Trip 1 Day 11 (September 30): Thassos part two, Dion

Having seen only one gate the previous day, we walked along the walls of the city checking out the remaining gates and other places of interest along the way. Our first stop was the sanctuary of Dionysus.

On our way to the sanctuary of Poseidon, we stopped at the gate of the "Goddess on Chariot" which happens to butt up against someone's back yard.

At the sanctuary of Poseidon, workmen had just finished cutting the grass. Margie said we were seeing things she hadn't seen in a while because they'd been covered over with grass.

Not all of the gates have been identified, including this one we saw next:

We continued along the city wall to a theater

where Stephanie sang us a song so we could test the acoustics.

Following the wall, we came to the sanctuary of Athena Poliouchos,

the rock-cut shrine of Pan, which Allie volunteered to sit in to get a closer look at the inside,

and the gate of Silenus.

We got back on the ferry and headed for the mainland so we could go to the site at Dion. There are sanctuaries to Demeter, Isis, and Zeus,

Roman baths with latrines,

a monument featuring armor and shield sculptures,

a villa with mosaics and a street,

a Greek theater,

and Mount Olympus in the distance.

We stayed the night in lovely Litochoros.

Trip 1 Day 10 (September 29): Thassos

We started our walking tour of the ancient sites of the island at the temple of Heracles where we heard Sarah's report.

The site was a little overgrown in spots and it really set off my allergies.

Our next stop was the Hera and Zeus gate where Margie explained that all the gates along the city walls are named for deities and are decorated with sculpture reliefs. This one features Hera and Isis. The companion piece of Zeus is missing.

As we continued our walk, we stopped at a bakery where Margie bought all of us bougatsa, a delicious, warm Greek pastry covered in sugar and filled with custard! What an awesome second-breakfast!

Next we heard from Nick about the agora and the famous athlete Theagenes. There were bits of columns and part of a monument designed to display ship prows.

While we there, Joe also gave his report on an inscription which we got to see first-hand in the museum.

At the museum, there were also (among other things) a giant kouros statue,

a sculpture of a woman riding a dolphin side-saddle,

and display cases filled with votive offerings.

After lunch we visited the ancient marble quarries which turned out to be the most beautiful site of the trip.

We walked around the site back to the beach where we had snacks and went swimming. What an awesome day!

Andrew's sand castle

Trip 1 Day 9 (September 28): Amphipolis, Philippi, Thasos

Our first stop of the morning was at the Lion of Amphipolis where we heard about the region of Thrace.

While we were looking at some discarded ancient blocks of stone not far from the lion,

a big truck taking the corner too fast careened into a tree as it toppled over into some other ancient blocks much closer to the lion.  Thankfully, the lion, the people who were cleaning graffiti off the lion, and the driver were all fine and we moved on to the Amphipolis museum.

Oil lamp featuring gladiators

Under the museum, we had a look at a Macedonian tomb about which Leslie spoke. There's debate as to whether it is the tomb of the famous general Brasidas.

We then walked out to a place from which we could see where the battle of Amphipolis (422 BCE) took place.

Next, we were guided to an ancient wooden bridge (the only one in Greece!) by a guard who, in his younger days, had helped work on the site.

Only the parts which were submerged in water and calcified survive today. We followed the workman/guard along some ancient walls and had a look at an ancient drainage system.

More exciting than the ancient drainage system and wall was the Hellenisitic house around which a building has been built to protect it. There is still paint on the walls! We had to be very careful where we stepped because there were still remains of the floor, too.

Our next stop was Philippi where Brutus and Cassius lost to Antony and Octavian and also the place to which Paul addressed his letters to the Philippians. We saw a theater,

heard David's report about the battle, checked out the museum,

checked out the Roman agora, 

walked through a Christian Basilica,

saw some latrines,

and then scrambled up the mountain to see the acropolis. We scrambled at first because couldn't find the path. There were a lot of sharp plants on the way up.

The hill/mountain

At the top

View from the top

Then we had to hurry back to the bus so we could catch our ferry to Thassos!