Greece travel | Travel Thru History

Rhodes Less Traveled

Rhodes Island, Greece

by Paul Joseph

Despite its size, Rhodes is an Island of understated charms. Ask sometone to name a famous Acropolis and the answer will doubtless be Athens. Enquire of a Greek party island and they are likely to respond with Mykonos.

Yet unbeknown to many, Rhodes has its own ancient ruins to rival the mainland capital, as well as its own dusk-till-dawn party town. Indeed, the heritage site of Lindos and (albeit faded) hedonistic resort of Faliraki represent the versatility of this enjoyable chunk of Greek Isle.

My travelling partner and I were to be based on the south of Rhodes, in the town of Kiotari, making a hire car a necessity if we were to see much beyond our hotel resort. As we were to discover, there was plenty to see.

Fighting back our instincts for off-the-beaten track adventure, we first hit the Rhodes hot-spots. Situated 15km north of our resort was the enchanting site of Lindos. Looming large over the town is an imposing Acropolis, used to defend the island against the Ottomans in the 14th Century. Down below, nestled in a crater of winding streets is the modern village, dotted with souvenir shops, rooftop cafes, bars and restaurants.

After a tiring up-hill walk into the main showgrounds of the Acropolis – refreshingly free of tat-peddlers and offering superb views of the Aegean Sea – we made our way back down to street level to savour a well-earned fruit juice in one of Lindos’ excellent rooftop watering holes.

The next day we headed north to Rhodes Town, a World Heritage site in its own right, and boasting one of the most charming and picturesque Old Towns either of us had ever encountered. The cobblestone streets and delicately crumbling architecture is a photographer’s dream, and my travelling partner was soon snapping away with an almost religious fervour.

And then it was time for us to don our intrepid travellers’ hats. Map on dashboard, we headed to the very south of the island, stopping along the way at secluded beaches, tiny fishing ports, and anywhere that looked remotely…well, remote. Our stand-out finds were Prasonisi beach, located at the very southern tip of the island, and the town of Plimiri, where we stopped to view the dockers at work and sample some local seafood in a rusty old harbour restaurant.

With our appetites whetted, the following day we embarked on an ambitious road trip to the west of the island, requiring a scenic inland drive across Rhodes’ central mountain range. Two hours later we found ourselves in the village of Siana, famous for producing honey. After picking up a couple of jars of the good stuff, we headed north, in principle towards a butterfly sanctuary. However, we were soon distracted by a sign for ‘Paradise Beach’.

Well, it wasn’t quite a beach by any definition, but who needed golden sand when you had a sea boasting every spectrum of blue? We certainly didn’t, and swiftly launched ourselves into the sun-kissed waters. Paradise indeed.

It was a rewarding end to our trip, which took in many miles, and much discovery.

Rhodes Private Full-Day Tour

If You Go:

Several low-cost airlines fly to Rhodes International Airport, including EasyJet, Ryan Air and Thomson. Be sure to get yourself the best deal by using a flight comparison website such as CheapoAir.

Public buses run frequently from the airport to Rhodes Town until late. However, buses to the south of the island stop after around 9pm, so if you are arriving late you may want to consider pre-booking a hotel transfer to avoid a costly taxi fare (€75 to Lindos in the South)

Alternatively, hiring a car is highly recommended for anyone visiting Rhodes. There are 5-6 car rental desks located in arrivals at the airport, ranging from Budget to more renowned firms such as Hertz and Avis. We opted for Budget, and took a Nissan Micra for the whole week, costing us a reasonable €150.

Where to eat and drink:

The atmospheric Koykos café in Rhodes New Town was superb on a number of levels, not least the food. Street- facing window-ledge seats are a people-watcher’s dream, while inside you discover a cavernous maze leading to a pretty courtyard and terrace. Our waiter, despite being extremely busy, was incredibly attentive and helpful in talking us through the menu.

Secondly, Shimbas Cocktail Bar, 60km south of Rhodes Town, is situated slap bang on Kiotari Beach. Only opened since last year, this is already Rhodes’ most chic venue, and is destined to be a big hit on the island for years to come. Its straw-hut roof and chill-out music combine to create a stylish but relaxed ambience. Great cocktails too!

