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GREECE RE-VISITED 2006 - Weeks 6~7 |
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The new Rion suspension bridge spanning the Gulf of Corinth was the picture of elegance, and had been expected to make the ferries redundant; but the costly tolls have meant that local traffic still keep the ferries busy chugging to and fro across the narrows. Across on
the north shore, we turned off towards Naupaktos, a town with a long
history going back to Classical times. It was here also in 1571 that
Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, lost his arm in the naval Battle of Lepanto against the Turks; his statue still guards over the harbour.
Today, despite the heavy through traffic which blights the town
Somewhere up there in the gloom was Delphi. But first we had to pass the dreary industrial port of Itea, the area around scarred with the spoil heaps of former bauxite mining. In the drizzly rain, the roads were caked with filthy red mud churned up by trucks. It was a depressing sight after delightful Galaxidi. Thankfully, we began the climb through the olive groves for which nearby Amphissa is renowned, up the winding hairpins to reach Camping Apollon close to modern Delphi village. Set on a shelf at 2,000 feet on the western slopes of Parnassos, it is a heavenly location looking out across the grey-green sea of olives filling the valley below. The panorama stretches from the distant Gulf of Corinth around to Amphissa nestled into the foothills of lofty Mount Giona whose summit graces the western horizon. At least that was the view when we were last here in 2004. For the next 3 days, the entire sweep of the valley below us was filled with misty rain, obscuring the magnificent panorama, and the skyline graced with broken white cloud (Photo 1). And in the morning, the hillside resounded with the tinkling of goats' bells and the call of this year's first cuckoo.
Continuing
to the northern part of the island, we descended steeply from the wooded
highlands to the coastal plain; the name Euboia means 'rich in cattle'
and this was uncharacteristically lush farming country, with glorious views
across the straits to the misty outline of mainland Pilion where we
should travel next week. By the village of Ellenika, we paused at Cape
Artemisio, where the Greeks had fought a naval battle with the invading
Persians in 480 BC, and where the magnificent bronze statue of Poseidon was
recovered from an ancient shipwreck and is now displayed in the Athens
National Archaeological Museum. Most of the villages such as the
We were now passing from Central Greece towards Thessaly, and camped that night at the aptly named Interstation Camping. It's northwards now towards the city of Volos and the Pilion peninsula. Follow our continuing ventures next week. Sheila and Paul Published: Friday 5 May 2006
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It always
seems to rain when we camp at Rion, and on the grey morning
we left the Peloponnese, heavy rain clouds veiled the
hills to the
north where we were now heading.
until
the new by-pass opens, Naupaktos is a lively place, its main
street lined with butchers and fishmongers and trendy clothes shops. We
crawled through in busy traffic to join the main road eastwards into
Phokis; across the Gulf, the distant mountains of the Peloponnese peered
out through the mist. The rain and heavy cloud made this coastline seem
even more dreary, only brightened by the pink-flowered oleander bushes
lining the roadside. The one jewel along this otherwise
featureless coastline is the charming little port of Galaxidi, the
waterfront lined with tempting fish tavernas, and perfect spot for lunch
of meaty octopus with crisply-grilled tentacles. From here, you could
look across the bay to the mighty snow-capped massif of Mount Parnassos
rearing menacingly upwards into the rain clouds. 
Being just 2
kms from Delphi village, we walked up from the campsite, and in spite of the
weather, spent 2 rewarding days exploring the archaeological site and
museum, re-opened at last and
displaying the priceless finds from the
excavations. It is difficult to explain the significance and setting of
the oracular sanctuary at Delphi: set high on the steep terrace side of
Mount Parnassos, the site looks down across the olive-filled Pleistos
valley, and from antiquity has been regarded as sacred. Legend has it
that Apollo, something of a parvenu deity, killed the shrine's guardian
serpent, Python, and after a penitence-serving exile, returned to
establish his oracle in the Sanctuary of Delphi. By Classical times, the
Oracle had achieved prominent religious and political prestige
throughout the Greek world and beyond. Individual rulers and city-states
sought Delphic advice on both personal and political issues, or
dedicated costly votive offerings to Apollo which served to beautify the
shrine and enhance the prestige of the donor - a sort of ancient
corporate sponsorship. Appellants would firstly undergo ritual
purification at the nearby Kastalian Spring set under the enormous
Phaedriades cliffs, before proceeding up the Sacred Way to the god's
temple to put their question. Apollo's priestess would utter the
oracular response in mystically equivocal hexameters, and it was for the
client to work out the meaning - a sort of ancient predecessor of modern
management consultancy. A famous example of Delphic obscurity was
Themistocles' successful interpretation of the Oracle's response as to
how Athens should protect itself from the invading Persians in 480
BC; 'Defend the city with wooden walls' was Apollo's advice.
