by John Fisher
Summer Mon 12.30–7pm, Tues–Sun 8am–7pm; winter Tues–Sun 8.30am–3pm. €2.
The little-visited ruins of Ramnous(Ramnoúndas) occupy an isolated, atmospheric hillside site with magnificent views steeply down to the sea and across the strait to Évvia. The site was an Athenian lookout point from the earliest times, and remains of walls and fortifications can clearly be seen continuing way below the fenced site, all the way down to the rocky shore.
Within the site, the principal ruin is a Doric Temple of Nemesis, goddess of divine retribution. Pausanias records that the Persians incurred her wrath by their presumption in bringing with them to Greece a giant marble block upon which they intended to commemorate their victory. They met their nemesis, however, at the battle of Marathon, and the Athenians used the marble to create a statue instead. There are also the remains of a smaller temple dedicated to Themis, goddess of justice, and a section of ancient road.
Vravróna
Site & museum summer Mon 12.30–7pm, Tues–Sun 8am–7pm; winter Tues–Sun 8.30am–3pm. €3.
Ancient Vravróna, also known as Brauron, is one of the most enjoyable minor Greek sites. The remains, centred on a vast stoa, are of a Sanctuary of Artemis, goddess of hunting and childbirth, and protector of new-born children. Vravróna was the chief site of the Artemis cult, which staged an important festival every four years. This featured a procession from Athens and other rites, now shrouded in mystery, in which young girls dressed as bears to enact a ritual connected with the goddess and childbirth.
The Stoa of the Bears, where these initiates stayed, has been substantially reconstructed, along with a stone bridge; both are fifth century BC. Somewhat scantier are the ruins of the temple itself, whose stepped foundations can be made out; immediately adjacent, the sacred spring still wells up, squirming with tadpoles in spring. Nearby, steps lead up to a chapel which contains some damaged frescoes.
The site – frequently waterlogged – overlooks a marshy bay, which comes alive early in the morning and late at night with birdsong and the croaking of frogs. The site museum lies down here, a good 2km away by road. Various finds from the sanctuary are displayed, including some marble heads modelled after the little girls, and bear-masks.
Mount Párnitha and Phyle
Scarcely an hour’s bus ride from Athens’ city centre, Mount Párnitha is an unexpectedly vast and virgin tract of forest, rock and ravine. It will give you a taste of what Greek mountains are all about, including a good selection of mountain flowers. The trip is especially worthwhile in March or April, when snow lies surprisingly late on the north side and, in its wake, carpets of crocus, alpine squills and mountain windflower spring from the mossy ground, while lower down you’ll find aubretia, tulips, dwarf iris and a whole range of orchids. Much of the mountain is now a National Park, and there are numerous waymarked paths on the mountain (look for red discs and multicoloured paint splodges on the trees). The principal ones are the approach to the Báfi refuge up the Hoúniravine, and the walk to the Skípiza spring. Another highly evocative spot for lovers of classical ghosts is the Cave of Pan, which Menander used as the setting for one of his plays. The best approach is by track and trail from the chapel of Ayía Triádha, 2.3km west of the top station of the Mount Párnitha télephérique. A topographical map showing local landmarks (labelled in Greek) is posted just behind the church.
The mountain is also home to the ruined but still impressive fourth-century-BC Athenian fort of Phyle, about an hour and three-quarters on foot beyond the village of Fylí (known locally as Khasiá) via the restored fourteenth-century monastery of Klistón. Fylí itself is a popular country culinary outing for Athenians with lots of family-style tavernas and restaurants.
Note that roads on Párnitha are notoriously bereft of signposts – so if you’re driving, Road Editions’ 1:50,000 Párnithamap is highly recommended.
Eleusis (Elefsína)
Tues–Sun 8.30am–3pm. €3.
The Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis, on the edge of the modern town of Elefsína, at the beginning of the Sacred Way to Athens, was one of the most important in the ancient Greek world. For two millennia, the ritual ceremonies known as the Mysteries were performed here. The ruins of the sanctuary, however, though extensive, date from several different ages of rebuilding and are largely reduced to foundations. It’s hard to work out what’s what, so the best plan is to head for the museum, which features models of the sanctuary at various stages in its history and some excellent finds from the site. This will point you in the direction of the most important of the remains, the Telesterion. This windowless Hall of Initiation lay at the heart of the cult: it was here that the priests of Demeter would exhibit the “Holy Things” – presumably sheaves of fungus-infected grain, or vessels containing the magic potion – and speak “the Unutterable Words” whilst under their hallucinogenic influence.