About the author:
Paul Joseph, a freelance writer, has travelled in South and North America, and Europe. He travel writing has been published in national newspapers and magazines. He currently works for hotel comparison www.sletoH.com.

All photographs are by Anna Chapman.
Anna has travelled extensively in South and Central America, Europe and Canada, always with camera-in-hand.

Kefalonia, Greece

Island of Seafarers

by W. Ruth Kozak

When Juan de Fuca sailed his ship up the Pacific coast of western Canada, into the Straits now named for him, I wonder if he felt a pang of homesickness for his native home, Kefalonia, Greece.

Juan de Fuca, whose real name was Iannis Focus, was born in Kefalonia during the reign of the Venetians in 1550, and later went to sea in the service of Spain, on a quest to find the passage that links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. When his expedition failed, the King of Spain refused to pay him, so he returned to this island paradise to live out the rest of his life.

I went on an expedition of my own to explore Juan de Fuca’s island. My voyage took me by ferry from Patras to the little port of Sami and by bus to Argostoli, the modern capital, a pretty town with a harbor esplanade lined with yachts and fishing vessels.

A devastating earthquake flattened most of Kefalonia’s villages in 1953 including all the elegant buildings that used to grace Argostoli. The new town has been rebuilt in the unique Venetian style, the soft pastel buildings giving the impression of a water-color painting. On the main street there’s a museum exhibiting pictures of the town before and after the quake.

As I hiked along the windy shoreline to the Fenari, a replica of a Venetian lighthouse, I was greeted by the friendly locals. Both English and Italian are spoken here, and you can count on the island folk to strike up a conversation.

The wind gusted and howled, churning the Bay with whitecaps. As I watched a little ferry boat tossed like balsa wood as it struggled against the waves, I was reminded of the ‘iron gray sea’ described by Homer in The Odyssey. This island was once part of Odysseus’ kingdom.

From antiquity until the present, Kefalonians have been masters of the sea. Much of the island’s coastline is rugged with steep limestone cliffs that plunge into the sea and miles of white and red sand beaches.

I took a bus trip to explore the island. The road spirals up the cedar and pine-covered mountainsides winds past villages of stone-built houses tucked in the protective folds of the mountains. Along the route, you see the ruins Venetian fortresses and castles.

Kefalonia is known for its unique forest of rare fir trees called Abies Cefalonica. The air is redolent with the fragrance of sage, thyme, bayleaf and oregano. Tall cypresses stand straight and elegant, their dark green a contrast to the silvery olive trees. Did Juan de Fuca feel nostalgic for his island homeland as he cruised the Pacific Northwest Coast? Our coastal islands enjoy a Mediterranean micro-climate similar to Kefalonia. Herons, kingfishers and gulls swoop from the rocky cliffs. There are more than a thousand species of plants on Kefalonia, some very rare, including fifty species of wild orchids.

Time seems to have erased the village of Valeriano where Juan de Fuca was born, but on a rocky promontory at Fiskardo, once the hideaway of renegade pirates, I explored the ruins of a Venetian castle that commanded the entrance to Fiskardo’s harbor. As I watched the fishing kaikis and yachts ply the narrow channel that separates Kefalonia from the rugged, mountainous shores of nearby Ithaka, Odysseus’ island, I could not help but think of all the mariners who have ventured from these shores, especially Juan de Fuca, the Kefalonian who sailed to the Pacific Northwest. Our journeys have spanned each others worlds.

Private Tour: Kefalonia Wine Discovery with Gastronomic or Picnic Lunch

If You Go:

Buses leave the Kifissou St. depot in Athens several times a day for the ports of Sami, Argostoli, Lixour and Poros, via the ferry from Patras. The trip takes about eight hours.
An island bus provides service to any of the scenic villages and beaches on Kefalonia.
Accommodation is available in a variety of hotels and pensions. There are camp sites located at Argostoli and Sami.

About the author:
W. Ruth Kozak has spent a great deal of time in Greece either visiting or living there, since her first visit in 1979. She has traveled all around the country and visited many of the islands. Being from British Columbia, Canada, she had a special interest in Kefalonia when she learned that Juan de Fuca (actually named Iannis Focus) originated from the island. Since her first visit there she has returned several times and recommends it as a destination for travelers to Greece.

