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Exhibition – ‘The occupier’s gaze’ – Photos of the Nazis in Athens

An absolutely captivating exhibition is currently on display until 30th September 2019 at the newly refurbished Fethiye mosque in the Roman Agora in Athens. ‘The Occuper’s gaze’ exhibition displays photographs of Athens taken by Nazi soldiers during the German occupation of Greece during the Second World War. Over 3000 photos of Greece during this period were donated to Byron Metsos by the daughter of a German soldier who wanted to remain anonymous. In October 1940 Metaxas had famously said ‘oxi’ to the Italian fascists who had wanted to occupy strategic positions in Greece, bringing the country to war with the…

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Centre of the Cyclades

This is the amazing view from the top of where once stood a grand marble temple to Apollo and Artemis, across the bay from Parikia in Paros. You really feel like you are at the centre of the Cyclades from this point, able to see the islands of Delos, Mykonos, Naxos, Syros and Sifnos appearing in the haze of the afternoon sun. It was a bit of a walk to get up here, mainly because Google maps shows roads that have been closed off by new hotels or otherwise don’t exist. There is also absolutely nothing to see archaeologically, all…

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Artsy Quarter

So I’m not usually a fan of graffiti at all, even when it can be described as ‘artsy’ compared to the usual spray paint scribbles. But I changed my mind here in the student quarter of Limassol where a touch of vibrant colour has been added to every available surface. A festival is held every year to re-paint everything and it seems like a great idea to brighten up some of the otherwise more dilapidated areas. It’s just so fun to turn around every corner and not know what to expect! Even bollards, scaffolding and boarded up houses have been…

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Rugged luxury

The island of Capri is an incredible rock outcrop in the Bay of Naples that has been a symbol of luxury and decadence for thousands of years. The Roman emperor Tiberius had his Villa Iovis pleasure palace built here and today the island is full of five star hotels for the wealthy. Taking a boat trip around the island is an absolute must – I felt like an explorer of an uninhabited territory. You could not help but marvel at nature as the sheer rock faces loomed above us, with crystal clear turquoise water below, lapping against the cliffs and through the caves.…

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Central Point

This photo was actually taken whilst on a moving coach! The way the clock tower of the nearby village just outside Delphi stuck out of this promontory hill was an incredible view. It was almost as if the whole Parnassus mountain range was revolving around this point as we drove past it. Rather appropriate considering Delphi was originally considered the ‘belly-button’ (omphalos) of the world by the ancients.

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Surrender All

Bobbing along in the sea with a local fisherman from Pylos as the sun was setting, the uninhabited island of Sphakteria stood defiant before us. It was here in 425BC that 292 Spartan soldiers surrendered to the Athenians having been isolated on the island since defeat at the Battle of Pylos. This was a great coup for Athens and a shield has been found in the Athenian agora that belonged to one of these Spartans, displayed in the most public area of the city, perhaps dedicated to a nearby sanctuary in thanks. Stories of Leonidas and his 300 fighting bitterly…

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God Gaze

A river god looks out from theFontana dei Quattro Fiumi. A Bernini masterpiece from 1651, the ‘Fountain of the Four Rivers’ stands in the heart of Piazza Navonna and includes a large obelisk at its centre. It was commissioned for Pope Innocent X whose palace faced onto the piazza and the four river gods represent the four continents where his papal authority had spread – the Nile for Africa, the Danube for Europe, the Ganges for Asia (pictured) and the Rio de la Plata for America.  Piazza Navonna is always lively but it is excellent at night where it comes…

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Lookout

As Albania is still based on small communities, when you get to a viewpoint you are looking at the same scenery people have looked at for hundreds of years. This is particularly the case at Phonike – an ancient Hellenistic city built on a plateau ridge looking out towards the port at Butrint. It is easy to see why this was a strategically important place to build a settlement, even if a steep climb up the hill!  What I find fascinating about this place though is the fact that its strategic location was recognised even in modern times, with these…