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The Mysteries of Eleusis
The ancient Mysteries had an effect on their initiates equal to that of any modern cult. According to Pindar, who experienced the rites in Classical times and, like all others, was bound on pain of death not to reveal their content, anyone who has “seen the holy things [at Eleusis] and goes in death beneath the earth is happy, for he knows life’s end and he knows the new divine beginning.”
Established in Mycenaean times, perhaps as early as 1500 BC, the cult centred around the figure of Demeter, the goddess of corn, and the myth of her daughter Persephone’s annual descent into and resurrection from the underworld, which came to symbolize the rebirth of the crops (and the gods responsible for them) and the miracle of fertility.
By the fifth century BC the cult had developed into a sophisticated annual festival, attracting up to 30,000 people from all over the Greek world. Participants gathered in Athens, outside the Propylaia on the Acropolis, and, after various rituals, including mass bathing and purification in the sea at Fáliro, followed the Sacred Way to the sanctuary here at Eleusis. One theory suggests that one of the rituals entailed drinking a potion containing grain-ergot fungus, producing similar effects to those of modern psychedelic drugs. The Mysteries survived well into the Christian era, but eventually fell victim to the new orthodoxy.
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Restaurants
Akriogiali
Just before the turn-off for the Aigeo hotel,Soúnio tel 229 20 39 107. Oct–April closed eves.
This blue-and-white taverna has both character and history – a number of illustrious Greek guests have dined here. The food, mainly fish, is simple but cooked to perfection.
I Avli tou Antoni
Nikoláou Plastíra 10, Néa Mákri tel 229 40 97 709. Fri–Sun eves only.
Excellent home-made mezédhes and mayireftá, moderately priced.
I Avra
Limáni, Rafínatel 229 40 91 598.
Set on the harbour, I Avra serves pricey but well-prepared grilled fish and salads that even feature fresh coriander, otherwise a rarity in Greece.
Farangi
Leofóros Fylís, Fylí tel 210 24 11 475.
Moderately priced, hearty grills and mezédhes are the order of the day here.
Ioakeim
Limáni, Rafína tel 229 40 23 421.
One of the better harbour tavernas, with prices that reflect this, Ioakeim has been around for over fifty years. Fish features in the main, but try the wild leaf salads or seaweed in season; there’s also excellent pickled octopus.
Kali Kardia
Just behind the Town Hall, Kostí Palamá 12, Rafína tel 229 40 23 856. Mon–Thurs eves only, Fri, Sat & Sun all day.
The inexpensive Kali Kardia specializes in grills, with excellent beef patties and spare ribs.
Kavouri
Perikléous 24, Paralía Marathóna tel 22940 55243.
Mainly fish, with a smattering of moderately priced grilled meats and various mezédhes.
Psarotaverna Paradhosiako
Paralía, Lávriotel 229 20 60 841.
Right on the waterfront, the excellent fish serve
d here comes straight from the boats – though as ever, it’s not cheap.
Psaropoula-Bibikos
Leofóros Avlakíou 118, Pórto Ráfti tel 229 90 71 292.
A good fish taverna, also serving grilled meats and a few mayireftá dishes, at prices that won’t break the bank.
Rombolo
Leofóros Marathónos, a little way out of Rafína on the way to Marathon tel 229 40 32 900. Closed eves & Mon.
This mid-range, family-style restaurant has live music on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Sta Kala Kathoumena
Vasiléos Georgíou 8, Rafína tel 229 40 25 688.
The moderately priced dishes show a marked home-cooking bent and include Constantinopolitan dishes such as gardhoúmbes (entrail sausages) and pastourmadhélia (smoked and spiced meat wedges).
Syrtaki
Soúnio tel 229 20 39 125.
Close to the ancient site and with a stunning view, this simple taverna serves traditional dishes in which fish features predominantly.
Tria Adhelfia
Paralía Marathóna tel 229 40 56 461.
