Shorter, Slower, More Scenic

There are several types of paved road in Greece.  There are the six lane super highways that bypass towns, mountains, and anything worth seeing.  These roads take you from Monemvasia to Athens in 2.5 hours across the whole Peloponnese.  Conversely, there are little mountain roads that are just a series of switchbacks.  These back roads lead cars through rural Greece on the edges of mountains beside scenic cliffs and gorges.  The roads that on which roller coasters seem to be modeled, are the roads that my crazy family seeks out. 

How Signs Notate Departure

As we round each bend and curve around the side of the mountain, a new vista lies before us.  My mum squeals with horror whenever the car is faced with a new cliff and my brother looks away.  I enjoy the view. (My mum interjects here that this is the difference between sitting in the front and the back seats).  We joke that these paved strips of mountain are shortcuts and cover less distance than the superhighway.  Of course, on the highway, cars regularly break 130km/hour while we maybe go 40 km/hour in the mountains—so our routes are never faster. 

Our trip on the Peloponnese has focused more on history than on living culture, food, and wilderness.  We have seen Venetian, Byzantine, Mycenaean, and ancient Greek archeological sites.  Since we bypassed all this history in my classes, the history of the Western world was completely muddled in my head. Here’s a rough time line I developed with my mum, starting from earth’s creation until several centuries ago. 

Timeline in Years Before Present

5.5 billion – The earth is created.  Incidentally, there are more people alive, than the earth is old. 

90,000 – Early Modern Humans evolve and coexist with Neanderthals.

30,000 – Neanderthals are extinct.  Modern humans have a “creative explosion”—evident in portable and rock art  (which I hope to see in France).  My mum doesn’t know why there was this explosion at this time, but my hypothesis is that the human brain was evolving for the previous 60,000 years and become more complex and “modern”. 

15,000 – Beginning of villages, more formalized ritual and eventually agriculture in the Middle East. 

7,000 - The olive was first domesticated in the Jordan highlands.

Kalamata Olives

7,500 - Civilization develops in Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent. 

8,500 – Domesticated crops arrive in Greece from Mesopotamia.  The olive was domesticated somewhere, sometime later.  It’s complicated.  I’m not sure where the myth of Athens and the presenting of the olive tree, fits in.

3,400 – Ancient Mycenae is the dominant citadel that controls the Aegean. 

2,500 – Greece is divided up into city-states, the Greek Gods rule, and the Olympics are held every year. 

2,011 – Well, you should know this one. 

800 – The Byzantine Empire (961 - 1204 A.D.) is weakened by the sack of Constantinople during a crusade and Byzantine control of Greece fell apart. 

400 – The Venetian Trade Empire (1125 - 1669 A.D.) collapses and Greece falls under Ottoman control.

200 – Greece declares independence.

Hermes: God of Thieves and Messengers

Even though Greece has been ruled by outsiders for millennia, there continues to be a strong “Hellenic” culture.  The relics of the Venetian Empire dominate the landscape as castles, fortifications, and towers.  The architecture of churches reflects the long Byzantine rule.  However, Greek pride today seems to be linked to the classical Greek history.  The Ancient Greeks created the first democracies, the Olympics, and many other hallmarks of current Western society.  White marble columns as big as a tree, three-meter tall beatific naked statues, and sprawling cities give us glimpses of the time when Sparta, Athens, Corinth, and Zeus ruled the known universe. 

As a girl from Canada – a country whose history mostly took place in England – I am shocked repeatedly by how many magnificent civilizations

The Family at the Cyclopean Wall

existed in Greece.  Ancient Mycenae was supposedly constructed by Cyclops, who used rocks that must weigh several tons.  These gargantuan walls are the most impressive remains of the mighty civilization.  As an uneducated tourist, I had trouble visualizing the palace, golden throne room, and artisan’s quarters.  Nevertheless, my gaze was continually drawn to the giant stonewall—either built by Cyclops or aliens. 

A Stone Mason

Built by the same architect as the Parthenon, the temple of Apollo Epicurias sits alone on the top of a mountain.  If I were a god, I would want to be worshiped there, where I could see the mountains fading into the hazy horizon.  This temple has the same magnificent white columns as the Parthenon, but it is completely empty of tourists.  Also, it is undergoing a semi-permanent restoration project that leaves it swathed in a tent.  My mom used her “archaeology card” and got us a behind the scene tour of the “factory” where they are reconstructing the temple, column section by column section.  Some of the men working there have been on this project for more than a decade and were not only very skilled, but very proud of their work. 

Ancient Olympia is a sprawling complex of once towering marble pillars and courtyards.  There was a glass, gold and ivory statue of Zeus 12.5 meters high, in a temple 20 meters high.  A palace for visiting dignitaries, a training ground for athletes, and several minor temples decorated with friezes and Corinthian columns are also part of the splendor of Ancient Olympia.  Now, the site is a graveyard of scattered, broken columns and marble slabs that hint at its brilliant past. 

A Restored Temple at Ancient Olympia

Unlike now, the Ancient Olympics were not a consumerist endeavor.  Admission was free, there was no corporate sponsorship, and a man from any class could participate.  The Olympics main goal was to provide a non-violent place where people from warring city-states could meet and discuss their differences peacefully.  All wars stopped for the Ancient Olympics.  Of course, women, slaves, and non-citizens were barred from watching the games on pain of death.  But what else can we expect from society whose creation myths label Pandora (women) as Man’s punishment.  Oh, wait, our cultures creation myths say exactly the same thing, just with more complicated phrasing. 

I have concluded that the Venetian Empire must have been a very paranoid society.  They had good reason though; they were defending their trading routes from the Turks for more than 300 years.  Consequently, in port towns there are castles hundreds of meters on top of cliffs.  Monemvasia is fortified town and castle on an island connected by a narrow causeway to the mainland.

Fortress at Nafplio

I think that just the walk up to the bristling castle would be enough to repel the invaders.  One of the three major fortresses at Nafplio is 400 meters above the sea.  The castle itself is built as discrete sections that are completely defensible if another area is breached.  Arrow slits pointing straight out and down line the ramparts giving the walls complete functionality for the defenders.  I am glad that I will soon have a chance to explore Venice, the center of this seafaring trade empire.