After a day spent on the Acropolis and touring Athens, we departed in a motor coach for Sounion when the sun was still high in the west. The scenery was beautiful and the weather perfect for sightseeing and dining.

The first reference of this deme (municipality) occurs in The Odyssey. Homer recounts a tale of how when the Greek commanders were returning from Troy, King Menelaus of Sparta’s helmsman died. He did so while they were sailing around “Holy Sounion, Cape of Athens.” The ship landed at Sounion so that the helmsman could be afforded proper funeral rites—cremation on a funeral pyre on the beach.

Located on the southern tip of the Attic peninsula, Sounion was once a strategic stronghold of Athens.  Their grain supplies from Euboea (Evia, the second largest Greek island after Crete) came by ship and passed by this landmark, requiring it be protected from the Spartans.

Two-hundred feet above the sea on a cliff, the Temple of Poseidon is an impressive monument. Doric in style, this temple was completed in 440 BC, and was a replacement for one originally built of tufa. The first temple was destroyed when Greece was invaded by Xerxes I. The design of the temple is a typical hexastyle, so it had a front portico with six columns. Only some of the original columns are left standing.

As the sun sets, this temple takes on a magical appearance, the columns turning golden in the late afternoon light.

With a new moon, the sight was striking. A huge crowd had assembled on the edge of the cliff to watch the sunset, and we were reminded of a similar event when we last watched the sunset on the beach at Carmel-by-the-Sea (although no one in this crowd applauded when the sun finally set into the sea).

Once the sun was completely set, we headed for a nearby seaside restaurant and enjoyed a dinner of sea bass.

This was our last night together as a group. Although everyone else had to get up at two o’clock in the morning for the trip to the Athens airport, we were able to sleep in a few more hours before we, too, had to get to the airport for the last leg of our stay in Greece—Santorini.

Built to house every artifact ever discovered on the top and slopes of the Acropolis in Athens, the Acropolis Museum is a modern wonder. Covering a total area of 25,000 square meters, it has over 14,000 square meters of exhibition space. Admission is cheap: 5 Euros in the winter and 10 in the summer.

Beneath the building is a large urban settlement dating from Archaic to Early Christian Athens. The design of the museum allows a visitor to see those ruins by way of a glass ground floor.  The image shown here is from outside the museum–the sidewalks leading up to the entrance are open to show the circular tower-hall of an ancient Athenian building. Image is courtesy The Acropolis Museum.

This photo, from the Acropolis Museum website, shows how the top floor of the museum is the same orientation as the Parthenon and the same height as the stylobate.

Artifacts are organized according to where they were located on the rock and from which era (archaic, classical, and end of antiquity). They are also varied, from a jar lid to the original caryatids that graced the porch of the Erechtheion.

On the slope of the Acropolis were the sanctuaries of Asclepios, Nymphe, and Dionysos.

Votives from the archaic period include the Korai of the Acropolis (she still has some paint left!) and a male statue.

Other pieces include the three-bodied daemon, Heracles and the Triton, and the Magic Sphere of Helios.

From the classical Parthenon, originals as well as reproductions of the friezes and metopes are mounted according to where they were located–the top floor of the museum is set up to replicate the structure. The largest marbles from the pediments are still located at the British Museum, so those on display here are all reproductions (but the Greeks want their originals back, and this museum was built to house them).

Finally, here is the central akroterion of the Parthenon roof along with a piece of another.

We enjoyed a traditional Greek lunch and Greek coffee at the restaurant located on the roof of the museum, and our view was of the Parthenon.

This was our last night in Athens as a group. Next stop for just us: Santorini!

After making the trip back to Athens, we checked into our hotel, Divani Palace Acropolis, and had a traditional Greek dinner. Located in the historical heart of Athens, the hotel is close enough to walk to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. It’s also located atop part of the Themistoclean Wall, which is on display behind glass in the lower level of the hotel. As a result of the Persian Wars, Themistocle’s Wall was built during the 5th century BC in the hopes of defending against further invasion.

A vibrant city at night, Athens is also safe. We walked to dinner and passed by the ruins of Hadrian’s Library.

The following morning, we took a sightseeing tour of Athens. The itinerary included a trip to the Olympic Stadium and the capital building. Then we headed to the base of the Acropolis for our climb to the top.

