greece (day 9) - olympian zeus, byzantine museum, and lyceum
today i started off by skipping the hotel breakfast and going back to lotte café-bistrot next to my hotel for coffee, a croissant, and yogurt with fesh fruit and granola. the morning was a little chilly but i found a sun spot.
i didn’t have much planned for the day except to see a few of the remaining ancient sites in central athens. the first was the temple of olympian zeus. the temple began construction in 6th-century bc and wasn’t completed until the 2nd century ad during the rule of roman emperor hadrian. after its completion, it was the largest temple in greece.
some roman baths next to the temple of olympian zeus:
next, on my way to the byzantine and christian museum, i walked through the nearby national botanical garden where i saw a bunch of turtles in a pond.
the byzantine and christian museum covered lots of early christian artifacts and art in greece and the surrounding area (including the coptics of northern egypt), and then the growth of the byzantine empire through the middle ages until the fall of constantinople in 1453 and the ottoman rule of greece. lots of school groups, but very cool art!
immediately next door was the lyceum, a temple dedicated to Apollo Lyceus that was best known for housing the parapatetic school of philosophy founded by aristotle in 334 bc. it continued to function after aristotle fled athens in 323 until the romans destroyed it in 86 bc during an assault on athens. the lyceum housed many other important philosophers as well, including plato (aristotle’s teacher) and socrates. the lyceum was uncovered in a park behind greek parliament in 1996.
it was a bit of a short day, but my legs were tired and it was chilly outside. i got indian food for dinner and called it a night.