A decent waterside taverna on the beach at Marathon, with middling prices.
Vrakha
Leofóros Plákas 99, Lávriotel 229 20 27 745.
A good, inexpensive place to sample suckling pig and lamb cooked in vine leaves, or a wide range of mayireftá.
Xypolitos
25th Martíou & Georgíou Papadópoulou 1, Loútsa tel 229 40 28 342. Mon–Fri eves only, Sat & Sun all day.
Xypolitos is one of the oldest and best fish tavernas along the coast, although it’s a little pricey.
Further afield
With the use of a hire car or by taking one of many tours available out of Athens, you can visit a wealth of sites and attractions, all within a few hours’ reach. Highlights include the stunning ruins of Delphi (site of the famous Delphic Oracle in ancient times), mountain hiking on the slopes of Mount Parnassós and the impressive ancient sites of Tiryns and Mycenae. From the port of Pireás, too, you can easily jump on a comfortable ferry or fast hydrofoil and be on a Greek island in the Argo-Saronic gulf within an hour or two, making for some wonderfully varied day-trips – although you may want to enjoy longer outings by taking advantage of the countless places to stay you’ll find everywhere you go.
Delphi
Sacred Precinct daily: summer 7.30am–7pm; winter 8am–5pm; €6, or €9 joint ticket with museum. Museum summer: Mon–Fri 7.30am–6.45pm, Sat & Sun 8.30am–2.45pm; winter daily 8.30am–2.45pm. €6, or €9 joint ticket with site. Sanctuary of Athena daily: summer 8am–7pm; winter 8am–5pm; free.
With its site raised on the slopes of a high mountain terrace and dwarfed to either side by the massive crags of Mount Parnassós, it’s easy to see why the ancients believed Delphi to be the centre of the earth. As if the natural setting and occasional earthquake and avalanche weren’t enough to confirm a divine presence, this, according to Plutarch, was where a rock chasm was discovered that exuded strange vapours and reduced people to frenzied, incoherent and prophetic mutterings. Thus was born the famous Delphic Oracle, to which kings and simple citizens flocked in an attempt to forsee their future.
Delphi is a large and complex ruin, best taken in two stages, with the sanctuary and precinct ideally at the beginning or end of the day, or (in winter) at lunchtime, to escape the crowds.
The Sacred Precinct contains most of the sights – including the Temple of Apollo, the impressive theatre and the stadium. The Marmaria, or Sanctuary of Athena, lies further east, about a ten-minute walk along the main road and on the opposite side. The most conspicuous building in the precinct is the Tholos, a fourth-century BC rotunda. Three of its dome-columns and their entablature have been re-constructed but while these amply demonstrate the original beauty of the building, its ultimate purpose still remains a mystery. The historicCastalian spring is located on a sharp bend between the Marmaria and the Sacred Precinct. It is marked by niches for votive offerings and by the remains of an archaic fountain house – water still flows from a cleft in the Phaedriades cliffs.
Modern Dhelfí, just west of the site, enjoys an impressive location. Almost entirely geared to tourism, its attraction lies in its mountain setting, its proximity to the ancient ruins and its access to the popular skiing centre of Mount Parnassós. There is a helpful tourist office(Mon–Fri 7.30am–2.30pm; tel 226 50 82 900) in the town hall on the lower main thoroughfare.
Up to six buses a day run direct to Delphi from Athens, leaving from the Liossíon terminal. It’s also possible to travel by train, though this involves changing at Livadhiá and a local bus from there. If you’re driving, take the old road towards Thebes.
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The Delphic Oracle
The origins of the Delphic Oracle are uncertain but it was believed by the ancients that the first oracle established on this spot was dedicated to Gea (Mother Earth) and to Poseidon (the Earth Shaker). Subsequently the serpent Python, son of Gea, was installed in a nearby cave, and communication made through the Pythian priestess. Python was later slain by Apollo, whose cult had been imported from Crete. Legend has it that he arrived in the form of a dolphin – hence the name Delphoi.
For over a thousand years thereafter, a steady stream of pilgrims made its way up the dangerous mountain paths to Delphi in order seek divine direction in matters of war, worship, love or business. On arrival they would sacrifice a sheep or a goat and, depending on the omens, wait to submit questions inscribed on lead tablets. The Pythian priestess, a simple and devout village woman of fifty or more years in age, would chant her prophecies from a tripod positioned over the oracular chasm.
