Trip 3 Day 8 (October 31): Gla, Ptoion, Levadhia (Trophonios, T. of Zeus)

It was a cloudy and windy Halloween morning as we climbed up to the site of Gla where Mike gave his report.

Our next stop was at the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoion where Margie told us about the temple specifically and Boeotia in general.

Then it was back to Levadhia for lunch before we met at the site of the Oracle of Trophonius in a lovely little area with a stream and a footbridge. Jon gave his report on the Oracle, explaining that may have been located in a nearby cave.

The cave itself was appropriately creepy.

We finished the day at the temple of Zeus in Levadhia where Professor Robert Pitt of the British School talked to us about the building inscriptions he'd found in this yard of blocks giving important information about the construction of temples. 

The temple itself is poorly preserved.

Before we left, the sun tried poking out from behind the clouds.

Trip 3 Day 7 (October 30): Velestino, Lamia Museum

Modern Velestino was ancient Pherai home to the temple of Ennodia.

It's been called a temple of Zeus but the finds in the museum from this site indicate that this was, in fact, a temple to Artemis.

Our next stop was at a geometric tholos tomb around which a wooden building had been built to protect it.

From there we climbed up the acropolis of the city and had a look at the city walls. 

We also came across a beautiful church where services were going on as we passed.

Next we stopped at a little museum in a town called Halos.

Our last stop of the day was at the Lamia museum. Outside is this sculpture of a woman protesting the British Museum's insistence on keeping the Parthenon marbles.

The museum houses beautiful sculpture, mosaics, and pottery from a variety of time periods but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. No restrictions about pictures outside and the views were definitely picture-worthy.

Trip 3 Day 6 (October 29):Nea Anchialos, Demetrias, Dimini/Sesklo, Volos Museum, Goritsa

Not far from our hotel, we started the morning at a set of basilicas in Nea Anchialos, the most important early Christian site in Greece. There are 9 churches there and Glenn led us through Basilica A and Basilica B.

Next we visited the palace of ancient Demetrias where Charles gave his report. There was still plaster and paint on some of the walls.

We got word from the guard at the site that the archaeologist who found the Apollo statue we saw yesterday was available and wanted to meet with us! He also let us into the nearby theater.

Next we went to the prehistoric site of Sesklo where Flint gave the first half of his report. 

He gave the rest of his report at another prehistoric site, Dimini. There were ongoing excavations so we couldn't take pictures at the site. We did take pictures at the tholos tomb at Dimini.

Then at the Volos museum, Angele gave her report on the painted grave stelai housed there.

There were some other pretty cool things in the museum, too.

Our last stop of the day was at the site of Goritsa scarred by an industrial compound.

While we sat on the top of the hill which, in the other direction, overlooked some beautiful scenes, we heard from Jennifer about depictions of Achilles in art.

The trash cans at the foot of the hill were awesomely decorated, too.

Trip 3 Day 5 (October 28): Meteora, Metropolis, Zoodochos Pigi, Pharsalos

Οχι Day! and my birthday!

We began the holiday at Meteora where Cathy gave her report on the monasteries that were built up on the rocks. We checked out St. Stephen's monastery and then came back over to the Great Meteoron monastery.
The rocks where the monasteries were built are amazing. The monks of the past used net lifts to get people up to the building. These days there are cable cars and extensive staircases.

We also found some treasures within the monasteries. In the Great Meteoron, there were several museum rooms. One, which didn't allow pictures, had all manner of manuscripts including a 1502 copy of Lucian! Another featured the history of the Greek military with mannequins dressed in military dress from several different time periods. The best, however, was the painting featuring Homer, Socrates, Plutarch and others as prophets of God. Even better was the placard showing how the great Greek writers of the past had predicted the coming of Christ (even though they didn't).

Our next stop was at a small museum in Karditsa where Allie gave her report on the cult statue of Apollo from the temple of Apollo in Metropolis. The museum doesn't allow photography inside, so I took a picture of the statue on one of the banners outside the museum.

After the museum, we went to the site of the temple where Allie continued her report. Sadly, no one asked any Superman related questions (we were at Metropolis . . . get it?).

The Greek man working at the guard house of the site was so excited to see us. He showed a few of us pictures of the dig when the statue of Apollo was found. He also gave us some tree leaves that after being rubbed together a bit smell strongly of citrus.

Not far from the temple site, we stopped at a tholos tomb.

Next we had a look inside an old church building at a cemetery which had a Trajanic mile marker built into one of its columns.

Outside the cemetery, we looked out on the plain where the battle of Pharsalus (48 BCE) occurred.

Not a bad way to spend the first day of my thirties.