We met our guide, Maria Markaki, and our driver Aeropostal at the pier at 8:15 and headed into Corinth. On our way, we saw many olive and orange trees and vineyards. The olives ripen once a year, in November. They lay down a cloth and they drop from the trees.
And goats roaming the hills.
Our first stop was at the Corinth Canal. The Canal’s construction began in 2 B.C. and was completed in 1893. It is 79 feet wide and 4 miles long. It connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. The sides are steep and the gold/red stones were removed by dynamite. Jerry contemplated bungy jumping!
The ruins in Corinth are Roman, not Greek ruins. The site is dominated by the grand Doric columns of the Temple of Apollo, one of the few Greek buildings to survive Roman reconstruction in 44 B.C. We visited Akrokorinthos, a fortified acropolis high above the rest of the site. We went to the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth, which houses a collection of artifacts and statues from the site. I found out that pictures cannot be taken WITH the statues when we snapped a photo of jolly with one! Pictures of the statues are allowed! Please note that the statues don’t have heads. They believe that the Christians decapitated them or an earthquake made them tumble off. This is where Apostle Paul preached for six months, then returned to Rome and wrote the Corinthian letters.
We were able to see their weapons and tools, their pottery and jewelry.
Our next stop was the city of Mycenae. There is a great stone gateway called the Lion Gate. The construction is similar to how a pyramid was built, and is an amazing technical feat for the period in which it was built (1350-1200 B.C.).
Just inside the gateway they found a burial circle, used exclusively for royal burials during the Middle Helladic period of 16th and 17th century B.C. This site had particularly luxurious grave goods.
The Mycenaean Museum has artifacts from this area.
This is from a woman’s burial site- jewelry, mirrors, tweezers and eye make-up from 1300 – 1250 B.C. They were known to wear lipstick, blush and eye make-up.
Our next stop was at “The Beehive”. They believe this was also a burial ground, but it had been completely looted, they are guessing by pirates. Maria asked us how high we thought the structure was. We guessed 150 to 200 feet high. The optical illusion is actually only 40 feet high!
Our last stop was at a pottery shop. This is the actual potter working, and here is the vase I bought. It is from the Geometric Period of 750 B.C.
I LOVE that vase! So beautiful. The statues are very cool too. I could see dad breaking the rules and trying to snap a picture hahaha! All the different things they use to wear like make-up and armor is so modern, very interesting. Cant wait to see you two! 17 days and counting!
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