I probably wouldn't have gone to Paliahora, known as the "Town of 300 Churches," if it hadn't been for the reccomendation of my archaeology professor, who said that it was worth seeing. And let me say it right now, she was right. I had my doubts- I really had my doubts when the bus going across the island dropped us off at the side of a barren stretch of road, somewhere in the mountainous middle of Aegina- but by the time we sorted out where we needed to go, hiked up, and saw the site, we knew that it was worth it.
This is the hill of Paliahora, and if you look closely, you can probably pick out the little grey buildings near the top of it. Those are the 33 churches that we went to visit. Aegina, in times past, was a frequent target for pirates. Its prime location near Athens meant that it got attacked by pirates a lot, and so its people built their churches at Paliahora as a refuge in the relatively inaccessible mountains of the center of the island.
The Byzantine churches are still there, connected by footpaths and in various states of upkeep. Some of them are doing quite well, housing icons and pretty well kept up. Others are missing roofs. It's a bit of a grab bag. When we went, it was almost eerily quiet- we saw two other people at the entrance to the site, but by the time we were finished looking at the first of the churches, they were gone.
A mural in one of the better preserved churches- you can tell that it would have been beautifully painted, once upon a time. In many ways, it was a very eerie place. The inhabitants of the site were attacked by Barbarossa in the mid-1500s, and the place was abandoned. Then it was attacked by the Venetians. More destruction. There was some later settlement there, but it was abandoned once and for all in the late 1700s.
The group, quite proud of ourselves for actually finding our way there. It was definitely an adventure- we needed directions a few times, and many of the people we ran into spoke minimal English. From left to right, that's Gina, Stephanie, Maddie, Meredith, and Molly.
Gina and I finished the climb to the very top of the hill, and it was beautiful! There's one final structure, two churches that are basically conjoined, and otherwise it's just a pile of rocks with one heck of a view.
This is the hill of Paliahora, and if you look closely, you can probably pick out the little grey buildings near the top of it. Those are the 33 churches that we went to visit. Aegina, in times past, was a frequent target for pirates. Its prime location near Athens meant that it got attacked by pirates a lot, and so its people built their churches at Paliahora as a refuge in the relatively inaccessible mountains of the center of the island.
The Byzantine churches are still there, connected by footpaths and in various states of upkeep. Some of them are doing quite well, housing icons and pretty well kept up. Others are missing roofs. It's a bit of a grab bag. When we went, it was almost eerily quiet- we saw two other people at the entrance to the site, but by the time we were finished looking at the first of the churches, they were gone.
A mural in one of the better preserved churches- you can tell that it would have been beautifully painted, once upon a time. In many ways, it was a very eerie place. The inhabitants of the site were attacked by Barbarossa in the mid-1500s, and the place was abandoned. Then it was attacked by the Venetians. More destruction. There was some later settlement there, but it was abandoned once and for all in the late 1700s.
The group, quite proud of ourselves for actually finding our way there. It was definitely an adventure- we needed directions a few times, and many of the people we ran into spoke minimal English. From left to right, that's Gina, Stephanie, Maddie, Meredith, and Molly.
Gina and I finished the climb to the very top of the hill, and it was beautiful! There's one final structure, two churches that are basically conjoined, and otherwise it's just a pile of rocks with one heck of a view.
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