A TRIP ROUTE
IT IS WORTH KNOWING
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world was the statue of Zeus at Olympia. The sculpture by Phidias depicted Zeus sitting on the throne with a serious and dignified face. Phidias made the statue using the chryselefantine technique he developed around 437-432 BC, but he did not leave behind any plans to work on his work. The statue had a wreath of olive branches on its head, a golden cloak hung from its left shoulder, a statue of the goddess Nike in its right hand, and a scepter lined with precious stones. The figures of deities and battle scenes are depicted on the carved backs and legs of the throne. Zeus' robe and hair were made of gold, the exposed parts of the body were ivory, the throne was cedar inlaid with ebony and precious stones. The statue was over 13 meters high, and on the celli floor, in front of the statue there was a swimming pool (6.5 m²), lined with dark limestone and filled with oil, in which the figure of a god was reflected. The sculpture stood in the temple in Olympia for about 800 years. After the prohibition of the Olympic Games, the statue was taken to Constantinople around 420, where it was destroyed in a fire in 475. However, the temple was burned by the order of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II in 426.INTERESTING FACTS
Probably many of you remember the poem by Juliusz Słowacki entitled "Agamemnon's Tomb". This ominous-sounding song by our bard was written in 1839 as a fragment of the song VIII "Travel to the Holy Land from Naples". The inspiration for writing it came from the stay of Juliusz Słowacki in the building which was then considered to be the tomb of King Agamemnon - the leader of the Greek army at Troy. Later studies have shown that it is a giant tomb (tolos) called the treasury of Atreus, built in the Mycenaean era around 1250 BC. A visit to the ancient building became an opportunity for Słowacki to reflect on his own poetry and a painful reckoning with the nation to whom the poet wishes to make himself aware of both the causes of the defeat of the November Uprising and the loss of independence. The bitter words of the bard reflect the romantic messianism he professes. Today, in retrospect, you may agree or disagree with it, but when, sitting alone under the stone dome, I read the verses of the poem "Let the fantastically tuned lute Follow the gloomy and dark thoughts, For I have entered Agamemnon's tomb And I am sitting silent in the underground dome ..." - I felt the fragility and transience of human achievements.April 2018
My trip to mainland Greece was like a journey back in time to the sources of European history and culture. What I have only read about so far, I could see with my own eyes. The results exceeded my wildest expectations, although as usual I was chased by time and the need to use public transport.
Despite these objective difficulties, I visited - in my opinion - places that are most associated with ancient Greece. Unfortunately, my trip was at the peak of the tourist season, which definitely reduced the comfort of visiting. Despite this, in many places I managed to find some intimacy in order to fully experience and appreciate the sights. Sometimes, even under the influence of excessive fantasy or heat, it seemed to me that I was walking with a multicolored crowd of passers-by around the agora, passing figures of philosophers and archons.Ancient Athens
Athens is a great city. The cultural heritage of the ancient Greeks is concentrated here like in a lens. I lived close to the city center, so I moved around on foot. Even the sun was burning from the early hours of the morning to the sight of me. Over the next few days I visited the Greek and Roman agora, the Olympian, I visited the Archaeological Museum at the end, leaving myself a cherry on the cake - the Acropolis hill.
Modern Athens
The capital of Greece is not only monuments from Greek and Roman times. As I was wandering around Monastiraki and Plaka streets, I came across many beautiful Byzantine churches. The changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier made an amazing impression on me. Piraeus, the port of ancient Athens, turned out to be equally attractive. Although little remains of its splendor today, it was once connected to them by the Long Walls.
Corinth
I have always associated the city of Corinth with the Corinth Canal and the daughters of Corinth. Although I had climbed to the very top of Acrocorinth, there was no trace of my daughters. I only found the ruins of buildings and the remains of defensive walls. However, connecting the Aegean Sea with the Ionian Sea, the Corinth Canal turned out to be the most real. The water canal, started in the times of Nero and finished only in the 19th century, made a great impression on me.
Olympia
Ancient Olympia, located in the western Peloponnese, attracts tourists thanks to one of the seven wonders of the world and the place where the idea of the Olympic Games was born. After the temple of Zeus and the famous altar with the statue of the highest of gods sculpted by Phidias, only picturesque ruins remain. However, the olympic stadium from the 5th century BC survived, thanks to which I was able to take off from the ancient runways and sprint into the past.
Mycenae
Mycenae, reached by public transport, required a lot of sacrifice, and was worth the hardships. Both the Atreus Treasury and the Bronze Age castle buildings make an impressive impression even today. I especially remember the Cyclopean walls and the Lion's Gate. The fact that Heinrich Schliemann, a German amateur archaeologist and discoverer of Troy, conducted the excavations here, added an additional flavor to the visit.
Delphi
The desire to know the future has accompanied people since the dawn of time. The oracle in Delphi, dating back to the Mycenaean period, was one of the most famous in the entire ancient world. The Greeks even considered the sanctuary to be omphalos or the navel of the world. Located at the foot of Parnassus, the ruins of the ancient sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and Athena Pronaja are most picturesque from the road leading to the stadium.