The marble steps are slippery from years of use and lead up to the Propylaia, or monumental gateway.  A building of the Doric order, it includes a few Ionic columns supporting the roof of the central wing. This complex structure was built to leave a lasting impression on any visitor (always be sure to look up).

The Parthenon, an enduring symbol of Athenian democracy (it was originally the treasury) and one of the world’s architectural feats, is undergoing another round of restoration. This time, titanium is being used in place of rebar that left rust stains on the marble columns. Replacement columns are being carved from marble taken from the same quarry as the original, so that, with time, the color will match up to the original. Considering the Parthenon was severely damaged in 1687—when an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment—it looks pretty good behind the scaffolding. It’s doubtful it will ever look as it did after it was first built (below right).

The Acropolis is also home to the Temple of Athena Nike, which once housed a gold statue of the goddess, her clipped wings preventing her from leaving the city.

Built between 421 and 406 BC, the Erechtheion is a temple dedicated to both Poseidon and Athena and includes one of the most famous porches in the world. The statues that grace the Porch of the Maidens now are reproductions—their originals are in the nearby Acropolis Museum.

From the southwest edge of the Acropolis, there is an excellent view of the Odeon of Herodes-Atticus. Built in 161 AD, this stone theatre was—and still s a venue for music concerts and can seat 5,000.

From the Acropolis, you can see all of Athens including other ruins like the Temple of Zeus and the Dionysus Theatre.

After our descent, we bought a Koulouri (a pretzel-looking bread covered in sesame seeds) and headed to the Acropolis Museum. See you there!

Located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus high above the Gulf of Corinth, Delphi was considered by the ancient Greeks to be the center of the world. According to mythology, Zeus sent out two eagles from the ends of the universe to find the navel of Gaia, and this is where they met. This UNESCO World Heritage site was the center of our world for a full day.

We made the two-hour trek from Athens to Delphi on a tour bus after flying from Rome in the early morning hours. We passed geological formations that reminded us of Wyoming.

After checking into our hotel in the town of Delphi so we could drop off our luggage, we reboarded the bus for the short trip to the site. Our bus driver managed the winding, thin mountain road like a champ. (Note: After having ridden several buses in different parts of Greece, we admit to being very impressed by their drivers. They are masters at negotiating roads never designed for conveyances larger than chariots.)

Our guide led us up a steep slope into the center of the ruins before explaining the historical significance of the area.

In mythology, Python, a huge serpent, guarded the navel before the infant god Apollo stayed him. When Apollo’s arrows pierced the serpent, its body fell into a fissure and great fumes arose from the crevice as its carcass rotted. All those who stood over the gaping fissure fell into sudden, often violent, trances. In this state, it was believed that Apollo would possess the oracle and fill them with divine presence.

Named for the serpent, Pythia, the role of the Oracle of Delphi was played by a pure, chaste and honest young virgin. However, since young virgins were prone to attracting negative attention from the men who sought their council (which resulted in oracles being raped and violated), older women of at least 50 began to fill the position. They fasted and drank spring water to prepare, and then on the seventh day of the nine warmest months of the year, they held a dish of spring water and took their position on a tripod chair positioned over a fissure. Monarchs as well as mortals made the pilgrimage to Delphi to ask questions of the oracle. Although her answers were sometimes vague and could be misinterpreted, she was the most powerful person in Greece.

As to why the Oracle of Delphi experienced her visions, we can turn to a more modern explanation. In the late 1980s, a team of curious scientists discovered that the rocks beneath the Temple of Apollo were oily bituminous limestone and had been fractured by two faults that crossed beneath the temple. This had to be more than a coincidence. The scientists theorized that tectonic movements and earthquakes caused friction along the faults. Combined with the spring water that ran beneath the temple, methane, ethylene and ethane gas would rise through the faults to the center and directly into the temple. The low room, with its limited ventilation and lack of oxygen, would help amplify the effect of the gasses and induce the trance-like symptoms experienced by the oracles.

The site includes the temple of Apollo and the ancient theater (above), the Castalian spring, the gymnasium and a stadium where athletes competed.

The history of the Sanctuary is displayed in the site’s archaeological museum’s 14 rooms. Here you can learn the political, religious and social history of Delphi. The museum also includes several artifacts from the site and the surrounding region, including two magnificent sculptures of the Charioteer and the Sphinx.

We had dinner back at the hotel and spent the evening shopping in the boutiques that line the two streets that make up the town.

Next up: Athens!