Know More About Greece!!! - Classical Tour

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Exotic Greece - Classical Tour

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COMPACT TRAVELS brings to you an exciting 7 Nights / 8 Days package including a classical four day tour to Athens etc.

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Salient Features
Classical Tour	Athens	Saronic Islands

CLASSICAL TOUR

NAUPLIA- An Aegean Magic (NAFPLIO)

Visiting the Peloponnese is a stimulating exercise of the imagination, a trip in the history of the greek land and its inhabitants. Nauplia, a town with intervals of prosperity in ancient, medieval and modern times, was the first capital of modern Greece.

Nauplia

Today, it is the gateway to the rest of the Peloponnese. Nafplion is a fine resort town surrounded by beautiful beaches, at the edge of the Gulf of Argolis. It is still the most Italianate of all towns of mainland Greece. It played a little part in the Greek War of Independence, in which so much medieval architecture was lost, and is full of blithe charm. The engaging waterfront is lined with tourist cafès. Picturesque hilly lanes run upwards from the sea

BEACHES

Arvanithia
The city beach is located just on the other side of the premontory where Nafplion was founded 4000 years ago. It is a pleasant place to stay. In the summer you can enjoy swimming and watersports like canoeing, windsurf, paragliding, jetsky and more. In the other seasons you can still swim! Retired and aged people of Nafplion use to swim all year long, with the awareness that a fit body will support a healthly mind!! There is a quite interesting bar on the beach, the Enalion, where you can enjoy greek appetizers with a glass of ouzo. The pines climibing the rocks, the venetian walls surrounding Nafplion and the magnificent view of the Gulf of Argolis will cast a splendid scenario for you and your friends!

Karathona

Karathona is a very fine beach 4 km far from Nafplion only... you can reach it following by car the road to the Fortress of Palamidi, or take a bus from the bus station. It is sandy, and the two cliffs at the side offer a rocky alternative for those who prefer it to the sand...

Tolo Beach

Tolo – A Mediterranean Beach

the once upon a long time ago fishermen village of Tolo can be found a 12 km only far from Nafplion. Today it is a very fine and unspoiled beach, where you can enjoy all the watersports. If you go down the small harbour protected by the island of Romvi, you can rent a sailboat, a motorboat or you can board the glass bottom cruises. Excellent the fish, and the nightlife.

MUSEUMS AND CHURCHES

The Kamboloi Museum

The click-clack beat of traditional beads is growing ever more noticeable from the hands of the hip. Young Greeks are finding some comfort in an old custom, flicking and fingering the ``komboloi,'' often known outside Greece as worry beads.Click. A bank executive says the soft tapping of his wooden beads melts his stress.

Clack. A guy nursing a frothy iced coffee at an outdoor cafe believes women are drawn to the crisp snap of his big plastic beads. He proudly displays an address book full of names.

The practice of carrying strings of beads originated in India as a way of counting prayers. In Greece, the komboloi never had a widespread religious association as in Roman Catholic regions of Europe. It evolved into a pastime and a symbol of maturity since it was generally favored by older men.

Agios Giorgios Church

In this church Ioannis Kapodistriou was sworn first governor of free Greece.
Later Othon from Bavaria was anointed King ofthe Greeks before to shift the capital to Athens. In the church there is a copy of Leonardo's Last Supper dated 1713.

Agios Spiridionas Church
this fine church was built in the year 1713, at the time of the second Venetian administration. Here, in the year 1832, in front of this church, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Prime Minister of a Greece finally free from the turkish oppression, was murdered. Soon after Greece became a kingdom, with a German Royal Family...

Agios Spiridionas Church

HOW TO GET THERE

The distance between Athens and Nafplion is 120 km. It is easy covered in 1 and half hour by car.

The newest and modern airport of Spatha is rather far from city centre. What I suggest, if you didn't rent a car at the airport, just get a cab to the main bus terminal, known as "stathmos Kifissou". Once there, you'll find a bus every hour to Nafplion. The price of the ticket is around ten dollars. The journey lasts around 2 hours.

Another way to reach Nafplion, more adventurous, is to go there by train. There are 3 trains a day to Nafplion, and they run through a wild, dramatic landscape of rocks and cliffs on the sea, in certain sections. From the airport, go to the harbour of Athens, the Pireas. Once there, you will find the terminal going to Nafplion. The price is around 5 dollars, and the journey is extremely slow.

CORINTH

Corinth

Corinth became a major center of commerce in the Roman province of Achaia. Strabo explains the commercial advantage of the city, "Corinth is called 'wealthy' because of its commerce, since it is situated on the Isthmus and is master of two harbors, of which the one leads straight to Asia, and the other to Italy; and it makes easy the exchange of merchandise from both countries that are so far distant from each other”.

In 29 BCE, Corinth was chosen as the administrative capital of the province, the seat of the Roman proconsul. The population of the city was Roman, Greek and other peoples, including Jews.

Corinth makes a pleasant day trip by bus from Athens. The city can be divided into new and old town. The former shows that not really inviting industrial side of the city, scarred by earthquakes. The old roman market place, the museum and the fountain of Pereine are worth a visit. From the top of the Acrocrinth one can have some nice views of the ancient lower town. The site of Ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (5000-3000 B.C.). The peak period of the town, though, started in the 8th century B.C. and lasted until its destruction by the Roman general Mummius in 146 B.C. Representative of its wealth is the Doric temple of Apollo which was built in 550 B.C.