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Peter Prevails

Dan Brown lovers might remember the Vatican obelisk from Angels and Demons where the intrepid symbologist Robert Langdon makes a ‘point’ about how odd it is for such a pagan monument to be at the heart of the Catholic church. There isn’t actually anything particularly strange about this though. Caligula brought this obelisk over from Alexandria to stand in his circus where hundreds of Christians were martyred, supposedly including St. Peter. So in the forecourt of St. Peter’s basilica, it’s not really surprising an emblem of his sacrifice is displayed centre stage. Indeed, the inscriptions on the base ‘de-paganise’ the…

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It’s in the detail

It’s all too easy when visiting places to take the obvious picture of the grand facade or a sweeping landscape… but these don’t interest me as much as it’s the close up details which you can’t see in magazines/books/websites that you want to remember and make visiting sites a special experience.  So here is the underside between the columns of the Library of Celsus at Ephesus.  Although it did hold thousands of scrolls, this building was actually made as a monumental tomb for the father of consul Gaius Julius Aquila Celsus Polemaenus, completed in AD 135. It is a huge monument…

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Drama Submerged

It is said that here at Butrint, the Trojan hero, Aeneas, met Hector’s enslaved widow Andromache weeping at her fate. As a major city in ancient Epirus over several centuries, Butrint has some great remains to see from different time periods including a basilica, baptistery and Venetian towers. The great finds on display in the little museum give a taste of what has been discovered here, particularly considering this is the ‘second rate’ material kept in store rooms which was only put on display after the previous museum was  robbed.  Much of the site is partially underwater due to the…

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Aphrodite is born

These rocks are legendary in Cyprus for being the place from where Aphrodite was born. In typical Greek mythological fashion, Zeus had yet another affair and Aphrodite arose from the sea foam (aphros ) from which she gets her name. Indeed, there is even a Greek version of Berocca that is named Aphrosa  for this reason! It is said that if you swim around the rocks three times you will find your true love… but the water around here is very deep and choppy so you might want to give it a miss if you’re not a strong swimmer. This is…

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Rebuilt wonder

There is always a bit of controversy when monuments are rebuilt, often looking out of place amongst the surrounding ruins… but the Stoa of Attalos, which was reconstructed in 1952-6, is a fantastic space in the Athenian Agora. As a faithful replica of what the original would have looked like, it gives the visitor a sense of the grandeur of these ancient porticoes which would have once surrounded the agora and also lets you experience for yourself the welcome cooling shade they provided.  It is easy to see how philosophers once sat amongst such colonnaded walkways debating the world. The…

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Nemea Museum

Nemea is not an often visited site but is accessible on the way to the more famous Olympia. But in ancient times, Nemea was the scene of the Nemean games which were also pan-Hellenic and served an equally important function in city-state diplomacy and rivalry. Famous for the Nemean Lion that Herakles slew, I always found it amusing that the winners of the Nemean games would gain a wreath of celery! The temple to Zeus has had some columns re-erected but many of the drums lie scattered across the site charting the direction in which they tumbled when pulled down by…

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The power of photographs in history

Although the people that history speaks of may not live any more, the stories and monuments left behind breathe life into the past and offer a window for us to see into a different time and place than today. With the invention of photography, this feeling of looking into a window on the past is even more appropriate a term to use. A photograph is literally a snapshot moment stopped in time – when we look at it, we are literally looking at the past. No crumbled ruins, no text to decipher, no incomprehensible foundations to re-erect before us. We…

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Pandora – the reason for women’s troubles?

