8 nights from £1101
Travelling through this part of Greece evokes thoughts, first recorded in 776BC, of the original Olympics with sprinting the only event. Wrestling, boxing and equestrian events were added but cleverly non-Greeks were not permitted to take part until the arrival of the Romans in 146 BC.
Contests were also held at other ancient sites such as Delphi but, as a pagan event, it died out in 393AD. The first modern Olympics were held in Greece in 1896. Following the successful Athens Olympics in 2004 and the interest anticipated for London in 2012, a full day is spent at ancient Olympia. Modern Olympic connections may be explored in Athens, perhaps on the three-night extension as further evidence of the rich Athenian heritage was revealed during the construction of the Metro for the 2004 Olympics. The narrow Isthmus of Corinth connects the mainland of southern Greece and the Peloponnese and it is here that we find the heart of the classical Greek scene. Against a backdrop of severely beautiful mountains whilst frequently keeping company with the glittering Aegean we come upon ruined temples, Frankish forts, acoustically perfect amphitheatres, Byzantine citadels, fishing harbours and Venetian architecture.
At every turn we encounter the heroes and events of the past: at Pylos the palace where Nestor met Telepaths as recorded in Homer’s Odyssey, the Spartans – totalitarian warmongers – and St. Paul preaching on the steps at Acro- Corinth. We are also reminded of the courageous fighters in the Battle of Navarino (1827), the archaeologist Henry Schliemann who, following clues in Homer’s text discovered the ancient city of Mycenae in 1874 and claimed to have found the body of Agamemnon; the playwrights and their players at the amphitheatre of Epidaurus and the oracle at Delphi.