Many of the oracular answers were equivocal. Croesus, for example, was told that if he embarked on war against neighbouring Persia he would destroy a mighty empire; he did – his own. But it’s hard to imagine that the oracle would have retained its popularity and influence for so long without offering predominantly sound advice.
One theory suggests that the prophetic inspiration of the Oracle was due to geologic phenomena. The oracle may have been deliberately sited over a geological or earthquake fault line that emitted trance-inducing gases such as methane or ethane, which could have produced the kind of trances and behaviour described by ancient witnesses of the Pythian priestesses.
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Aráhova
The strung-out village of Aráhova, dwarfed by the peaks of Parnassós, is a picturesque little place, with its vernacular architecture, stone walls, wooden eaves, and shops selling all kinds of craftware and foodstuffs. During the winter it’s popular with skiers, but it’s worth a brief stop at any time of year to browse the wide variety of local produce – including wine, cheese and local pasta known as hilópittes – and to wander the attractive backstreets winding off the busy main road. There’s a wide selection of good places to wine and dine, many distinctly upmarket. Not all are open in summer, however.
The local festival of Áyios Yeóryios (April 23, or the Tuesday after Easter if this date falls within Lent), centred on the church at the top of the hill, is the excuse for almost two days of continuous partying, and one of the best opportunities in the region to see authentic folk-dancing.
There are daily buses to and from Athens and Delphi.
Mount Parnassós
MountParnassós, rising to almost 2500 metres at its highest point, is a popular climbing and walking destination, as well as a ski centre in winter. The heights are easily accessible, and though they no longer rank as complete wilderness, thanks to the ski station above Aráhova and its accompanying paraphernalia of lifts, snack bars and access roads, the area remains an attractive break from the city.
The best routes for walkers are those up from Dhelfí to the Corycian cave (practicable from April to Nov, but not in midsummer without a dawn start), or the ascent to the summit of Mount Liákoura (2455m) that commences from the Yerondóvrakhos ski station(May–Oct only). With your own transport you could drive up the mountain from Ará
hova on the south, or from Lílea, Polýdhrosos or Amfília on the north slope, any of which can easily be combined with a walk. For extended explorations, Road Editions’ 1:50,000 map no. 42, Parnassos, is a wise investment, with an attached booklet summarizing a route to the Corycian cave.
Corinth
Corinth daily: summer 8.30am–7pm; winter 8am–5pm. €6. Acrocorinth: summer daily 8am–7pm; winter Tues–Sun 8.30am–3pm. Free.
The ruins of ancient Corinth, which displaced Athens as capital of the Greek province in Roman times, occupy a rambling sequence of sites that encompass sections of ancient walls, outlying stadiums, gymnasiums and necropolises. The main enclosure is given a sense of scale by the majestic ruin of the Temple of Apollo. Most compelling, though, are the ruins of the medieval city, which occupy the stunning acropolis of Acrocorinth, towering 565m above the ancient city on an enormousmass of rock, still largely encircled by two kilometres of wall. This became one of Greece’s most powerful fortresses during the Middle Ages.
There’s a four-kilometre climb to the entrance gate, but once you’ve reached the top and are overlooking the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs, you really get a sense of its strategic importance. Amid the extensive remains, you wander through a jumble of chapels, mosques, houses and battlements, erected in turn by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Frankish crusaders, Venetians and Turks.
Epidauros
Site: daily 8am–7pm. Museum: summer Mon noon–7pm, Tues–Sun 8am–7pm; winter closes 5pm. €6.
Epidauros (Epídhavros) is visited primarily for its stunning ancient theatre, built around 330–320 BC, whose setting makes a compelling venue for productions of Classical drama as part of the annual Hellenic Festival.With its backdrop of rolling hills, Epidauros’s 14,000-seat theatre merges perfectly into the landscape – so well, in fact, that it was rediscovered only in the nineteenth century. Constructed with mathematical precision, it has near-perfect acoustics – such that you can hear coins, or even matches, dropped in the circular orchestra from the highest of the 54 tiers of seats.