6/22 Pylos - Nestor's Palace and Fortress of Methoni

Outside temperature at 8:00 is 70. We dock at the Bay of Navarino (remember Guns of Navarone?) on Greece's western coast. We breakfast early on the 5^th deck outside buffet, sitting with two of our Greek guides. It's off-putting to sit down and the other two people at your table continue speaking in their foreign language, even though you know they are both fluent in English.

In the photo to the right, you can see the captain out on his little wing directing and driving the connection with the dock. The three buses wait for us.

We board the buses heading to Nestor’s Palace, some half-hour away on very narrow, winding, steep roads. Odysseus didn’t visit Nestor’s palace, but his son Telemachus did. I recall that Nestor also had a role  in the Iliad, but can't remember his exact place. The palace is huge and the beehive-shaped burial vault fascinating.

Left, the fireplace in Nestor's palace. There was originally a huge hole in the ceiling directly above the fireplace and it was obviously big enough to cook some awesome meals!

This archaeological site had an interesting, gently sloped roof over it, with wide-open sides. Compare with Troy's arching sail of a ceiling and the soaring tent we will see on Malta.

Our guide for the palace is Jack Davis, the archeologist who had unearthed the site, and Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the largest overseas American research institution. He is an authority in the prehistory of Greece and the Balkans. His wife, Sharon Stocker, leads the other half of our group and is equally well-qualified.

The story of the ruins is interesting: until about 1200 bc (the Odyssey, written in about 800 bc, recounting a story that supposedly took place in about 1250 bc). Up until its demise, the palace seems to have remained intact. But whatever happened to kill or cause the inhabitants to move, the site was never reclaimed, despite its apparent physical command of the area surrounding it. It was simply abandoned. Strange!

More photos are available here.

To the right is the beehive tomb that was probably used by the entire royal family. They used a stone trough to pile the bones of those who had previously died and whose flesh had disappeared. Apparently there were the bones of many people in that trough. There probably had once been a great deal of treasure there, too, but that was long gone.

We re-board the buses and return through Pylos to the old, but not ancient, fortress we had seen as our boat neared town earlier. This is the Venetian fortress of Methoni, a fascinating fortress reinvented to protect its inhabitants from ammunition sparked by gunfire.

Our guide, Smaro, carefully describes the defensive tactics: very thick walls, angled outward near the bottom, built with varying types of rocks and bricks for greatest support, bulwarks extending so the main gate could be protected from the sides. It is surrounded by a moat-like trench, probably left dry, but helpful in slowing the enemy’s advance. Fortress pictures are here.

We return to the boat for a fascinating lecture by Diane Ahl, on “Man is the Measure of All Things: The Male Ideal in Greek Art.” It is interesting to hear her comments on the image of young, male, idealized images. She has evidence, in the form of images on a pot, of men working naked in a bronze furnace area. There is some disagreement among the group about the wisdom of working naked among molten metal, but the evidence was on her side.

John remembers:

Entering the harbor. Not like yesterday: we first saw a huge rusted shape of a ship in drydock . Today was very calm in the protected harbor, and we were the only cruise ship there. This felt like a true Mediterranean town. When we approached in the early morning it was only a dark shadow. We were told there was a lot to get done today. We’re on a schedule. We had just a few hours there. We knew we needed to get back on the buses. It was fascinating driving through the flatlands. There is a big hotel complex here, that we didn’t see, but our guide spoke about. We only saw one hole of the golfcourse, but of course it was green. The guide talked about disputes concerning the water table and the resort’s excessive water needs. They do seem to be trying to be good citizens. 

Then we drove up and up and up. The guide commented on the  “commanding views” of the harbor, only useful to ancient people, to plan their defenses and see their enemy coming from afar. There was a clear understanding that this was a reason for Nestor to live here. Not very close to the sea but a perfect vantage point.

The winged lion was Venice's symbol

The great beehive tomb was built straight out from the palace. In modern times it was covered by currant drying areas. And 90% those currant drying areas signified ancient tombs. They walked us up; they explained the where-for and why-for. To be recreating it , oin tombs of what is there is today. Unrecognizable! Earthquake territory river nearby there weren’t olive trees there then it took a fair amount of imagining to see this notion that it was a tremendous number of years that this dynasty thrived; yes, it fell, but no one knows why. There was a notion, modern, to resuscitate the ancient recipes for scented and medicinal oils to be sold in the nearby spa.

The castle and ramparts were highlights, as was the guide. She was awesome!

We enjoyed the departure from the beautiful harbor of Navarone and as we got underway Kathy enjoyed a  pedicure. Funny nail colors, but sweet staff. The hairdresser’s been all over the world on this boat but looks forward to returning to the Philippines when we return to Athens. Said the voyages to Antarctica were wonderful, but only for those who don’t get seasick. For those who do, it’s awful. Another cruise.