And Now for One Last Teetering Column...

At long last we made it to Kolonna and the Temple of Apollo, which are actually just outside of Aegina town. The Temple of Apollo is at present one measly column, which is fragmentary and not all that exciting, but the site also has bronze age ruins and a very neat little museum that details the phases of the town and shows many finds, mostly pottery from the early periods but also some stuatuary from later periods. This is the archaeological site, and I would try to describe what all of those walls are, but it would get pretty confusing pretty quickly. A common issue is that in a place like Kolonna, there were years and years of continuous occupation. There is a cistern from the Byzantine period in this picture. There also are defensive walls from the Bronze Age, thousands of years before. There were a few signs, but they were quite confusing- different colors for different periods, written only in German, and the like. This is the one teetering column, which is all that is left of the Temple of Apollo. It is quite visible, though- coming in on the ferry, you can definitely see the column poking above the trees.
The view from the site- I can see why they decided to build a settlement/fortified area/temple here. After we were done with the site, we went swimming at the beach you can see- it was magnificent. The water of the gulf is really salty, even compared to the water of the Atlantic or Pacific, and so floating was really easy. It also was bathwater-warm.
One last picture of the site before we left to get lunch and go for a swim! It was a lot of fun, but the sun was pretty brutal and there was no shade or water. We were all pretty beat.
And this is a mosaic, which came from the floor of a Jewish synagogue from the Byzantine period. You never think of Greece as having a large Jewish population, but at one time, there were definitely Jewish communities here.

Basically, if you ever find yourself in Athens and are looking for a nice weekend getaway, I would very much suggest Aegina. We had a great time, and I would definitely go back. Just remember to bring water and good walking shoes! (And if you're reading this, remember to read the three posts before this! I'm sorry, my adventures on Aegina were just too exciting for one post.)

Paliahora, Town of 300 Churches

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.

The Temple of Aphaia

The Temple of Aphaia is a Dorian temple located somewhere above the town of Agia Marina. It is a temple to Aphaia, a nymph who was believed to be Zeus' daughter and a virgin goddess similar to Artemis. It is a worthwhile place to go to. We got in for free because we are archaeology and classics students, which has been a common theme throughout the trip- I haven't paid to get into a site yet. We got there at about 8:30, half an hour after the site opens, and for most of it we were by ourselves- shortly before we left, a small group of British tourists arrived.
It is in a beautiful state of preservation- the pediment sculptures have been removed and now are on display at the National Archaeological museum, but at the site itself, most of the temple is still standing and there are lots of signs to point out what things were. This is actually the second iteration of the temple- an older version was burned down in the Archaic period.
The version that is standing now is the one that was completed sometime around 490- there is some dispute about the dates in question. The columns that you can see are typical of Doric temples- they're incredibly plain, with capitals that are only minimally decorated.
All in all, everyone who was on my trip agrees that the Temple of Aphaia is a must see.
And here I am, looking happy and pink-ish. (Don't worry, I'm not very sunburned at all. There's a patch of skin on my left shoulder that was burned, but otherwise I just got a few more freckles.) (Also, please excuse the hair. The tap water at Agia Marina was incredibly salty, and we decided that showering would only make things worse. It also was quite windy.)

More to come- the adventure had only begun!

In Which Caroline Visits Her First Greek Island!

This weekend we went to Aegina, which is one of the islands of the Saronic Gulf. (It's the biggest island on the map below- specifically, the one labeled "Aegina.") Aegina is a short-ish ferry ride away from Athens, and in terms of history is actually a rather interesting place. An ancient rival of Athens, Aegina was originally a colony of Epidaurus, according to Herodotus, and during the Peloponnesian Wars they were allied with Sparta. In the Persian wars, 50-ish years earlier, they were one of the Greek poleis to give earth and water to Persia.

We were going partly for the history, but also for the beaches, which are very nice, and the sights, which are amazing. During the summer, Aegina is a very popular tourist destination- many wealthy Athenians own second homes there. But this weekend, after the season ended, it was very quiet.
It's a really beautiful place.
This is Aegina Town, which is the port that the ferry gets in at. It's the largest town on Aegina- about 7,000 people live there. It's also rather touristy, and filled with people selling pistachios, which the island grows and sells in great numbers. We spent a bit of our first afternoon in Aegina town, but before too long we caught a bus and headed across the island to Agia Marina, a town on the other side with good access to one of Aegina's most famous sites- the Temple of Aphaia.
This is the view from Agia Marina- more very pretty places.