All photos are by W. Ruth Kozak.

Inspiration at the Temple of Olympian Zeus

Athens, Greece

by Rachel Corrine

It was warm for Athens in October, really warm. The sun was intense, and my feet tired from touring the Acropolis the day before. as I headed to visit the largest temple of antiquity, The Temple of Olympian Zeus. I had spied on the awe-inspiring collection of columns from high atop the Acropolis the day before and could not wait to get a close-up look.

Intended to be the greatest dedication in the world, the Temple of Olympian Zeus actually had quite a long gestation period. The foundation was laid around 520 BC, over an existing outdoor sanctuary in the God of all Greek God’s honor, but a seize of the existing tyranny halted the construction. For some 330 plus years, during the Athenian democracy, Zeus’s house remained merely a platform and some partially constructed, yet utterly magnificent, limestone columns.

It is likely that the Greeks, already at issue with Pericles for the immense architectural undertaking of the Acropolis, saw the grand temple as superfluous, and let it alone for that reason. The Democratic Greeks were fairly modest people, in fact, Aristotle used the enormous partially constructed monument in his writings as an example of how tyrannical governments worked their people so much that they had no time to plan a rebellion.

Thankfully, for our future historic architectural enjoyment, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes believed himself to be the great Zeus reincarnate and set to complete the colossal structure in about 174 BC. While he held true to much of the original plan, he did not however feel that the modest Doric order and local limestone block was fancy enough for a temple dedicated to himself, or to Zeus, so he upped that ante and constructed the first temple in the high Corinthian order, pillaging the nearby Mt. Pentelic for its incredible marble. While a considerable amount of progress was made during this time, King Antiochus IV died halfway into construction, and again, the great God must wait. Antiochus’s death was followed by a period of pillaging…stealing parts of the structure for other temples, as well as some lame completion attempts, but nothing of any substance until, in walks the Roman emperor Hadrian. Visiting Athens and inspired by his love for classic Greek architecture, he took it upon himself to complete the temple some 650 years after the work began.

Today, all that is left of the colossal temple after centuries of pillaging and destruction is a platform and a mere 15 of the original 104 columns. Shortly after Hadrian completed the house of Zeus, it was partially destroyed, and likely never repaired. Then, in 1852, a killer storm toppled column number 16 to the ground. An unfortunate accident, but fortunately, the Greeks have left it there, crippled, for us to see.

While strolling through the center of Athens I could not help but feel modest gazing upon the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and while only a fraction of the original glory remains, this Corinthian masterpiece, this largest temple of antiquity, and the tribute to the God of all the Greek Gods is, in fact, humbling, beautiful, and inspirational. And, the longer I am here in its presence, inspired modesty and all, the more I feel my own “inner goddess” coming on.

Athens Private Full-Day Tour

If You Go:

Wikipedia – Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens

Athens Guide – The Temple of Olympian Zeus

About the author:
Rachel Corrine is a creativist. She designs, writes, educates, inspires, and photographs. Richard Bach is her reluctant messiah and her son is her creative catalyst. You will currently find her somewhere in Europe…with the boy…taking pictures and gathering friends. Visit her web site at www.rachelcorrine.com.

Photo credits:
Photos are by Rachel Corinne and W. Ruth Kozak.

The Greek Icon Painter

Athens, Greece

by Anne-Britt Hoeibye

In a tiny shop on a narrow, dingy street near Monastraki square in Athens, a man sits at a work table strewn with paint pots, pencils and brushes and painstakingly puts the finishing touches on a gilded painting of the Virgin. The icon painter, Dimitris Zazanis, works alone in his modest shop surrounded by hundreds of carefully crafted icons. Unlike other icon shops in the busy Plaka where touristic boutique-style stores with air conditioning and pretty sales clerks attract customers, Zazani’s works alone in his workshop in this backwater street. You’ll find him there almost every day until mid-afternoon.

Dimitris Zazanis is a dignified, genteel man who speaks fluent English as well as several other languages. Put in other circumstances he might have had a university career in linguistics. He tells me that he used to have a more favourable location in Plaka some years ago, but due to hot real estate which raised his rent and health issues that put him on the sidelines for some time, he was forced to move his workshop to this other location which, unadvertised, is not a likely place for tourists to come upon. His customers are drawn to his shop mainly by word of mouth. The icons he paints are of high quality and beauty and his prices are probably the lowest in Athens for these beautiful hand-crafted works of art. He has some ready-made icons as well, but always adds his own creative touch to them.

