Corinth etc.Peloponnese

On our way to Olympia, we drove along the faster highway which skimmed the northern coastline of the Peloponnese Peninsula then we returned
across the middle of the Peninsula toward the eastern part where we would see (yes) more ruins and stay in Nafplio on the way back to Athens.
Corinth and Mycenae were oldest from about 2,000 B.C.E., then Tiryns about 1400 B.C.E., and Nafplio's Palamidi Castle is from 1700s C.E.

	Road to Nafplio (aka Napflio, Naplion, etc.)

Our drive across the Peloponnese was on (Above Far L to C) winding, narrow 2-lane roads that sometimes shrank to 1 lane or even less--3.8 meters--and road signs (Above R) that were hard to read! But we saw many picturesque hillside towns (Above Far R) with difficult names, quaint architecture (Below Far L to C) and great views of Lousios Canyon (Below R & Far R).



		Mycenae

The Minoans and Mycenaeans were contemporary civilizations, starting about 2,000 B.C.E. We approached Mycenae (Above Far L) on our 1st morning in Nafplio. (Above L) Pausing at one of the entrances, we walked through to the overall site (Above C), noting that the building style (Above R and Far R) reminded us of the Incans in Peru in both the outer walls and interior hallways. What was totally unique in all the ruins we'd seen was their circular burial grounds (Below Far L & L) and methods of burying the dead vertically, feet 1st, with 1 stone closing, and then above the graves were beehive-shaped Tholos (Below C to Far R), constructed of light-colored bricks.



	Fort of Acrocorinth

Despite poor signage, we found Acrocorinth and climbed up (Above Far L) to the top of the very impressive fortress (Above L to R) originally built about 300 B.C.E. We learned that Acrocorinth's building may have started as early as 657 B.C.E. and has been held and refortified by every occupying power in Greece since Roman times, though now abandoned about 200 years after the Turks were defeated. In addition to having a mixture of pagan, Christian and Muslim ruined buildings, it once contained an ancient temple of Aphrodite attended by 1,000 scared prostitutes. This was supposedly what inspired St. Paul to write his two “letters to the Corinthians” in the New Testament. (Above Far R) Still it has one of the most sweeping views in Greece, about 60km in all directions.


	Ancient Corinth

Archeologists have found traces of the earliest Corinthians in 7,000 B.C.E. in Neolithic times, but this site of Ancient Corinth (Above Far L to Far R & Below Far L) likely started in about 1900 B.C.E. It was a thriving city of temples, homes, shops, water & plumbing systems, etc. (Below L) the corner of a temple includes a Bimah--same term in Jewish synagogues--which is a stage/lectern where pagan priests supervised activities. (Below C) A "graveyard" for old columns that have not been restored in the complex. (Below R) Beautifully detailed warrior statue. (Below Far R) One of many intricate mosaics preserved in Corinth's archeology museum.



	Nafplio is a Modern City with 100s of Years of History

Both days we were in Nafplio, it poured for a couple of hours about lunch-time so as long as we completed our morning ruins visits then waited for a time to start our afternoon escapes, we could work around that. Except both days we in an outdoor cafe under large umbrellas (Above Far L) which leaked around the edges. In the 1600s C.E. during the Ottoman Empire, 2 fortresses were built to protect the trade routes through the Corinth Canal on which Nafplio is located. (Above L) The harbor fortress is on an island to prevent enemies from sailing through. The Palamidi Castle was atop the mountain above the city. (Above C to Far R and Below Far L to Far R), built in Venetian style with small stones for the main walls and some structures then bricks for other buildings. (Below Far R) At night, Palamidi was lit as though the mountain top was on fire.