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!