greece (day 5) - epidavros, mycenae, and palamidi
i headed out of nafplio early in an attempt for the triple crown: epidavros, mycenae, and palamidi fortress. most sites close around 3:30 this time of year, so i wanted to have enough time to see everything (and also beat the crowds, which i had yet to encounter until today).
first was epidavros: an ancient greek healing center known for its immaculately preserved theater alongside a number of temples and a stadium. i got there around 9:00 and already saw a couple tour busses parked. i walked through a crowd of teens, passed the museum, and and made it to the theater. there was barely anyone there, and it was peaceful in the morning sun.
i was surprised to see some of the seats once had backs:
there was also a sweet dog hanging out in the sun:
i spent about 30 minutes at the theater before crowds started to show up, so i headed to the museum next door. thankfully the tour group exited right as i arrived so i was able to look around in silence.
after the museum, i poked around the ruins for about an hour, saw the ancient stadium, and then headed off to mycenae. as i was leaving, dozens of tours were entering and the parking area was completely full of tour busses. i was very happy to have seen everything before it got crowded.
mycenae was the center of ancient mycenaean civilization (1800–1000 bce). the mycenaeans, led by king agamemnon, fought the trojans in the trojan war (yes, that one). mycenae was also full of tour busses, but the site was adequately large that it was easy to get away from the big groups and enjoy the scenery. first was the acropolis of mycenae, which was once a large fortress:
the lion gate to the acropolis:
the mask of agamemnon and other artifacts, found in one of the burial areas:
and the treasury of atreus, one of the largest tholos tombs discovered:
(and another tholos tomb:)
after the two archaeological sites and on my way back to the hotel in nafplio, i stopped by the palamidi fortress, an early-18th-century venetian fortress overlooking the town and harbor. the fortress itself didn’t have much to see inside besides wildflowers and cacti, but it had great views. i wasn’t necessarily planning on seeing the fortress, but i finished epidavros and mycenae so early that i had over an hour to spend in palamidi before it closed.
i finished the day off with an early dinner of cretan dakos, baklava, and greek natural white wine.
