Overland to London - Athens to Kavala

 

he Thesion from the ancient Agora, Athens

Day 46    Thu 10 July                ATHENS

        A free day in Athens to visit the Acropolis (if you haven’t already done so) or go up the Likavitos by funicular – I believe you get great views of the city from there. There is also the Archaeological Museum, Temple of Olympian Zeus and the old Olympic Stadium, built for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, near Constitution (Syntagma) Square. If you would like something different, a day trip from Piraeus (port of Athens easily reached by railway) to the nearer Islands (Aegina, Poros and Hydra) of the Saronic Gulf is recommended. Ferries run regularlyand can be organised via the Hotel or the Tourist Office in Syntagma Square.

Donkeys wait patiently by the harbour at Hydra, one of the Saronic Islands

Day 47    Fri   11 July               ATHENS

Agia Dynami Church is central Athens  

   I have now been advised that we have a problem with visas for Syria. From 1^st July the Syrians have decided that we now have to obtain entry visas in advance to pass through their country. Up until now, we have always been able to obtain the visas at the border. We will now be spending an extra day in Athens while we try to sort this out with the help of our Greek representative. As it is Friday and the Syrians officially are an Islamic nation, they will probably be observing ‘mosque day’ and, of course, it is then the weekend, so if I have no luck this morning, I will have to get these visas in either Istanbul or Ankara.

    As  you walk around Athens you may have noticed a rather unusual little church, tucked beneath the Greek Education Department building. This is the 16th century Agia Dynami, or Holy Power, Church believed to have been the site of an earlier Temple of Hercules. It is believed that if pregnant women visit this little church they will give birth to strong children. There is also a complex of ancient tunnels leading from a cave beneath the church which were used for smuggling weapons from a nearby arms makers during the Greek War of Independence (1821-29). 

    This afternoon, for those interested, we will go on an excursion to Marathon where a decisive battle between the Athenians and Plateans, on one side, and the Persians on the other, was fought in 490 BC. The Persian invaders under Darius I were intent on the destruction of Athens, the subjugation of the various Greek city states and the extension of the Persian Empire into Europe. For several days the two armies faced each other, the Athenians cutting down trees and building stockades close to the Persian lines.

     Phillippides brings news of the victory to Athens       
     painting by Luc-Olivier Merson (1846-1920) 

They also sent Phillippides to ask for help from the Spartans. This prototype Marathon-runner covered  the 100 miles of broken country in two days – but Spartan help arrived too late -  and then ran back to Marathon. One night the Athenian commander was informed by Ionian spies, that the Persian cavalry was away from their camp, Seizing the opportunity, the Athenians and the Plateans attacked at once. In the furious fighting that followed, the  Persians were driven to their ships, sailing off towards Euboea Island. According to legend, Phillippides was asked to undertake one more run – to Athens, some 42 kms away - the distance of a modern Marathon – to carry news of the victory. He is said to have arrived at the Greek parliament, uttering “We win!” then collapsed and died of exhaustion.

The burial mound at Marathon - Wikipedia

By the flashing of sunlight on a shield from Euboea, the Athenians learnt that the Persian fleet had changed course and was making for Athens. By a classic forced march, the Athenian army reached the city just before the Persian fleet, thus  deterring a landing and so, Athens was saved from the Persians for the next 10 years.  The city was sacked by Xerxes in 480 BC before he, in turn, was defeated by the  Greeks in the naval battle in the bay of Salamis.

          On the road to the beach is the burial mound of the Athenians and Plateans who fell and a small museum. We will also stop for a time on Marathon Beach.

 Day 48    Sat 12 July          ATHENS – DELPHI – METEORA

Departure time: 7.30am          Tach reading: 130,369       Distance run:  408 kms

        As i have heard from two reliable sources that we can definitely get Syrian visas in Istanbul, we will head off to Meteora via Delphi. 

The theatre at Delphi

        Delphi is the site of the ancient Oracle of Apollo, god of prophecy, which all ancient Greeks consulted before doing anything of consequence. This spectacular site in the Parnassos Mountains was considered by the Greeks to be the ‘omphalos’, or ‘navel’ of the earth, decided after Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, released two eagles to fly around the world in opposite directions – they met over Delphi. Originally the site was a sanctuary to the earth-mother Ge (Gaea) and was guarded by the great snake, Python. Apollo, shortly after his birth, wandered here, killed Python and became the leading god of prophecy to the Greeks.