The story of Pandora has always interested me as an example of women being blamed for all the ills of the world. There’s no doubt that the Christian idea of Eve and original sin traces the same idea of women as the root of all evil. But really, in the grand scheme of Greek mythology I don’t think she comes off as the worst of all people. She’s just shown as human possessing virtues and vices….like mortals and immortals alike are shown to have. Watch this Ted-Ed video to see the story of the myth. https://youtu.be/pMdJxVjZMRI

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Athens is winner of European Capital of Innovation

This comes as no surprise having witnessed for myself on a visit this year how much Athens has changed in new and interesting ways over the past couple of years. Hopefully the 1 million euro prize money will be spent wisely to encourage more start up innovation across the city and help the creative young people to gain further employment. https://www.governmenteuropa.eu/european-capital-of-innovation-2018/91042/?fbclid=IwAR3Ma8dwtaDx8RpD3s_t_3k-A-hoLCK50HL7hLp2HuJaePp4PkdHh9AU3JA

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Complete chariot burial found in Yorkshire

The skeletons of two complete horses and the complete preservation of a chariot are a remarkable Iron Age find in the town of Pocklington in Yorkshire this month. I hope when the finds get removed and eventually displayed in a museum they can preserve the way in which they were found from the excavation photographs. Have seen some great chariots from the Picenum culture of a similar date in Ancona, Italy for a comparison.

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Hadrianopolis theatre used again!

Interested to see the theatre of Hadrianopolis (outside Gjirokaster in Albania) being used for theatrical performances, 1800 years after it was built. I helped to excavate the theatre back in 2013…sadly we did not find a porticus beside it but I did find a bronze tetradrachm with a striding Zeus, a Byzantine Ionic column and a completely intact oil lamp! https://www.cronachemaceratesi.it/2018/07/30/il-teatro-romano-di-hadrianopolis-rivive-grazie-ad-unimc/1133950/?fbclid=IwAR3PN-C__NqbqAwl-91D28DK3PbNNFmGSOzz5v98XZFuB6009QG5VA_utHc

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This is Athens

Here are some of my favourite videos showing life in the city of Athens And finally here is what the ancient city may have looked like from the new Assassin’s Creed game!

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Athens, Rising – New York Times

Charly Wilder provides an account I recognise of the changes that Athens has gone through since its government debt crisis in 2014-15. I lived right at the heart of the city at the time and three years on when I visited this Easter I could see so much of what Wilder describes here. Indeed my experience of moving my life to Athens and the sights and smells I encountered mirrors Wilder’s account. Well worth a read. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/travel/athens-after-the-economic-crisis.html?register=email&auth=register-email

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Four sisters in Ancient Rome

The lives of women and girls in Ancient Rome is often overlooked. Here Ray Laurence from the University of Kent gives his perspective on the day in the life of girls of different ages.

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My version of Hercules’ labours (age 8)

There was a time when the Greek myths we know so well were being told to us for the first time as a child. Looking through some old boxes today at home I found a great list I seem to have made after hearing of the Labours of Hercules for probably one of the first times. The mix of my 8 year old imagination and what I thought was also cool are interweaved hilariously! 15th May 2000 1) Hercules meets a snake with six tails that strangles you 2) He meets a dog with three sets of teeth that can…

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When the Greeks said ‘No’ – Oxi Day, Thermopylae and the 2015 crisis

Historically, the Greeks are known for their determined resistance and one event that epitomises this is commemorated on October 28th each year. Grand military parades sweep across the major cities. Considering all men are still required for national service, the fervent flag waving and saluting from the crowd shows the emotional connection many citizens still feel for the army. It is known as ‘Oxi day’ after the determined resistance of Ioannis Metaxas against Mussolini’s request to occupy strategic points in Greece unopposed during WWII. Metaxas’ response to the ultimatum issued to him was ‘Then it is war’ but Athens quickly shortened it…

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Has the BM lost it’s Elgin Argument?

I was rather surprised to see that the figure of Ilissos from the West pediment of the Parthenon and a member of the famously disputed Elgin marbles, was transported to Russia for an exhibition at the Hermitage in St Petersburg. In the world of museums, it is not unusual at all for pieces to go on loan to other institutions and is part of the important interchange of exhibits across the world. Indeed the British Museum has had an exhibition entitled ‘Body Beautiful’ with famous pieces like the Townley Discobolos on tour for almost 5 years, to be coming back…

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