This morning we got up a bit early so we could be on the 9 am bus to Argos. The plan is to take the bus to this city which is only 12 km and explore some of the ancient ruins there. Today the sun is shining and it should be a great day for exploring. Wes has a map of Argos and the ruins we want to explore. However, before we get there I did research. Here is some of the information I learned about Argos.
Argos , city of ancient Greece, in NE Peloponnesus, 3 mi (4.8 km) inland from the Gulf of Argos, near the modern Nafplio. It was occupied from the early Bronze Age and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad as the kingdom of Diomed. A settlement of great antiquity, Argos has been continuously inhabited for the past 7,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in Greece and Europe. Argos was the center of Argolis and in the 7th cent. BC, under King Pheidon, dominated much of the Peloponnesus. For centuries it was one of the most powerful Greek cities, struggling with Sparta and rivalling Athens and Corinth. Much of Argos' power disappeared after Cleomenes I of Sparta took (c.494 BC) the city. Pyrrhus was killed in an attack on Argos in 272. The city joined the Achaean League in 229, and in 146 it was taken by Rome, under whose rule trade flourished. The Heraeum temple, 6 mi (9.7 km) N of Argos, was the principal center for the worship of the goddess Hera.
Argos was a major stronghold of Mycenaean times and along with the neighbouring acropolis of Mycenae and Tiryns became a very early settlement because of its commanding positions in the midst of the fertile plain of Argolis. Because of its refusal to fight or send supplies in the Graeco-Persian Wars, Argos was shunned by most other city-states. Argos remained neutral or the ineffective ally of Athens during the 5th century BC struggles between Sparta and Athens.
I have to tell you that I have a HUGE amount of respect for the bus drivers. He drove that bus through some very narrow streets past parked cars when I really would not have believed it possible. Also the buses are many people’s main form of transportation so drivers will accept being flagged down anywhere on route to pick up passengers and he also will stop upon request at any place of his route for drop off passengers. Talk about door to door service!!! As long as you live on the route mind you.
Once again we arrive in a strange town with our map in hand and start to look around for street names. Don’t hold your breath on that one. Very few streets have name plates on them and if they do most are in Greek. The major ones have both Greek and English but you have to find the major streets. In some cases the name plate is the clue, but in other cases you know it is a main street since it is wide enough for cars to pass and there is a 2 foot wide sidewalk on each side.
As we started our journey or trek to the castle we can clearly see above us on the mountain I noticed several sports cars that are not available in Canada. Skoda, Fiat, MG, Opel are some sample names so I decided to take pictures today of any sports car I saw that is not seen in Canada. I should point out that Miata is well represented but not included since it is seen in Canada.
We headed up the road that we hoped would take us to the castle. The road seemed to head around the base of the cliff face towards the back of the mountain and after 20 minutes of walking we realized that we would be walking a road the whole way. At one point, when we were not sure a friendly Greek man popped out of his garage to point the way (which was the way we were going so it was confirmed). The hike turned out to be about 4 km and the road involved a lot of switchbacks. We tried a couple of times to shortcut between the twists and turns but it was a bit steep and the footing was slippery. So we ended up mainly staying on the road most of the way. On the way back we found a more direct route but it went through a couple of olive orchards and we felt a bit like trespassers.
Ok, Kastro Larissa. During the 12th century, a castle was built on Larissa Hill - the site of the ancient Acropolis - called Kastro Larissa. Argos was captured by the Crusaders, and after by the Republic of Venice. In 1397 the city was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Francesco Morosini captured it for Venice in 1686 but it was retaken by the Ottomans in 1715.
We arrived at the parking lot and followed the dirt path that lead through a arched door that was braced to keep rocks from falling. This did not feel 100% but oh well we headed through the gate and entered the first area of the castle. Below us was the outer wall and fantastic views of Argos and beyond. The beyond would have been great to see but so far the air quality here in Greece is not very good. The hazy sky (although sunny) meant the distance faded quickly into a bluish haze. However the views from here are spectacular. On one side is the city with the ocean visible beyond. On the other side is a large church or monastery (we never did find out since the sign was only in Greek), and on the other two sides the land rolled outward with healthy agriculture fields.
We appeared to be the only ones there and realized that people drive up to the castle and not till later in the day. However it was very disappointing to see that there was really not much left of the original structure. The outer walls were primarily in tact, but to get through the inner walls we had to follow a narrow dirt trail up and around and then through a breach in the wall – no door or original gate to be found. By the way, once in side we realized there was no building standing and only a few battlement stations. We did explore and find (from within) where the main entrance had been but when we stood at the edge we could see all the steps were gone. As I said, inside the inner walls there really was only rubble and weeds. Well, ok there were beautiful flowers as well.
