A  4.18-5.1 Northern Greece, Easter on the island Skopelos, Athens (14 days)
      $2100

View from the Austria Hotel, Athens

APRIL 20
        We'll visit several interesting places during our drive north, including the aqueduct built by Emperor Augustus for the town he created, Nikopolis, and the beautiful Venetian harbor at Nafpaktos, wherre the Turkish fleet assembled before the famous battle of Lepanto in 1571.
        We'll go to Konitsa, a few miles from Albania, after seeing the Oracle of Zeus at Dodoni. 
        The Oracle was regarded by Homer as the oldest of all oracles and second in importance only to Delfi. Zeus was the god of Dodoni and spoke through the rustling leaves of a sacred oak tree. At first the oracle consisted of only a circle of tripods around the oak; a temple was built in the 4th century, enlarged by Pyrrhos at the beginning of the 3rd century, and rebuilt at the end of this century. The most spectacular structure at Dodoni is the theater, one of the largest in Greece (holding around 20,000); it was built by Pyrrhos and rebuilt twice in later years.
        The first priests at Dodoni were called Selloi (which may be connected with Hellenes, the Greek word for themselves); Homer says that they wore no shoes, never washed their feet, and slept on the ground (probably because this oldest of oracles maintained a strong connection with Gaia-Earth, the first giver of oracles). Later a band of priestesses called Doves interpreted the sounds of the oak to petitioners. In the museum of Ioannina are several dozen lead tablets of questions put to the oracle; the most common types of questions are “How (or when) will I have a son?” and “Am I the father of her children?” and “To which god should I pray for business success?”.

 
Views of our hotel in Konitsa, the Gefiri.

   
            Dodoni theater                Venetian harbor at Nafpaktos
 
APRIL 21
        Vikos is the Grand Canyon of Greece, a spectacular gorge in the Zagori national park.  From here we'll drive about 90 minutes through the Pindos Mountains to Metsovo, a village of 5,000 Vlachs (and the wealthiest town per capita in the European Union).  Metsovo and the other mountain villages of this area are completely unlike the rest of Greece. Even the language is different, since most of the people, although they speak Greek. are Vlachs and speak Vlachika as their native tongue. The older people still wear the traditional mountain clothing: men in black. sometimes with skirts and white leggings, tasselled clogs and shepherd’s crooks, women in long skirts and embroidered velveteen bodices. They are taciturn and proud, but very friendly to their North American visitors. The scenery everywhere is fantastic: Metsovo is on the steep side of one mountain and looks across a valley to some of the highest peaks of the Pindos. capped with snow through the summer. The fields are riots of wildflowers, and in distant valleys flocks of sheep and goats are tiny moving white dots. The town itself is one of the most prosperous in Greece, with most of the income coming from lumber, grazing, cheese-making, weaving, and the bequest of the Tositsa family. Houses are wood and stone, with slate roofs and carved wooden ceilings (you’ll see these also in our hotel). During the morning we’ll visit the Tositsa Museum, the house in which the immensely wealthy family of the Barons Tositsa lived for over three centuries. After the death of the last Tositsa in 1950, the house was made into a museum, a memorial to the way the rich used to live, and a superb collection of the folk arts of the region.
     

                                                            
                                    Our hotel, the Egnatia, in Metsovo.

APRIL 22
       It's a short drive from Metsovo to Kalambaka, the town of the Meteora (24 Orthodox monasteries perched on sheer precipices).

   

         Long ago under water, the rocks have been wierdly shaped and pitted by countless centuries of wind and rain. The recesses and their inaccessibility attracted early hermits and monks to the place, and during the 14th century the first monasteries were built. Once crowded and prosperous, they became virtually deserted during the last century, although a current renaissance in monasticism is accompanied by large building projects at several of the bigger monasteries. We’ll visit either Varlaam or Metamorphosis, and see the chapel (with frescoes depicting every possible way to become a martyr), the museum, and the platform from which rope nets are let down several hundred feet by a windlass; this was until 70 years ago the only means of entrance to the monasteries and still the only way to transport goods and materials. Male visitors are not allowed to wear shorts in the monasteries, and women must wear a skirt or dress and have their shoulders covered. 
      From Meteora we'll go north to Vergina, where the new state-of-the-art museum contains the Macedonian royal burial mound and the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.
        After visiting Vergina we'll go south around Mt Olympus to Volos and Mt Pelion.

