Destinations

Join this tour in order to live as an ancient Athenian for a morning. Enjoy breakfast with products which was consumed by ancient greeks. Follows discussion about modern and ancient diet of Greece. We will later visit Ancient Market, the most important spot of the old Athens, where citizens used to shop, chill, meet friends, read news and visit public services. Market’s facilities accommodated Parliament, public records of the State, meeting places of philosophers, prison, and the Mint of Athens. Follows discussion about social and economical issues of the ancient Athens, as: Do women be allowed to work and visit the market? Does slavery existed in the ancient democracy? Those questions will be answered during our tour and especially in our visit to the museum which is housed in a restored ancient shopping mall! Our last station will be the Pnyx, the real birthplace of democracy. Where citizens used to met every ten days in order to decide about crucial matters of the city. The four-hour tour will end with an unknown archaeological site where the visitor can walk among the ruins of houses and streets of the 5th century bc.

The center of the old world.

The most iconic sunset of the Aegean.

Our first stop will be the Isthmus of Corinth which was constructed in the late 19th century to facilitate travel from Italy to Greece and the Ottoman Empire, a gigantic task for the time. The idea of the task originated to the ancient Corinth.

Corinthians led by the tyrant Periander (one of the 7 Wise Men) thought of a clever way to make their town rich. In order to avoid circumnavigation of the Peloponnesian peninsula ships paid expensive tolls to the Corinthians for the use of Diolkos. It was a road where ships were literally dragged from one port of Corinth to another!! Diolkos will be our second stop!!! Afterwards, we will visit the archaeological site of Corinth. Here stands the

temple of the god of music and light, Apollo. It is also the spot where the Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians about the one God! In the small but very important museum of Ancient Corinth we will see the findings of the excavations carried out for a

century and a half by American and Greek archaeologists. We will later visit one of the pan-Hellenic sanctuaries* where Zeus was

worshipped, Nemea! The city is also famous because there Hercules {the greatest

hero of all time} defeated the lion in one of his most famous feats (άθλους). In the

archaeological site of Nemea we will visit the stadium and the museum. We will also

visit the temple of Zeus and the great altar where sacrifices were made before the

games!

Our last stop will be one of the famous wineries in the area. We will end our

tour with plenty of good local wine and food!

*sanctuaries were places where all Greeks (from cities-states) used to meet and participate in competitions in honor of the almighty God.

Visit to the most important sanctuary of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and cereals. On the route from Athens to Elefsina we will follow the ancient Sacred Way. A short stop will be made at the sanctuary of Aphrodite Aphaia, an outdoor sanctuary of the goddess of love. In Eleusis the goddess Demeter was worshiped together with her

daughter Persephone. The god of the Underworld and husband of Persephone Hades also had an honorary position. What did the myth of Persephone and her journey to the Underworld have to do with this particular place? Every year the Eleusinian Mysteries were celebrated in the sanctuary, in which only the initiated who took a vow of silence could participate. Ordinary citizens as well as Roman emperors were initiated into the mysteries in antiquity. Visit to the magical archaeological site and the renovated Museum. A

short snack with ouzo and return to Athens with a half-hour stop at the Unesco monument, the 11th century ac, Byzantine monastery of Dafniou with the golden mosaics.