Themistocles wisely construed this, not literally, but indicating
reliance on the Athenian navy's wooden ships, and the Persians were
defeated in the confined waters off Salamis.
As the
power and influence of the Delphic Oracle grew, the site expanded with a
huge temple to Apollo, smaller 'treasuries' donated by city-states to
contain their offerings, a theatre and
stadium high on the mountainside to host the 4 yearly Pan-Hellenic
Pythian Games, celebrated with athletic competitions and musical and
dramatic festivals (Photos 2 and 3). The Delphi Museum contains a
treasure trove of finds from the ancient site, the most famous of which
is the beautiful bronze statue of the Charioteer, part of a
votive-offering dedicated by the tyrant of Gela, a Greek colony in
Sicily, celebrating victory in the Pythian Games chariot race of 478 BC (Photo
4). On a smaller scale is the delicately painted kylix (see right)
showing a seated Apollo holding his lyre and pouring a libation. The
weather for this year's visit to Delphi had been disappointing, but
despite the rain, the misty clouds swirling eerily around the cliffs and
filling the valley below enhanced the inherent mystique of the Sanctuary
site.
1st May (Protomayia)
is a national holiday in Greece, when houses and cars are traditionally
decorated with garlands
and posies of Spring wild flowers; George, our camper was no exception
(see left). We used this day to travel eastwards across Boiotia. While
admiring so much of Greek cultural inheritance, one of the modern
Greek's less attractive features is the inherent weakness of soul which
requires him constantly to prove his manhood by driving at breakneck
speed to the homicidal disregard of others; no wonder Greece has one of
the highest road death rates in Europe. Thankful to leave the main
National Road and the speeding Athenians returning home after the
holiday weekend, we crossed the new suspension bridge to Greece's 2nd
largest island after Crete, Euboia (Evvia), for a few days' stay in the
north of the island. Although mobbed by Athenian holiday-makers in
summer, Northern Euboia is almost too peaceful in May. We wove our way
by an unending series of twisting bends over the high wooded hills, and
dropped down to the coast overlooking the Aegean close to the village of
Agia Anna (St Ann), the first customers this season at the thankfully
deserted beach-side Camping Agia Anna. As we turned in that night, we
again heard the mellifluous song of a nightingale echoing in the nearby
woods. And the following morning, the sun returned, enabling us to dry
out kit. How often have we remarked on that primordial sense of
well-being to feel the sun's warmth after a period of rain.
tiny fishing port of Orei were devoid of summer tourists and still
seemingly in hibernation. In this remote corner of the island, local
people went about their business, and youngsters returned from
school on the bus. Just beyond Neos Pyrgos, we passed a small
cycad-fringed beach looking across to the mainland of Thessaly on the
skyline (Photo 5).Around on the western coast, we explored the
village of Limni (Photo 6); encircled by tree-covered hills, this
red-roofed port had grown wealthy from 19th century shipping. Down in the
narrow streets, we found the village's Historical and Folklore Museum, a
superbly modest collection contributed by local people and illustrating
life in Limni. Like other villages in North Euboia, Limni had absorbed
large numbers of Greek families displaced in 1923 from Asia Minor by the
population exchanges following the 'Great Catastrophe' of the war
with Turkey (see Prologue edition on Greek 20th century history). The
curator said that her great-grandmother came from Constantinople, and
she spoke matter-of-factly as if one day soon, the Mother-City would
again be returned to take its rightful place as part of Greater Greece.
If you visit Euboia, a visit to this excellent local museum would
be worthwhile (closes 1-00pm).
We camped
that night at the excellent site near to Rovies, just north of Limni,
and witnessed a superb sunset across
the sea along the island's westerly coastline (Photo 7). Next day
we caught the ferry back from Loutra Ethipsou to the mainland at Arkitsa,
to continue our journey north. In passing, we paused at the site of the
Battle of Thermopylae; the clouds over Mount Iti darkened as we stood by
the memorial to pay our respects to the 300 Spartans who died defending
Greece against Persian invasion in 480 BC (Photo 8). We
speculated how different subsequent western civilisation might have
been, had it not been for these brave Greeks' sacrifice, as witnessed by
the memorial inscription: Stranger, go tell the Spartans that we lie
here, obedient to their word Their instruction from King Leonidas
had been to fight to the last against the Persian invaders whose numbers
ran to 100s of 1000s, and who drank rivers dry in their progress
according to the historian Herodotus. We should today honour the
debt we owe to this sacrifice by being more wary of latter-day threats
to our western civilisation.
