Erin didn’t end up walking up to the fortress because her leggings were still wet from being laundered yesterday and she didn’t fancy walking in shorts in 13 degrees! Can’t say I blame her
So, after breakfast we set out to drive up the steep road to the Palamidi Fortress. Locals claim that the Palamidi Fortress, built in just three years (1711-1714), is the best-preserved Venetian fort in the Mediterranean. It is certainly massive! It sprawls across the top of the hill with a variety of bastions and stone paths and tunnels. The views from the top were incredible. We walked up and down the very rough rocky paths and made friends with the inevitable cat.
The drive from Nafplion to the Archeological site of Mycenae took.about thirty minutes, through grove after grove of orange orchards. It’s no wonder they give you free orange cake for dessert here!
Mycenae was the hub of a civilization that dominated from 1600 to 1200 BC, a thousand years before Greeks golden age and the Acropolis.
On a hilltop we could see ruins of Ancient Mycenae, home of Agamemnon, the legendary king who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. For four centuries in the second millennium BC, this kingdom was the most powerful in Greece, holding sway over the whole region and influencing other Mycenaean cities.
It draws lots of people and we had to park well down the road when we arrived. From the entrance you walk up a switchback path to the top of the hill where the royal palace was located as well as the grave rings where, supposedly Agamemnon was buried. These graves contained an amazing hoard of treasure. A German archeologist discovered the famous gold mask of Agamemnon that is now in the National Museum in Athens.
You enter through the massive Lions Gate , topped with a carving of two lions which once had golden heads. The lintel on the gate weighs 18 tons.
In one area there is another stone gate where it is said, Orestes escaped after murdering his mother, Clytemnestra. Orestes was Agamemnon’s son and Clytemnestra had murdered Agamemnon because he had sacrificed their daughter. Happy family! Erin told me the story and I asked her if she knew this from studying Ancient History at school. No, she had learned it from the recent movie of the Odyssey!!
We had a coffee break and some chips at a seat in the sun , it was still very chilly. We were able to see a recent snowfall on one of the peaks to the west. The seasons change fast!
Back down the road near the car we entered the gate to see the the Treasury of Atreus, also known as Agamemnon’s tomb. It is 3,300 years old! Mycenae’s royalty were buried in massive beehive shaped underground chambers called tholoi, beginning in the 15th century BC. The lintel over the doorway is huge – 26 feet across by 16 feet by 3 feet and weighs 120 tons. For comparison , the biggest stones of the Egyptian pyramids weigh 30 tons!
The interior of the tomb is extraordinary, you can’t help but marvel how these ancient people built these incredible places without the use of powered machinery.
Back in Nafplion we had no luck finding a parking spot near the hotel. Today is Saturday and the town is very popular as a weekend getaway from Athens. So we had to park the car down at the port on the other side of the Old Town. We walked past a massive super yacht which Neil has discovered belongs to a Sheik from the UAE.
After a lunch break in the old town we wandered around the shops and Erin found a really nice pair of corduroy trousers. We separated so Neil and I could come back to the hotel to enjoy our balcony. Erin decided to go for a walk around the waterfront to the beach we saw from Palamidi.
After a couple of hours she joined us on our balcony for pre dinner drinks and nibbles. We still had the fruit plate that the hotel had gifted us on the first day and a bag of chips. We sat and watched the sun go down and did the Saturday newspaper trivia quizzes that Erin and Andrew do each week. The sunset was a bit cloudy but still pretty.
At 7 we wandered down into the town to find somewhere for dinner. As well as the fish taverns that line the waterfront there are a couple of streets that seem to be restaurant-central, with one after another running down the street, all soiling out into the narrow lanes with outdoor seating. Tonight we chose one that looked to have a good menu and also had outdoor heaters, it has become very cold! We wore our puffer jackets tonight.
We had another delicious meal, the cool weather making us keen on some heart meaty dishes. We started with zucchini fritters and followed up with lamb shank with roast potatoes, a delicious beef casserole dish with chips and a lovely fresh Greek salad with a while slab of fetta cheese on the top. It really hit the spot on a cold night!
Our stay in Nafplion has been wonderful. Neil said he thinks it is one of the prettiest towns we have ever stayed in, and we’ve had a great blend of sightseeing and relaxing.
Tomorrow we head north, off the Peloponnese and on to Delphi. We shall see what the oracle has to say….