To the visitor, Zazanis’ shop is not only a place to sell and display his icons, but it’s also a place for social calls. He runs his business in the old fashioned way. He’s an outgoing man with a friendly personality. Zazanis loves to talk to his customers and will happily take time from his work to chat and explain the exquisite details of his paintings.

“My icons are precious, spiritual works of art,” he says, proudly showing me one of his newest creations, a gilded triptych of the Saints.

His icons cover all the most popular events of the Greek Orthodox calendar as well as presentations of all the mysteries of the Rosary. This makes Zazanis’ icons a fine choice for both Orthodox and Catholic name-day gifts. Each time my friends and I are in Athens we visit his shop, and as well as buying icons as gifts for our friends, his icons now grace the walls of our apartments in Norway and Canada.

Athens Old Town Small Group Walking Tour: Acropolis, Monastiraki and Plaka

If You Go:

WHERE TO FIND ZAZANIS ICON SHOP
Dimitris Zazanis
Agia Theklas 13, Monastiraki
TEL: (01)210-324-5579

For more information – This is Athens, the official Athens Visitors’ Guide online.

About the author:
Anne-Britt Hoeibye was born in Norway. She holds the degree of Cand.pilol from the University of Bergen, Norway, Department of History. She is presently concluding her Doctor Philos degree about the Greek playwright Aristophanes (457 – 385 BC). Her friendship with the icon painter Dimitri Zazanis goes way back to her first scholarship period in Athens 1991. Anne-Britt Hoeibye is a Roman Catholic and over the years she has attained a great collection of Zazanis´ beautiful icons.

Photo credits:
Photos by W. Ruth Kozak, who has visited the Icon shop several times with her friend Anne-Britt and has two of Dimitris’ beautiful icons hanging on her walls.

Necromanteion, the Oracle of the Dead

Acheron, Greece: Welcome to the Realm of Hades and Persephone

by W. Ruth Kozak

The boat cuts a silent swathe through the jade coloured water of the narrow river. I imagine crocodiles lurking in the shallows. And surely those tangled boughs that dip into the murky surface shelter coiled serpents ready to strike. I spot several turtles basking in the morning sun on a submerged log.

We cruise the narrow waterway under drooping boughs of willows, the muddy banks thick with a hedge of tall sedge. Black and emerald dragonflies dart over the water. But though there may well have been crocodiles here in by-gone times, and undoubtedly there are snakes among the reeds, this is a river in Greece.

I am on a slow-moving motor launch sailing up the mysterious Acheron River, symbolized in Greek myth as the River Styx. There are no corpses aboard this boat, their eyes sealed shut with gold coins. The ferry man is not Charon, but a jovial old salt, Captain Kostas, who has kept the passengers entertained as he navigated the boat up the river from the port of Parga. I am on my way to visit the Oracle of the Dead, the Necromanteion, a mystical sanctuary that the ancient Greeks believed to be the entrance to the Underworld.

Captain Kostas moors the boat by a reedy embankment from where the passengers must walk two kilometres to the site. I trudge up the gravel road, through the corn fields. On a hillside, protected by cyclopeon walls and an inner circuit of polygonal masonry, dark passageways lead to the mouth of an underground cavern which was believed to be the entrance to the realm of Hades and Persephone. Ancients came here to consult the souls of the dead who, on leaving their bodies, acquired knowledge of the future.

The Necromaneteion near the beautiful town of Parga on Greece’s west coast, belonged to the ancient Bronze Age city of Ephyra, the ruins of which are located nearby. The site had been inhabited since Mycenaean times judging from the finding of several shards and a bronze sword dating to the 13th century BC. The labyrinth and buildings, which include store rooms, priests lodgings, dormitories, baths and a courtyard, were discovered in 1958.

