19th September - Epidaurus, Tiryns citadel, Wine tasting and Argos

 After breakfast we met the group in the hotel lobby at 9am and set off for the ancient theatre of Epidaurus to see the magnificent structure that was built in the 4th century BCE. We climbed to the top to take in the view from the highest row (54 in total). The acoustics of the theatre are amazing I was alone in the centre of the floor and tested it out but had the phone so had to run back up to David so he could take a video. Unfortunately by the time I got back down there were a bunch of other people there but you can still hear me clearly clapping and saying hello David. You can also see Sue behind me and Caroline waving her hat around.




The Stadium

The Hestiatorion complex
Epidaurus is the birthplace of Asclepius, the god of healing. It is the site of an ancient healing sanctuary of which the theatre and the stadium were a part. They believed that healing included both body, mind and spirit.

Next stop was the ancient Mycenaean bridge reportedly the oldest bridge in Europe and still useable today. It is on the Mycenaean route that is a walking path you can do today.


Tiryns citadel of which not much remains due to its close proximity to the town and the stones from the ruins were used as building materials through the ages. It is where Hercules’ uncle lived.



We had a lovely time visiting the KTHMA ΠΑΛΥΒΟΥ winery for a tasting. We had a tour of the vineyard and winery first then had snacks with the tasting of 2 white wines, 1 rosé and 2 reds. We ended up buying two bottles of the Ammo’s terra Leone made from a local Agiorgitiko grape and having protected designation of origin Nemea status.




Next stop on the tour was ancient Argos, most of it is under the modern day city but there are archaeological sites all over. We stopped to look at the huge theatre and the crusader castle on the hill above.

Crusader castle above Argos
It was around 3pm as we headed back to Napflio for lunch. We were all very hungry and the food was excellent as usual. It started to rain while we were eating but as it was still warm we didn’t mind and stayed in the rain to finish our desert before heading off for a walk around the old town of Napflio.
The Venetian architecture really stands out in the town as does the Ottoman influence. Konstantin pointed out the old water fountains that had elements of 3 civilisations, the ancient Greeks (the old Marble), Venetians (built the fountain using the marble) and Ottomans(inlaid script from the Koran).

David and I finished the evening by walking up to the old Akronafplia Castle sitting above the old town of Napflio.



Old town Napflio 

Walking back down into the old town

Another full day in the Peloponnese.




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