants us permission, but we have to back at the bus at 1:00 PM. Roxanne and I head up the hill!

We approach the Lion’s Gate, one of three gates into the city.

This gate is marked by a pair of lion’s looking up the column.

Inside the wall is the granary. This is typically where wheat and animal feed is stored.

Just beyond the granaray is a circular pit we joked was the swimming pool. But it turns out to be a circular graveyard for the royalty of the city.

Continuing our walk, we pass a series of homes we plan to revisit if we have enough time, and we come to the Palace. The view is stunning here! The footings for a couple of columns are clearly visible.

On the north side we see the North Gate. The stones used to build this entire site and walls are massive!

Going down the hill this hole comes in to view. We can see the bottom and see an entrance coming up to it.

We go down to the entrance, and discover this is a tomb with a collapsed roof. This is a beehive-shaped tomb of Aegisthus.

A short distance away is another tomb entrance. This is the tomb of Clytemnestra.

Again, this is a beehive-shaped chamber…

…but it is difficult to see the behive shape – it looks parabolic to me. I have to believe the experts.

Outside of Clytemnestra’s tomb we ascend the slope and arrive at a series of graves on our way to the parking lot. This is inside Grave Circle B, with 26 graves that date back to 17th century BC (BCE)!

Our last stop is the Tomb of Agamemnon, also called the Treasury of Atreus. This is actually part of the same Mycenaen site, but is outside of the parking lot. It dates back to the 13th century BC (BCE).

This is another beehive-shaped tomb, and I can clearly see the point in this one.

The walls are smooth, but also have a slight curvature that I can feel with my hand when rubbing up and down as well as right and left – they are not flat. Eleni tells us this can only be done with laser technology. Uhm, obviously not!

This tomb has another chamber inside! This is the treasury. Unfortuantely this tomb was robbed long before it was identified, so there are no records of the contents. But it is clear that shepherds found this place and took shelter in here. The black marks on the walls are soot from campfires.

I think I mentioned earlier that the stones used for the city wall were huge. Similarly, the stones for the tombs are huge! I stepped this one off – it’s just over 21 feet long! It’s over 4 feet high!