Italy & Greece Tour: Part IX: Olympia and Nauplia
My Journey: Olympia and Nauplia
4/4/2023 Olympia, Greece
After breakfast in the hotel, we headed out as a group to the archeological site. On the way there, we passed the Olympic History Museum and took in, for the first time, the scenery of Greece.
Before reaching the park, we met with the local tour guide. The park was just on the other side of a bridge crossing a small creek. [As I have gone through labeling pictures, I have found that Google maps has not translated everything to English. When unavailable, you may see the Greek names of things and places.]
Site of Original Olympic Games
The site was expansive and while the guide did her thing, I headed off on my own. Right when you come into the site, the remains of the Gymnasium are on the right, but the most striking feature is the Philippeion. The Gymnasium was a practice space and the northern most end of it is still under exploration. The Philippeion was started by Phillip II and finished by Alexander the Great. It is a circular structure commemorating the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE.
Philippeion
The site includes multiple baths and the remains of columns from various structures. Near the Philippeion, is the Temple of Hera and Nymphaea. This area of the site is a living part of the modern Olympics as this is where the torch is lit for the torch relay. Two of the larger ruin structures are the Palaestra and the Workshop of Phidias.
One of the things about this site is its long history. At one point, the bath house was converted to a glasshouse and the workshop of Phidias at one point was an early Christian basilica. There were also a lot of cats.
Palaestra
I linked back up with the family as they got close to the stadium arch.
Stadium Gate
The stadium and the gate was one of the last places we visited in the archeological site. At this point, the tour ended and we had the choice of going back to town or to the museum. You know we were going to the museum.
Archaeological Museum of Olympia
It was just a short walk to the museum, and it is on the way to the modern town of Olympia. All of these things were within walking distance of the hotel in Olympia.
Archaeological Museum of Olympia
Outside the museum, is displayed a variety of statues and archeological pieces. The exterior of the museum is beautiful and it feels like it belongs in the space. This was our first museum in Greece and all the museums we visited here were incredibly well put together with clear traffic flows and in this case, a clear chronological story to tell.
One of the things that greets you in the museum is the Pediment of the Megarian Treasury, 520 BC. Originally, it was located in the sanctuary of Olympia, which held votive offerings of the Greek city-state of Megara.
Treasury of the Megarians
There is a large collection of ceramics from the mundane to the absolutely artistic. Religious figures, offerings and practical goods such as lamps.
The museum has an immense collection of bronze artifacts on display. One of them is this iconic winged female figure.
Bronze Female Winged Figure
A significant portion of these objects are labeled as votive or religious in nature. The gallery for these objects was beautifully laid out. The deeper you go in the museum, the further along the chronological narrative you travel.
I particularly love the little house figures and the ones of Silenus. The bronze object collection includes a significant number of arms and armor, with helmets and child devices making up some of the more impressive items.
Massive Bronze Sheet
And there are a lot of helmets to look at.
Bronze Helmets
A lot of helmets, but there are also greaves and lovely cuirasses.
The collection includes an example of the fixtures for a child and projectile points.
Bronze Shield Device
And of course my gay ass loves the cocks. You know, like this gorgeous cock child device.
The Nike Of Paeonios
There was quite a bit of sculpture to be seen.
One of the best works of art in the museum is the Hermes of Praxiteles.
Hermes of Praxiteles
There was quite a bit of cast glass pieces and molds that were used to create ornament elements for the sculptures.
Jewelry
There was quite a collection of beads, many made of faience, while others were glass and natural stones. Faience glass is a way of making glass beads using powder and fine grain glass, mixed with binders and water, creating a glass paste that is worked like clay before being fired.
The deeper you go in the museum, the closer to the end of the site’s cultural role in the pre-modern world you get. As you near the end, you enter the Iron Age. The museum has quite a bit of iron tools on display.
With the Iron Age, eventually came the invention of the blow pipe, and with it Roman Blown Glass. There was quite a bit of it on display. Unlike the collection of glass I saw in Murano, the glass here was well labeled.
Roman Glass
There was a hole wall of vessels. I was very excited to see so much glass and I took my time to take pictures of all of it. This is near the end of the museums chronology. In the end, Christianity took hold and the site’s role shifted away from a pagan site of games and religious veneration of the Gods.
With the museum behind us, we took the path back to the town of Olympia, stopping at a rather extensive gift shop just on the other side of the creek.
At some point, babe realized that his international calling/data plan did not include Greece so that complicated his time in Greece.
Olympia
We visited many of the shops and all the people were so friendly. I picked up some genuine leather sandals and got Dez a leather belt. I also found a Greek coin with an owl on it that I thought was appropriate to have now that I am a member of the OVO. I even found a Greek style folk shirt that I had been wanting. We then had to make our way back to the hotel for lunch. Since we missed the dinner the night before, the hotel made us a complimentary lunch.
There were many things to pick from and we enjoyed our meal. Dez’s parents told him about a honey store so we headed back to the town before lunch ended to get some honey to bring home.
Then, we were back on the bus and headed to Fanaras.
Fanaras
On the way to our next location, we stopped in Fanaras, which is just around the corner from Olympia. Again, we endured a demo, this time on olive oil, followed by a sales pitch. The demo was at the Padelina Shopping Center, which really is just a big tourist souvenir store.
Then, we started our trip across the mountains. The drive was absolutely beautiful. From the little towns, to the mountains, I enjoyed it all.
Nauplia (Nafplio)
Ultimately, we arrived in the port city of Nauplia, with its citadel atop the mountain over looking the city and its port.
Miltiadis Bastion, Palamidi Fortress
We had just enough time after settling into the hotel to hit up a store for some needed personal items, then we met back up with the tour folks for a walk to the restaurant for tonight’s dinner.
We had some time on the way there to take some pictures of the city scape and the port with the little castle in the middle.
Bourtzi Castle
I feel like there was more to see and do here than we had time for.
Nafplio Port
The dinner was one of the best we had. They gave us the choice of chicken or lamb. I, of course, chose lamb. It came with gravy over it. Dez said that I looked very disappointed when it was placed in front of me. I am not a big fan of sauce served on my meats. Once I tried it though, I was very happy with the lamb. The potatoes in Greece were great at every place we had them. This place, in particular, was one of the best restaurants of the trip despite the cats that were at our feet while we were eating.
With dinner behind us, we walked about the town doing some more window shopping while we went.
On the way back to the hotel, we found some Greek Gelato. I chose a couple of specifically Greek flavors and was very happy with my choices. For the most part, I tend to like the flavor palette that the Greek people favor.
New Book
This piece was inspired by one in the book. It is one of many Mycenaean pieces I made once home.
Tips and Lessons Learned:
Double check your cellular data plans before buying and check again.