The city was reinhabited in 44 B.C. and gradually developed again. In 51/52 A.D., Apostle Paul visited Corinth. The centre of the Roman city was organized to the south of the temple of Apollo and included shops, small shrines, fountains, baths and other public buildings.The invasion of the Herulians in A.D. 267 , initiated the decline of the city though it remained inhabited for many centuries through successive invasions and destructions, until it was liberated from the Turks in 1822.Limited excavations were conducted in 1892 and 1906 by the Archaeological Society of Athens under the direction of A. Skias. The systematic excavations of the area, initiated by the American School of Classical Studies in 1896, are still continuing today and have brought to light the agora, temples, fountains, shops, porticoes, baths and various other monuments. The investigations extended also to the fortress on Acrocorinthos, the prehistoric settlements, the Theatre, the Odeion, the Asklepeion, the cemeteries, the Quarter of the Potters, and other buildings outside the main archaeological site.

MYCENAE

Mycenae was from 1500 till 1200 Before Christ the centre of power in the Greek world. The Minoan civilization had just been swept away by the destruction of its towns followed to the explosion of Santorini's volcano and the subsequent tidal wave. So Mycenae emerged in this void of power. Excavations have uncovered the royal palace. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, and just 24 km north of Nafplio.

Mycenae

The ancient city of Mycenae, known from the works of Homer, was brought to light by Schliemann, whose excavations revealed the existence of a city with an extremely high level of civilisation in 3000 BC. Of the preserved archaeological monuments, the most famous and characteristic is the Lion Gate, which displays the oldest example of monumental sculpture in Europe on a strong wall dating from the end of the 13th century BC. On the north side of the palace complex, which occupies the highest elevation, the foundations of a temple dating from the archaic and Hellenistic period may be discerned, as well as buildings such as the workshops of artists and artisans. Outside the acropolis are the beehive tombs or tholoi, small burial structures preserved in relatively good condition, the most important being those of the Lions and of Aigisthus and Clytemnaestra. The most magnificent of the Mycenaean beehive tombs, the Tomb of Agamemnon (50 metres from the acropolis) lies at the end of a ceremonial passageway 36 metres long, and has a facade richly ornamented with relief plaques. The most important finds from Mycenae are displayed in the Archaeological Museum in Athens, including the gold death mask that Schliemann attributed to Agamemnon.

The site is open Monday to Friday from 8.00 a.m. to 6.45 p.m., and on weekends from 8.00 a.m. to3.00 p.m. Admission is 1200 drachmas.

EPIDAURUS

The Theater at Epidaurus is the largest and most impressive of ancient Greek and is in excellent state of preservation. It has the standard Hellenistic theatre structure, with tiers of seats arranged in a hollow curve (koilos) facing a flat circular space (orchestra) backed by a low building (skene) in which the actors dressed and awaited their entry, and was built in two phases: the orchestra, the lower tier of seats and the pre-Hellenistic skene were built in the first phase (late 4th c. BC), while the upper tier of seats and the Late Hellenistic skene were constructed later (mid 2nd c. BC).

Epidaurus

Today, the theatre comes alive every summer (July, August, September) with performances of ancient drama in the Epidavria Festival, which is part of the annual Athens Festival and draws thousands of spectators to the archaeological site. Epidauros and its museum are open Mon to Fri from 8.00 a.m. to 6.45 p.m., weekends from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a snack bar at the site. Something you shouldn't miss is the Epidauros Festival from June through August, where the ancient Greek plays are performed, at times in a rivisited way.

Olympia

OLYMPIA

Olympia is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Greece. Even cruise ships dock at the nearby port of Katakolo and put people on buses to visit the site. The village of Olympia itself is a collection of tourist shops, cafes, restaurants and a Historical Museum of the Olympic Games.

The long journey of the Olympic Games began more than 2700 years ago. In 1896 the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens and since that time have been on a journey around the world for more than a century. Now, at the dawn of the 3rd millennium, the games are returning to the country of their birth and the city of their revival.

The Olympia Archaeological Museum

The Olympia Archaeological Museum, opened in 1982, is one of the most important museums in Greece. The many galleries are arranged chronologically with separate galleries for the pediment and metope sculptures from the Zeus temple, and artifacts from the Olympic Games.

The most famous exhibit at the Olympia Museum is the beautiful statue of Hermes and Dionysos, by Praxitales. The statue is exquisitely made of Parian marble and dates from the 4th century.

DELPHI
For a true insight into the ancient Mediterranean world, you need to visit the place that was once considered the centre of the universe, Delphi. Located about 50 kilometers from the Mediterranean coast of Greece, Delphi gets a stream of visitors because of the Delphi ruins, just two minutes' drive out of town. Located about one hundred miles northwest of Athens is the ancient site of the panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi.

Delphi

The complex of buildings, which includes the Temple of Apollo where sat the famous oracle, The sacred Corycian Cave, and the Castalian Spring, is nestled in the forested slopes and rocky crags on the south side of the sacred mountain called Parnassus. The site had been sacred since at least the Bronze Age. In antiquity, Delphi was regarded as the centre of the world.

The Temple Of Apollo

The Temple of Apollo
The visible ruins belong to the last temple, dated to the 4th century B.C., which was peripteral, in Doric order. It was erected exactly on the remains of an earlier temple, dated to the 6th century B.C. Inside was the "adyton", the centre of the Delphic oracle and seat of Pythia. The monument was partly restored during 1938-41.