APRIL 23-24
          In Volos, we'll visit the Archaeological Museum, known for its Neolithic exhibits, and the Neolithic site of Dimini (in a suburb of Volos).  Then we'll go up to Mt Pelion, an enormous massif overlooking the Bay of Volos.  It's one of the most beautiful regions of Greece.  The area is heavily forested, with fruit orchards and whole towns of flower nurseries.  There's a ski resort at the top and scenic beaches at the foot of the mountain.  We'll stop at some of the picturesque villages, like Makrinitsa, and stay at Hania near the ski resort.
       


APRIL 25-28
        This morning we'll take the boat or hydrofoil from Volos to the island Skopelos. 

      We'll be on Skopelos for Easter Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Greek Orthodox Easter is on April 27, the third day of our stay in Skopelos.  Easter is by far the biggest holiday of the year in Greece, like our Christmas, New Year's, and July 4 all wrapped into one.  We can join the villagers for the midnight candle-lit procession to the main church and the enormous celebration that follows.  On Sunday every family roasts a lamb on a hand-turned spit in front of their houses, and there is dancing and music everywhere.
        Like the other Sporades Islands, Skopelos is mountainous and pine-covered, with dozens of marvelous beaches and picturesque coves and villages. It’s visited during the summer by many knowledgeable tourists from around the world, but fortunately it has no airport and hasn’t yet been ruined by mass tourism. It’s a big island, about 40 miles long and from 5 to 12 miles wide. A single paved road runs from Glossa, an elevated village on the west coast, to the main town of Skopelos. Situated in a circular harbor surrounded by mountains, the town rises steeply above the water like a huge layer cake. The bottom layer is the waterfront, a half-mile of restaurants, shops, and cafes almost hidden by the green of mulberry and plane trees, while above it layers of whitewashed houses with red tile roofs and brightly painted shutters seem to be piled on top of one another. 
        What is there to do in Skopelos? One could easily spend two days just exploring the town; the people are friendly and the view around every corner of the narrow lanes is wonderful; when you get tired of walking, have a seat at one of the waterfront cafes and watch the boats or chat with the people at the next table. If you want to see other parts of the island, rent a motor scooter or take the bus or a taxi; both taxis and busses leave from a plane tree on the waterfront, and the bus schedule is on a sign attached to the tree. About two and a half miles from town (a pleasant and not difficult walk) is Staphylos. the best-known beach; it’s named for a mythical prince of Crete who supposedly colonized Skopelos during the Bronze Age. Another two and a half miles along the truly breathtaking scenery of the southern coast brings you to Agnondas, a quaint village with a few houses and three seafood restaurants. Or, if you want to see the whole island, take the bus all the way to Glossa and back.
        Skopelos is the home of Kostas and Voula Kalafatis, my Greek colleagues (they help me with my arrangements while I am in America).  If you want information, help, or just friendly conversation and a cup of coffee (or something stronger), go to their shop on the waterfront.
      On the 28th we'll take the ferry back to the Agios Konstantinos on the mainland; from here it's a 2-hour bus ride back to Athens.

APRIL 29
    Today we'll visit the Akropolis and Agora.


   
    We’ll meet in the hotel lobby for a brief discussion about Athens and the Akropolis, then take a 10-minute walk to the Akropolis entrance. On our way we’ll pass the restored Theater of Herodes Atticus (the Herodion), originally built in the 2nd century AD and still used for musical and theatrical events during the annual Athens Festival (June-September).

