Actually, last year we have been to Italy (in spring) and Greece (in September) and this September we will be going to France. So, we like all three countries as well - and we may include Spain, too.
All these four countries are rich in archeology from antiquity. Southern France has arguably the best Roman architecture and Rome has been by far the largest city in antiquity, but the density of archeological sites is nowhere as high as in Greece. On mainland Greece and the Peloponnese, you stumble over archeological sites every few kilometres and many of them are exceptional. This has a simple reason: In Greece many locations have been abandoned. So, there were no cities developing on top of archeological strata and using their stones (exceptions occur, like Thebes and Athens). But there are many sites which are in really great shape:
Delphi: you can see a whole city, including temples, theatre and stadium
Messene: Even a bigger city, with temples, market, theatre, stadium, gymnasium, parliamentary buildings, tombs and a 9km-long city wall
The theatre of Epidauros
Also, Greece is full of mythological and historical sites. You read the old stories by Hesiod and Homer, and you read the historical accounts by Herodotos, Thukidydes or Pausanias and, with the stories in your head, you see the sites where it happened. It is magical.
The Acheron: The river of hell. There are springs with ice-cold water from the Underworld and there is a hole where you can hear the hellhound growl!
This is the bay where Odysseus landed to visit the Underworld. Has been mostly silt up in the course of millenia. Also the swampy river Acheron where you had to use the ferry of Charon.
This is the Palace of Hades and Persephone, down in Hell.
An entrance to Hell: The cave where Heracles caught Kerberos, the hellhound
Thebes: The house where Heracles lived
Euleusis: Where the Greeks were prepared for eternal life
The bathtub of King Nestor, where Telemachos took a bath
A king of Myceanae
A helmet made of boar’s teeth from bronze age, as described in the Iliad
From the kingdom of Makedonia
A 2,500-year-old tomb
The chest with the remains of Philipp II., mighty king of Makedonia and father of Alexander the Great
The armour of Philipp II.
The School of Aristotle, where Alexander the Great was educated by the great philosopher
The Pnyx, where the Athenian assembly was held. We see the platform where Kleon demanded the destruction of Mytilene
The Areopagos, the hill of the highest court in Athens. Here, St. Paul held an important speech.
In addition to this, Greece is rich in castles. Many of these castles had been occupied by Romans, Frank, Venetians and Ottomans. Many still have St. Mark’s Lion engraved in stone.
Acrocorinth
Methoni
Chlemoutsi
Pylos
Byzantine history, unique to Greece (and, of course, Istanbul, Turkey). There is rich Byzantine history in Thessaloniki, the ruined city of Mystras and the half-ruined, half-intact city of Monemvasia, where you can lodge in a 1,000-year-old building.
Thessaloniki, Hagia Sophia
Mystras
Monemvasia
The monasteries and churches. Orthodox churches and monasteries are unique. And you find them everywhere, some of them thousand years old or older.
Hosios Loukas, arguably the finest monastery in Greece - and one of the oldest
Meteora
Koroni
Monastery of Sintza at Arcadia
Villages. Greece has not many big cities (with Thessaloniki as a real beauty), but thousands of picturesque villages and small towns.
Vathia
Kosmas
Koroni
Parga
Zagoria
Somewhere on the Mani
Scenery, mountains, coastline, beaches.
And, finally, women. This is my love. Her name is Artemis.
All pictures by myself. And, guaranteed, none from Mykonos or Santorini.
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