Tag: Archaeology

Greece 2018: Nestor’s Palace

An account of Nestor’s palace at Pylos.

INTRODUCTION

Through a combination of work commitments and still having large numbers of photos to edit it has been a while since I posted, so just to remind people I was in Greece from May 12th to May 19th, and have so far produced five posts relating to that holiday:

  1. Aperiftif – setting the scene for subseqent posts going into more detail about the holiday and various aspects thereof.
  2. Days 1-2 – covering the start of the holiday
  3. The Journey to Methoni – covering the start of the first of the two major excursions.
  4. Methoni Castle – covering the castle other than the Bourzti of Methoni.
  5. The Bourtzi of Methoni – covering the Bourtzi.

A VERY ANCIENT SITE

Whereas nothing at Methoni is above 800 years old, and most of it is around half that age (making it a youngster in terms of Greek sites) Nestor’s Palace at Pylos (about 15 kilometres from the modern town of that name) was in its pomp 3,300 years ago or thereabouts, which means that even by Greek standards it counts as old (although Gortyn on the island of Crete is about twice as old as even this). In an effort to preserve these remains a shelter has been built around the site, and part of this structure is a raised walkway from which visitors view the site – no walking round at ground level these days.

roof and walkways

NESTOR’S PALACE IN PICTURES

It is now time for the combination of my camera and photo-editing skills to take over and give you a virtual tour of Nestor’s Palace…

Information, Nestor's Palace
There is lots of informatrion about the palace and the kingdom it was a part of.

The Kingdom of PylosThe Perfumed Oil IndustryThe White GoddessThe search for the Mycenaean KingdomThe new face of NestorThe well-built citadel of NeleusThe Palace of NestorReconstruction of Nestor's PalacePropylonLooking at Nestor's PalaceMinor roomsstonework, PylosThe Archives of the PalaceCourtColumn support bases and remains of the court wallThe MegaronNature, History, Culture in perfect harmonyside roomsThe back of Nestor's palace and beyondSouthwestern building, Palace of NeleusPantries info boardPantriesThrone room info boardThrone roomThrone pedestalThrone pedestal IIThrone pedestal IIIThrone room wallOuter limits of palaceraised walkway and frameworkThrone room IIstoneworkextremities of the palaceroof structureOlive Oil stiorage roomsOlive oil storerooms remainsstaircaseremainsNestor's bathNestor's bath and queen's throne room

detail from Nestor's bath
some detail from the inside facing of Nestor’s bath.

side of palaceNestor's bath info boardunsheltered remainsNortheastern buildingBeyond the shelterThe Queen's megaronThe queen's throne roomsmall roomLooking out of the palaceThe queen's thronewallsThe bathroombath decorationdisabled access at Nestor's palacepropylon671

Sea view from Nestor's palace IV
The first of several sea views I captured from Nestor’s palace.

SEA VIEWS FROM THE PALACE

Here are my remaining sea views from the palace itself…

sea view from Nestor's palace IISea view from Nestor's palace IIISea view from Nestor's palace

Greece: The Journey to Methoni

Setting the scene for the accounts of Methoni and Nestor’s palace.

INTRODUCTION

On the Tuesday of my Greek holiday (Tuesday 15th May) we visited first the Venetian castle at Methoni and then Nestor’s palace at Pylos. This post sets the scene for the rest of that day by describing things up to the point at which we were poised to visit the castle.

UNDER WAY

We had intended to get underway by nine o’clock and we did. Although being in the back of a hatchback with small rear windows is somewhat limiting of what one can photograph I got a few shots as we approached our main destination.

sea view through the car windowView across the bayMarina IMarina IIMarina IIIMarina IV

Aqueduct through car window I
This is a Turkish built medieval aqueduct, and I got three shots of it from the car, before we stopped because there was an information board about it.

Aqueduct through car window IIAqueduct through car window III

THE AQUEDUCT CLOSE UP

I took full advantage of our brief stop…

Aqueduct information board
The Information board.

Aqueduct segmentThrough an archSegment including towercacticacti II

THE FINAL APPROACH TO METHONI

We passed a scene that featured both good and bad…

The best and worst of Greece

The wind turbines on the hill are a positive sign, but the derelict shell of a building at the bottom is unfortunate to say the least. After parking in Methoni we passed the Venetial Well en route to a cafe…

Venetian well storyboardThe Venetian well at Methoni

At the cafe we were served water and decided to sample their chocolate crepes, which proved to be ill-advised. These were served in absurd quantities, and the principal covering was nutella. I realised after eating one of the three crepes I was served that I needed to scrape away the nutella before continuing with the others. Half way through the second I gave up, realising that trouble was in store if I continued eating the stuff. This decision came too late to entirely save me from adverse consequences, but at least meant that I only became a little nauseous rather than ever actually feeling or being sick. 

Once we were all finished it was time to visit the castle, which will form the subject of my next post.

Bronza Age Wheel Found in Cambridgeshire

Links and a picture relating to a very interesting piece in the Guardian.

This comes courtesy of the Guardian, to whose piece I link below. The site of the discovery is near Peterborough, approximately one and a half hours bus ride from my home in King’s Lynn. To draw you in further, here is the picture together with link:

Wheel

Acknolwegdements to the Guardian and Joe Giddens of PA for the photograph: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/504b9161dfed899dcf1705869127939a832a7581/0_78_3500_2099/master/3500.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=58b1f7b9358dac7b73b4bba211cc3400

To read the Guardian article please click here.

Ancient Olympia

This is the site of the original Olympics, held here from 776 BC until the Roman Emperor and christian fanatic Theodosius put a stop to them in 393AD – and it would be 1500 years before they were revived. However, this was not just the original sporting hotbed, there are countless other splendid things to see here. As usual I have some excellent photos for you…

It is a shame that this viaduct has seen its last passenger, but there is no chance of this railway being reopened.
It is a shame that this viaduct has seen its last passenger, but there is no chance of this railway being reopened.

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This arch marks the entrance to the stadium.
This arch marks the entrance to the stadium.

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Part of the starting line.
Part of the starting line.

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Aerial view of the whole stadium
Aerial view of the whole stadium

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