The Necromanteion was the most famous sanctuary of its kind in antiquity. Many pilgrims visited there including Odysseus, who attempted to conjure Achilles’ ghost. The ancients believed that a persons’ soul was immortal after its freedom from the body, and that a mortal’s contact with the dead, with a view to predict the future, demanded special sacrifices and rituals. Offerings of milk, honey and the blood of sacrificed animals were made in the hope of conjuring the spirits of the departed.

The pilgrims were subjected to three stages of physical and spiritual tests during which they were isolated in the dark rooms of the Oracle. Obliged to follow a special diet of beans and various hallucinogenic substances, they prepared to meet the souls of the dead. After several days of magical rituals, prayers, invocations, and questioning by the priests, the supplicants were led down the dark smoke-filled corridor of the labyrinth to the entrance to Hades, having faith that the apparitions of the dead would appear to them. An underground vault, thought to be the dark palace of Persephone and Hades, was the meeting place of the dead and the living.

I descend into the cold, musty crypt by a narrow stairway. The chamber is carved in the rock with 15 stone arches supporting the roof. It dates to the end of the 4th century. It is here that the pilgrims were believed to have communed with the dead. As I stand in the gloom of the stone cavern I try to conjure a few ghosts of my own. It is an eerie place, not impossible to imagine how the pilgrims, disoriented and under the influence of potions, could be fooled into believing the Dead were really there communicating with them.

During Roman times, in 167 BC, the Oracle was proven to be a hoax when pulleys were discovered in the chamber, which apparently had been used to hoist up the priests who simulated the departed and answered the questions of the pilgrims. The walk through the hallucinogenic smoke of the labyrinth, the isolation and rituals they had performed during their stay, prepared them for accepting the appearance of the ‘dead’ person as ‘real’. After this discovery, the Necromanteion was destroyed and lay hidden until it was excavated in 1958 and restored by the Archaeological Society of Athens.

As with many ancient sites, a Greek Orthodox chapel has been built over the old ruin. Inside, the wall is painted with an icon of the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus. In the flicker of candlelight, the image is barely visible but as I look closer, a blackish figure, barely visible in the darkness of the cave-like sanctuary mysteriously appears, just as the apparitions of the dead appeared to the ancients who came there seeking their counsel.

After visiting Hades, I board the launch again to return to Parga, cruising downriver to the Acheron delta, then out to the open sea. A brisk wind has blown up and Captain Kostas navigates the boat through the choppy water sailing precariously close to the rocky shoreline. Great jagged rocks loom out of the sea like giant sea monster’s teeth. The limestone cliffs are riddled with caves where pirate ships used to hide.

We sail past secluded coves with dazzling turquoise water, stopping to anchor at one of the pristine white-sand beaches, to spend the afternoon luxuriating in Paradise until it is time to board again and head back to Parga. The trip to Hades is a chance to experience a séance ancient style. An excellent day’s outing all for 7.50 Euros.

Private Tour: Ancient Agora of Athens Walking Tour

If You Go:

The Necromanteion is open from November – March Daily 8.00am – 3.00 pm; July to October, Daily 8.00am to 9.00 pm
Admission (not included in cruise) 2 Euros; 1 Euro for seniors and children
Tickets can be purchased at the port in Parga for the cruise up the Acheron (7.50 Euros).
The site can also be reached by car on the Preveza road to Messopotamo.
Guided tours by bus also operate from Parga.

The Hell Places

WHERE TO STAY (In Parga)
During July/August accommodation is tight but domatios can be found on the hill near the Kastro, ranging from 35 – 50 Euros. Domatio owners will usually meet the buses and offer their lodgings. I found an exceptional self-contained suite in this way for just 35 Euros a day. There are also three camp sites nearby.

HOW TO GET THERE
There are buses from Athens (a seven hour journey, three times a day) 24.50 Euros
The bus depot in Parga is located up the hill from the port.
Parga is 53 km. north of Preveza

About the author:
W. Ruth Kozak loves mysterious places and this trip to the depths of Hades was a highlight of her travel adventures. Besides being one of the most ancient sites of Greece, it is one of the most unusual, certainly haunted by the ghosts of by-gone days including the fabled hero of the Troy Wars, Achilles. You can read more of Ruth’s travel adventures on her blog: www.travelthroughhistory.blogspot.com

Photo credits:
First Necromanteion photo by Jean Housen / CC BY-SA
All other photos are by W. Ruth Kozak