This weekend, Nadia and I went to Korinthos-- where we saw a castle at the top of a mountain and the archaeological site. I originally didn't know that this castle existed, let alone planned on visiting it. But on the train ride over, I heard the most innocent American voice from behind me. I turned around and started talking to these two old ladies that were from Indiana. After about 5 minutes of talking, we decided that we would share a cab to go see the Archaeological site of Corinth, including the Temple of Apollo.
The four of us climbed in a taxi, with Nadia as our translator. Nadia, not knowing a thing about Corinth or what we were trying to see, said take us to ancient Corinth. The driver said something back and Nadia was sure that he was taking us in the right direction. After 12 euros worth of driving and the car stalling out twice, we ended up at the base of a mountain with no Temple of Apollo in site. But who am I to complain about a new adventure to a place I haven't seen.
So there we were, right in front of the gates to the fortification of this castle that I never knew existed. I stood there, staring up at this mountainside in disbelief. There was something bigger than me in the picture, and it wasn't only the fortification of the walls nor the mountain peak that we were going to ascend up to.
After about 30 minutes of climbing up rough trails, we made it to the top. I did my best not to look at the view on the way up because I didn't want to spoil the surprise. When I finally turned my head to peak, the view was absolutely breathtaking. You could see the rolling hills full of vegetation being interrupted my a sharp rocky mountain. The land directly below us was patchwork, art done by God's left hand, showing all sorts of colors and combinations of geometries. Further in the distance is where I could see the harsh Greek Mountains.
After we reached at the top, we carefully trickled across the mountain to see some of the architectural ruins, including the baths and the wall fortification. Everywhere around me was magnificent-- not only the views, but the creepy flowers, the building materials and quality-- all of which could only have been created by something bigger than humans.
Looking up the site now, I realized that we were 575 m high walking through the oldest and most
imposing castle in the Peloponnese.
After seeing the castle, I didn't know how our day could get any better-- but we hiked down the mountain and 30 minutes later, we reached the ancient site of Korinth.
The four of us climbed in a taxi, with Nadia as our translator. Nadia, not knowing a thing about Corinth or what we were trying to see, said take us to ancient Corinth. The driver said something back and Nadia was sure that he was taking us in the right direction. After 12 euros worth of driving and the car stalling out twice, we ended up at the base of a mountain with no Temple of Apollo in site. But who am I to complain about a new adventure to a place I haven't seen.
So there we were, right in front of the gates to the fortification of this castle that I never knew existed. I stood there, staring up at this mountainside in disbelief. There was something bigger than me in the picture, and it wasn't only the fortification of the walls nor the mountain peak that we were going to ascend up to.
After about 30 minutes of climbing up rough trails, we made it to the top. I did my best not to look at the view on the way up because I didn't want to spoil the surprise. When I finally turned my head to peak, the view was absolutely breathtaking. You could see the rolling hills full of vegetation being interrupted my a sharp rocky mountain. The land directly below us was patchwork, art done by God's left hand, showing all sorts of colors and combinations of geometries. Further in the distance is where I could see the harsh Greek Mountains.
Looking up the site now, I realized that we were 575 m high walking through the oldest and most
imposing castle in the Peloponnese.
After seeing the castle, I didn't know how our day could get any better-- but we hiked down the mountain and 30 minutes later, we reached the ancient site of Korinth.
This site was full of so many fun artifacts and I can't help but share them!!! Check out the captions below the pictures...
Temple pediment with original paint
Roman fountain
Engaged Caryatid columns
An ivory comb
I love going to places like this where I can unravel the strands the many layers of history. It's amazing the things that people left behind for us to discover.
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