        Excavations have shown that the Akropolis itself was inhabited as early as 5000 BC and in use continually through the Helladic (2800-1800) and Mycenean (1800-1100) periods. No remains save pottery survive from the Dark Age (1100-800), but during the Archaic period (800-500) several temples and other structures were built, all of which were destroyed during the sack of Athens by a Persian invasion in 480; the remains of these archaic buildings are housed in the Akropolis Museum. During the second half of the 5th century all the structures still to be seen on the Akropolis were built, first the Parthenon (447-438), then the Propylaia (437-432), the temple of Athena Nike (427-424), and the Erechtheion (completed around 395).
       We enter through the Propylaia, the entrance gate on the west end of the hill; the little temple on the south-west corner is the Athena Nike, restored most recently in 1936-40. Proceeding along the north side of the Parthenon, the Erechtheion is on the left and may be visited first; closed off for restoration for many years, it was opened in 1989 and we can now walk entirely around it. It is a composite structure which was used for several cults. principally those of Athena, Poseidon, and Erechtheus (son of Erichthonios, a mythical half-serpent half-man king of Athens). The south portico is the famous Karyatid Porch: the Karyatids are the six columns in the shape of women. The columns in place are all replicas, one original having been removed by Lord Elgin and the other five kept in the Akropolis Museum.
        Returning to the Parthenon, the north-east corner provides a good vantage to observe certain famous architectural refinements. The spaces between columns are not all the same, the corner columns are a bit thicker than the others, horizontal lines are curved and vertical lines are inclined. If you sight along the top step of the foundation, you will see the slight bulge of the center, which is repeated in the architrave above. All these innovations give the building an appearance of regularity and vertical lift from a distance (and it was from a distance, after all. that most people in antiquity viewed the Parthenon).
        “Parthenon” means ‘virgin” and the temple was dedicated to the virgin goddess Athena, the patroness of Athens. The sculptures on the east pediment represented the birth of Athena (who leapt in full armor from the head of her father Zeus). The scene on the west pediment was the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica. The metopes had scenes found on many classical temples: the war between the Centaurs and Lapiths, the war between the Giants and the Gods. and the war between Athens and the Amazons. The frieze along the outer wall of the inner temple represented the procession of the Greater Panathenaia festival. Much of the frieze, along with some metopes and pedimental sculptures, was removed by Lord Elgin in 1801 and is now in the British Museum (the “Elgin Marbles”).
        The chief architects of the Parthenon were Iktinos and Kallikrates, and overall supervisor of the project was the famous sculptor Pheidias, who created the gold and ivory statue of Athena almost 40 feet high.
        Although converted into a Christian basilica and, later. into a Moslem mosque, the Parthenon remained largely intact until 26 September 1687, when a mortar shot set off an explosion in the building, which was being used by the Turks as a gunpowder and munitions storehouse.
        Just east of the Parthenon and below ground level is the Museum. Going though it clockwise, the north and back halls contain remains of pre-classical structures and the south halls contain artifacts from the Parthenon and Erechtheion. Specially interesting are the pedimental fragments from 6th century temples (the emphasis on serpentine shapes reflects the importance of snake-men in the mythical history of Athens), the Moschophoros (an early 6th century statue of a man carrying a calf), the Korai (archaic statues of maidens; the most famous is the Peplos Kore), the Kritias Boy (around 480, one of the earliest examples of the Classical style), and the few fragments from the Parthenon pediment not destroyed or carried off. The last two rooms contain what is left in Greece from the friezes of the Parthenon, Erechtheion, and Nike temple, and four of the original Karyatid columns.
        From the wall along the north side of the Akropolis you have a good view of modern Athens, as well as the ancient Agora, the Roman forum, the National Cathedral, and the Parliament building on Syntagma Square.  From the lookout point on the east end you can see the National Garden, the Stadium where the 1896 Olympics were held, and the huge Roman temple of Jupiter (2nd century AD). The south wall looks down on the theater of Dionysos (where the dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes were performed) and the Roman theater of Herodes Atticus.