      Treasury of the Athenians, Delphi       

    A great Temple to Apollo was built here and the prophetess (Pythias as they were known), the mouthpiece of the god, sat on a tripod over a deep crevasse from which emanated fumes. Entering a trance the Pythia would utter her prophecies which were interpreted by the priests. These prophecies were known for there ambiguity. Three well-known prophecies: i) Croesus, king of Lydia, consulted the oracle during his war against the Persian king Cyrus. He was told “If Croesus crosses the river Aly, he will destroy a great kingdom”. Croesus crossed the river and the ‘great kingdom’ that was destroyed was his own. ii) the Greek commander Thermistocles was told, during the Persian invasion of Xerxes, to take to his ‘wooden walls’, which the Greeks interpreted as meaning their ships. The result was the Greek naval victory over the Persians in the straits of Salamis. iii) Byzas, a Greek trader, decided to establish a trading settlement and was told by the Pythia to go opposite the ‘land of the blind’. His settlement became known as Byzantium, later Constantinople and, today Istanbul. The ‘blind’ were the people then living on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus, who must have been ‘blind’ not to use the choice peninsula between the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn where Byzas established his trading settlement.  

          By the early years of the Christian era, the influence of the Oracle was waning, especially after Constantine the Great, in the early 4^th century, adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. One of his successors, Julian the Apostate, later in the 4^th century attempted to revive the old religion and sent an envoy, Oreibasius, to consult the Pythia:                                                                                                            Tell the king, the fairwrought hall has fallen to the ground,                                                 no longer has Phoebus a hut, nor a prophetic laurel,                                                        nor a spring that speaks. The water of speech even is quenched.

        This answer is possibly apocryphal, but ‘expresses an unquestionable truth: the death of Apollo’s cult and the downfall of his sanctuary.’ (Basil Petrakos – Delphi).

The circular Tholos, in the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, Delphi

Today, there remains the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, the Treasuries, particularly that of the Athenians, the theatre and the stadium, plus an excellent Museum. Nearby is the Castallian Spring where the priests and pilgrims would bathe before consulting the oracle and whose waters the Pythias would drink. Below the road is the famous circular temple known as the Tholos, in the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.      

     From Delphi we press on along winding mountain roads before finally dropping down to Lamia, then after crossing another range of hills, we reach the fertile plains of Thessaly and Meteora, the geological phenomenon of Greece.

   Meteora, the 'Rocky Forest of Greece' 

These unique pillars and towers of river-deposited debris have been eroded into fantastic shapes and have become a refuge for monks and ascetics of the Byzantine, or Greek Orthodox, creed who have built monasteries on the top of many of these formations over the last 500 years or so. The name, Meteora, means ‘suspended in the air’ and the area is delightfully described by Sister Theotekni, a nun of the Eastern Orthodox Church, in her book Meteora, the Rocky Forest of Greece: “A strange, mythical forest consisting of over 1000 enormous stony bodies, some huge and wide, others small and meagre like skeletons but all of them with their summits in the sky, of some other superworld.   The trunks that make up the forest remind one of petrified mythical giants, but the churches’ domes and the ringing of their bells inform you that this is holy property: it is “the stony forest of Jesus”!  

    

      Tonight, our first night camping, will be spent in a small camping ground near the village of Kastraki, known as Camping ‘The Cave’ . Here we are often joined by the locals for a few wines, or ouzos! 

 Day 49    Sun 13 July          METEORA – KAVALA

Departure time: 8am         Tach reading: 130,777            Distance run: 413 kms

       Rousanou Monastery, Meteora              

     On leaving Camping ‘The Cave’ this morning we will drive up into the rocks of Meteora, stopping first for a photo of the spectacular Rousanou Monastery, balanced precariously on a rock, sheer on three sides. Next we will stop at the Monastery of the Transfiguration, or Grand Meteoron. This is the largest Monastery and it is from this rock that the whole area takes its name. Nearby and just below is the Varlaam Monastery, named after the first hermit who built a chapel here in the 14^th century. The Monasteries do not open until 9, and you have a choice of going into one or the other. We will also stop near the Monastery of the Holy Trinity for a photo stop. This is one of the most photographed monasteries in Meteora. The Monastery itself is not open to the public.

  

Varlaam Monastery, Meteora

         From Meteora we will push on to Larissa where we join the main road north to Thessaloniki. The road travels through the Tempe Valley following the River Pineios, personified as the river-god Peneus. This area, beneath Mt Olympus, is rich in mythological traditions, being the setting of several of the great god Zeus’s amorous escapades hidden, he hoped, from the watchful eyes of Hera, his wife. Here also in the Tempe Valley, the nymph Daphne, to escape the seductive advances of Apollo, was transformed into a laurel tree by her river-god father, Peneus.  Mt Olympus itself was the perpetual abode of the main ancient Greek gods, the Twelve Olympians, under Zeus.  From the Tempe Valley we pass by Platamon and on to Thessaloniki, the second city of Greece, often referred to by the English name, Salonica, where we will stop for lunch.  From here to Kavala is 160 kms of winding road. Tonight and tomorrow we will be staying in Camping Akti Kavalas.

