Athens can be reached by steamer in forty-two hours from Egypt, eighteen hours from Smyrna, thirty-six hours from Constantinople, and in fifty-two hours from Naples. From Brindisi, by steamer toPatras and thence by rail, takes fifty hours. It is usually visited in the spring en route from Egypt or Palestine.
Two Weeks in Morea
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Athens. Next after Rome, Athens during twenty centuries has been for educated men the greatest attraction of all the cities of southern Europe. The noble hill of the Acropolis, the $ glory of the Athenians of old and the pride of modern Greece, with the Parthenon, towering above its neighbors, the Temple of Athene, the Erestheion and the Propylsea, still presides over the ancient and the modern Athens. The views from the summit are impressive. There, just below, is the Areopagus, and there the Pnyx, where spoke Demosthenes and Pericles. There is the Temple of Theseus; in the distance the ^ Egean Sea; and there over hills and dales is Corinth. Along the Sacred Way, by the Pass of Daphne, is Eleusis, the birthplace of ^Eschylus and the location of the great Hall of the Mysteries. A drive of five hours will bring the tourist to Marathon, that historic battlefield which decided the fate of Greece and which probably has but little changed since the Athenian wings charged headlong on the Persian center and drove the invaders to the shore and to the southern marshes. The Athenians lost 192 men, the Persians 6,400. |
| 8th day 9th |
Nauplia (five hours by rail from Athens) , in the Peloponnesus. The ruins of the capital city of Agamemnon, at Mycenae, a short drive from Nauplia, are from heroic times. Many very ancient relics excavated at Mycenae are in the National Museum at Athens. The reliefs of the Gate of the Lions are well preserved. Drives can also be made to the Heraeon, the famous Sanctuary of Argolis; and to the cyclopean Fortress of Midea; also to Argos, the rival city of Mycenae and Epidaurus in ages long antecedent to authentic history. |
| 10th day 11th |
Kalamata (seven hours and a half by train from Nauplia, through the interior of Peloponnesus) is a thriving seaport town from which excursions can be made to the ruins of ancient Messene (Nisi). |
| 12th day 13th |
Olympia (six hours by train from Kalamata). Here the Olympic games were celebrated every four years, for more than a thousand years. In the stadium Pelops vanquished CEnomaos, King of Pisa, and claimed the hand of his daughter as a reward. Here Tiberius and Nero were victors, and Themistocles and Plato received the plaudits of Olympian audiences. |
| 14th day | Patras (six hours by rail from Olympia) is the largest town in the Peloponnesus and has taken a prominent part in all the phases of Grecian history, down to the time of its destruction by Yussuf Pasha in the war of liberation, which began in 1821 and ended with the battle of Navarino in 1827. From Patras there are frequent steamers to Brindisi (Italy) and to Trieste ( Austria) ; or one can return to Athens by the Peloponnesus Railway in nine hours. This is one of the loveliest railroad rides in the world', and affords an opportunity to see ancient Corinth, where for eighteen months the Apostle Paul resided and founded a Christian church. The ruins of this town, however, are three miles from the modern city of Corinth. The view from Acro-Corinth (1,885 feet) is a magnificent one. The Corinth Canal, a great engineering feat, is for three miles cut through the solid rock of the isthmus, and connects the Gulf of Corinth with the AEgean Sea. |