        The Akropolis entrance is just a few yards from the Areopagos, a small hill just northwest of the Akropolis. Here, according to myth, the first jury trial was held, the trial of Orestes for the murder of his mother Klytemnestra; when the jury of 12 Athenian citizens voted 6 for acquittal, 6 to convict, Athena cast the deciding vote for acquittal and established the principle that an evenly split jury must decide for the defendant. During historical times the hill was the meeting place first for the aristocratic council of elders and later for the most serious trials (treason and homicide). In 51 AD St. Paul delivered here his sermon on the “Unknown God,” a copy of which is inscribed on a bronze plaque beside the stairs leading up the hill.

        From the Areopagos we’ll walk down the hill to the Agora, the social and civic center of ancient Athens. In use throughout antiquity, the Agora was gradually covered over by newer dwellings, so that in 1931 when the American School of Classical Studies began systematic excavations, the only visible ancient building was the Doric temple at the northwest corner (the “Theseion”). We’ll begin by going through the Agora Museum, contained in the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos; originally built by King Attalos II of Pergamum (159-138 BC), the stoa was rebuilt in 1953-56 thanks to contributions by private American donors. The museum, which contains some 180,000 objects (not all on display), offers a unique perspective on Athenian history from Neolithic times through the Roman period. It is arranged chronologically, in a single long hall beginning with pre-Bronze Age finds and objects from the many Mycenean burials in the area and proceeding through historical times (each century takes up about 20 feet). Almost all the objects are very well described on labels by the American excavators, but I’ll mention a few of special interest: in the middle of the hall, on the left, are a klepsydra (water clock) used to limit the times of orators’ speeches, a kleroterion (lottery machine) used to select public officials (the radical democracy of 5th century Athens believed all citizens were equally capable of fulfilling official duties), a large bronze shield captured from the Spartans in 425 b.c., and a terracotta potty chair; opposite these are a beautiful selection of black-figure and red-figure vases and an entire case of ostraka (broken pieces of pottery used in banishment elections). Ostracism was practiced in Athens from 487 to 417 BC: every year the Assembly voted on whether or not to hold an ostracism; if they held one, each citizen wrote on a sherd the name of the person he wanted to be exiled; if over 6000 votes were cast, the person with the most votes had to leave town for 10 years; in general, the most popular and successful public leaders were selected for ostracism.
        Because the Agora was in use for so long and so much rebuilding took place, there is now very little to see of the earlier structures. Walking across the north side of the Agora from the museum to the Theseion temple, we pass by three colossal statues of a Giant and two Tritons; these were the porch columns of a huge music hall, the Odeion of Agrippa (Emperor Augustus’ son-in-law). Next we see a large altar, perhaps the altarof Zeus Agoraios (Zeus of the Agora) and a headless statue of the Emperor Hadrian. Along the west side of the Agora, below the Theseion. are the government buildings, a Bouleuterion (Council Chamber) and a Tholos (the name given to any circular temple or building) where the 50 Council members in session (Prytaneis) dined and where a third of them stayed 24 hours a day for a month (the 5th century Council had 500 members but only 50 of them were in session each of the 10 months).
        The Theseion (Temple of Theseus) is wrongly named:  the building is actually a temple of Hephaistos. the god of fire and metallurgy, and should be called the Hephaisteion. It is the best preserved Doric temple in existence. Fighting centaurs appear on the west pediment, which may have portrayed the battle between the Centaurs and Lapiths.


Athens, Agora:  Temple of Hephaistos

        It will be lunch time when we leave the Agora; after lunch in the Plaka (the “Old Town” of Athens), we’ll walk around the area, visiting Syntagma Square and the Parliament building, in front of which the Changing of the Guard occurs every hour on the hour. The rest of the day is free.

APRIL 30
        This morning we'll take the Metro to the National Archaeological Museum.

                              
                                 Athens, National Museum:  Zeus

        After the Archaeological Museum, the afternoon is free.  There will be time for those who wish to visit the newly-reopened Benaki Museum or the Cycladic Museum (or both, since they're down the street from one another.

MAY 1
        Departure

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