We finished exploring inside the inner walled palace and headed back out between the inner and outer walls to explore. As we did we met another couple who had driven up and learned that they were from Germany. We took pictures for each other and caught up on where they have been on this holiday. It was a pleasant break.
Once we finished here we decided to head back down. One of the things we noticed from above was a ruin that was just a short distance from the road we would be walking back down. So of course we decided to explore the Deiras Archaeological Site. It really was a weed overgrown site that had no information available. We walked around but could not figure out what anything was based on the ‘outline’ of stones left on the ground.
As we left this we headed on to discover the Argos theatres. Once again I had done some research. As we walked along we stumbled across a sign that pointed upward to the “Kriteron” and the “Nymphaeum”.
As we checked this out we found a really nice pathway leading along what was once the Roman Viaduct for water supply. We came across a couple of interesting facts about the water issues and sources of water to the area. Also there is the “Horseman Relief”.
This path ended at the top of the larger theatres so our first view was from above. It was something to see. Here is what I have researched.
The ruins of two distinct theatre sites, situated just 100 meters from each other, have been excavated in Argos. Although it is unclear when, exactly, the theatres fell into disuse, changes made to the theatre, the odeum, and other Argive sites point to sustained activity as late as the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. These theatres could have been buried for as many as 1,400 years.
The oldest of the two theatres was carved into the lower rocky slopes of the Larisa in the fifth century B.C. Smaller than the adjacent, Hellenistic theatre, it seated approximately 2,500. This archaic theatre at Argos is one of only two surviving theatre structures (with Thorikos) that can be dated earlier than the mid-fourth century B.C. and that would have had wooden skene. During the reign of Hadrian, the archaic theatre was renovated and roofed by the Romans to form an odeum. It is now often conventionally referred to as "odeum" instead of as "theatre".
The construction of the larger, Hellenistic theatre at Argos-also cut into the rock of the Larisa's slopes, just behind the Roman baths (which we did not realize as we walked around the ruins) and north of the archaic theatre-is dated variously as taking place during the third or fourth centuries B.C. According to the Hellenistic Ministry of Culture, it was constructed in the third century, in conjunction with the transfer of the Nemean games and the Heraia to Argos. At the time of its construction, this theatre had 90 steps (83 remain), which is a considerably greater number of steps than theatres such as Delphi (35) and Epidauros (55).
We have finished with the theatres and literally walked across the street to find Agros’ Ancient Agora. See picture above for the conceptual layout of this entire area, the theatres, the Roman Baths and the Agora.
The ancient Agora of Argos started to be organized during the 5th century B.C. in the south of the city, on the crossroads from the Heraion of Argos, Corinth and Tegea. The architectural programme was completed at the end of the 4th century B.C. During the Classical and the Hellenistic periods, the Agora was surrounded by porticos and buildings which can hardly be distinguished at present under the later architectural phases.
Amongst the most important uncovered buildings are:
A large hypostyle hall with sides about 32 m long and a roof held by 16 Ionic columns, while on the main side there was a porch with15 doric columns. It was built around 460 B.C. at the time when Argos adopted the Democratic regime and might have been a 'Bouleutherion'.
A large building, perhaps a 'palaistra', with porticoes of doric columns, was bordering the southern side of the Agora.
Other excavated remains belong to the starting line of the dromos of a Stadium, a 'Tholos-Nymphaion' and a semi-circular theatrical construction which includes the basis of an older altar, perhaps from the sanctuary of Apollo Lykeus.
During the Roman times, many of the existing buildings were altered in shape and function, mostly into shops and fountains when, in the 2d and 3d century A.D. a general remodelling of the site took place. Later, during the 4th century A.D., a last monument of Paganism was built, a hearth surrounded by boundary steles from the enclosure (peribolos) of an 'heroon' of the Archaic period dedicated to the 'Seven against Thebes'.
By now we have completed about 12 km of walking and feel the need to find lunch and head back on the bus to Nafplio. We found the bus stop and learned that we had about an hour to wait for the next bus. As we are sitting there Wes notices that a bus has pulled up with Nafplio written on the front so we go out and ask the driver if he was heading to Nafplio to which he said no. We do not understand the signage but ok we had been told the next bus was at 3:30 and it is now only 3. As we settle back down one of the bus terminal employee comes over and asks if we wanted to go to Nafplio and it turns out that it was going and the driver must not have understood what we were asking him. Not a problem, we got an earlier bus than we had thought.
Tomorrow we head off to the coastal port and catch a ferry to Italy. We will be in Rome soon.
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