Day 8, Nov 16, 2018, Friday:
Day of Rain and a goof-up:
It was a murky
morning with rain forecast for the day and storm warning for the next
day.
We started off
early as usual and were at the entrance of Epidavros (Epidaurus) by 8 am after a
20 minute drive. All archaeological sites in Greece open at 8 and
close around 3 in general during winter.
There was a
booth with counters at the entrance which was closed... Hellenic Post
said the board. There were signs for parking but no car here. There
was a road leading into the site but it had a no entry sign. There
were stray dogs roaming around which surrounded our car barking. We
felt uncomfortable to get down and investigate as there was no one
around. We waited around. A couple of cars came in and went straight
into the road with the no entry sign. We assumed they must be staff.
We should have just gone in but we got put off by the closed counters
at the entrance. We drove into the nearby village but there was
nothing of interest. We again drove to the entrance of the site...
same story with the dogs.
We decided to go
back to Nafplio and see the Palamidi fortress there.
ACRONAFPLION CASTLE:
We drove up the
hill to acronafplio... (acro means high). Very lovely sight and we
spent time at the Acronafplio castle...
Then we drove to
the Palamidi fortress upper entrance.
There are 1000 steps leading up
to the fortress from the city below but we did not want to do the
arduous climb. Recommendation is to park the car below, take a taxi
for some 5 euros up to the fort, see it and walk down the 1000 steps
enjoying the views. Then we can get to our parked car. It was very
early in the day and so we just drove up.
PALAMIDI FORTRESS:
The hill of Palamidi takes its name
from the Homeric hero Palamidis.
It was systematically fortified
only during the second Venetian occupation from 1711 to 1714, marking
the fort not only as a major feat in terms of its fortifications, but
also in terms of the speed with which it was constructed. The
engineers designed a fort that was based on a system of
mutually supporting and mutually defending bastions, which are built
one above the other on a east-west axis, and are connected to each
other by a wall. The total of eight bastions are self contained
so that if one of them was breached, the rest could continue their
defence.
It was from the Palamidi that the
liberation of the city from the Turks began, by some rebel
Greeks. After a long siege. on the night of 29th November 1822, a
unit of Greek rebels, led by Staikos Staikopoulos, launched a
surprise attack and seized the Palamidi.
Not only was the Palamidi a great
fortress, it was also the site of a dismal prison. In 1833,
during the time of the regency, when King Otto was still a minor, a leader of the revolution, Theodoros Kolokotronis, was
imprisoned here on the supposed charge of high treason.
The Miltiadis bastion, one of the
largest, was converted into a prison for serious criminals in
around 1840, and it remained in operation until around 1926.
We enjoyed the lovely fort and the views all round.
We were considering walking down the steps when it
started drizzling. We retreated to our car and took off.
We drove back to Epidavros. There were
tour groups going in. even the counters at the entrance was open but
as the board said it was Post. The ticket counter was inside. It was
steadily drizzling. We went in and admired the lovely theater
EPIDAVROS:
The sanctuary is dedicated
to the ancient Greek God of medicine, Asclepius.
The Ancient
Theatre of Epidaurus is considered to be the most perfect
ancient Greek theater with regard to acoustics and aesthetics.
It was
built in 4th century BC on the west side of Cynortion
Mountain At a maximum capacity of 13,000 to 14,000 spectators, the
theater hosted music, singing and dramatic games that were included
in the worship of Asclepius. It was also used as a means to
heal patients, since there was a belief that the observation of
dramatic shows had positive effects on mental and physical health.
Due to its incomparable acoustics the
actors can be perfectly heard by all 15,000 spectators, you can
even hear the sound of a pin dropping. We experimented... I stood on
the stage and spoke in a very low voice and son standing far off in
the audience stands and going further and further away could hear me clearly. Audience sounds are
absorbed by the stones of the seats. Amazing!
We enjoyed the museum also.
We could
not go round the rest of the site as it was steadily drizzling. The
paths were steep with cobblestones and I did not want to risk a fall.
The tour groups were going round though!
We drove back to Nafplio. Checked the
weather and it was heavy rain everywhere.
We were scheduled to drive
back to Athens the next day and had planned to visit a number of
archaeological sites on the way... the direct drive will take just
over 2 hours. With the bad weather we were not keen on tackling
ruins in archaeological sites. Anyway it was a headache for the next day. We decided to
retire for the day early afternoon.
Such a pity. In retrospect, could have
seen the cathedral church near our accommodation and hunted around
for other stuff. But we wound up for the day, glad that we had at
lest enjoyed the castle and fort and the ancient theater before the
rains.
Report of our drive to Athens with visits to the archaelogical sites of Tiryns, Mecenae, is here:
https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2018/12/greece-trip-report-day-9-part-1-tiryns.html
VIDEO LINK:
Our video of Epidaurus amphitheater, museum, Tiryns, Mycenae:
Our video of Ancient Nemea and Akrocorinth is here:
Nafplio Palamidi fort, Acronafplio castle:
Report of our drive to Athens with visits to the archaelogical sites of Tiryns, Mecenae, is here:
https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2018/12/greece-trip-report-day-9-part-1-tiryns.html
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