River Pineios in the Tempe Valley & 15th century painting by Piero del Pollaiuolo of
Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus turning in a laurel tree under the unwanted advances
of  the god Apollo

 Greek Mythology

Mt Olympus, home of the major Greek Gods, presided over by Zeus & Hera

    

    In the beginning there was nothing but Chaos – a huge dark mass where everything was hidden. Out of Chaos came the goddess Ge, or Gaea (Earth) and the gods Uranus (Heaven) and Pontus (Sea). It was from these three that the ancient world was peopled. Most important were the children of Ge and Uranus – the 12 Titans, the one-eyed Cyclops and the hundred-handed Hecatoncheires. Uranus hated his children and banished them to the Underworld, but one of the Titans, Cronus, on Ge’s instigation, rebelled, wounded and imprisoned Uranus, thus becoming king of the gods. Cronos married a female Titan called Rhea, but having been told in a prophecy that he would one day be deposed by his son, Cronos swallowed each of his children (including the females)  as soon as they were born with the exception of the youngest son, Zeus. Rhea wrapped a rock is swaddling clothes which Cronos swallowed. One day when Zeus had reached manhood, Rhea gave Cronos a potion which made him regurgitate the swallowed children – Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon who, along with their children, became the main gods of the Greek pantheon. Thus Cronos was cast down and Zeus became the king of the Gods, establishing his palace on Mt Olympus. The Titans and other giants were banished to the Underworld after fierce fighting and Zeus reigned supreme.

          The Greek religion was, of course, polytheistic in which each god served a purpose, looked after different aspects of everyday life and was consulted before any important decisions were made. Below are some of the gods and their functions, also their Roman names as early Rome adopted the Greek religion.  There are some similarity to these gods and those of the Hindus which possibly relates to the Indo-European origins of both the Vedic Hindus and the Achaean Greeks.

 Greek name                           Function                                Roman name

The Twelve Olympians

Zeus                king of the gods, lord of the thunderbolt             Jupiter

Hera                goddess of childbirth, marriage, women              Juno

Poseidon               god of the sea & eathquakes                         Neptune

Demeter                goddess of agriculture                                    Ceres

Apollo                     god of prophesy, healing, music & the sun     Phoebus

Ares                       god of war                                                      Mars

Aphrodite              goddess of love                                               Venus

Hephaestus            god of fire, volcanoes                                     Vulcan

Artemis                 goddess of the moon, hunting, forests              Diana

Athena                   goddess of wisdom, purity & liberal arts          Minerva

Hermes                  god of travellers, messenger of the gods        Mercury

Dionysus                god of wine, vegetation & fertility                     Bacchus

 Other Important Gods & Goddesses

Hestia                    goddess of the hearth                                      Vesta

Hades                    god of the underworld                                      Pluto

Eros                       god of love                                                     Cupid

Eos                         goddess of the dawn                                    Aurora

Persephone            goddess of spring                                         Proserpine

Asclepius               god of medicine                                              Aesculapius

Pan                         god of flocks, countryside, nature                    Faunus

Hypnos                   god of sleep                                                   Somnus

Eris                        goddess of discord & strife                         Discordia

Day 50    Mon 14 July                KAVALA

Fishing boats along the waterfront at Kavala

A free day to spend either at the campsite on Batis Beach, in the fishing town of Kavala, or over on the Island of Thassos which is about an hour’s voyage by ferry. Kavala is an important and most attractive fishing port on the Northern Aegean coast of Greece. The area has been settled since around 3000 BC and the first port was built here in the 5^th century BC. Kavala was the first city in Europe to receive the teachings of St. Paul and for a while was known as Hristopolis (city of Christ). The town was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1380 and remained under Ottoman control until 1913. Nowadays Kavala is an important fishing and tourist town. Things to see are the Ottoman aqueduct, the Byzantine Castle and the birthplace of Muhammed Ali, the Egyptian Mameluke leader of the early 1800s.   

Comments:                             STOP PRESS

                    The Police in Kavala are still trying to solve the mystery of the broken      telephone in the Tourist office. Apparently there is a substantial reward offered to anyone who can provide vital information leading to the capture of the culprit!!

Gods & Goddesses of P48

John Papple            destroyer of telephones                                 Woodpile

Lindsay Clark         insults & bad jokes                                          Guru

Ken                        good times & hangovers                                  Carol

Sam                       god of complaints                                            Pissed off

Terri                      goddess of cheese                                        Swissgirl

Frank                     god of sleep & lord of the supper table          Bo-Doe

Canadian John        god of numbered shirts                                  50

Rolf                        god of beards                                                Mr Neil

Ian                    god of passports & travellers cheques           The Thomas                                                                                             Cookie Monster

Katie, Juliette & Jane      goddesses of the fast pick-up         The Three Fates

Bookseller              god of belly dancing                                      Eroticus

Pippa                      pig goddess                                                    Oink

text & photographs ©Neil Rawlins 

Instagram accounts  @dustonmyfeet     and    @antipodeanneil

My paperbacks and ebooks on my Overland travels in Asia, Europe & Africa in the early 1970s and the experiences of a tour guide on the Asian Overland routes & leading Camel Safaris in Rajasthan in the 1980s are available from Amazon.