Day 27 Katakolon
This morning we tied up in the pretty little port of Katakolon. Our ship was really testing the limits of what could fit here.
Back on a dreaded bus, we took a 40 minute ride to the site of the ancient Olympic games.
This really is a fascinating place. We first came across the temple of Hera.
Then the Temple of Zeus, on whose steps the winning athletes were awarded the wreath made of olive leaves. Back in the day, this temple had a statue of a seated figure of Zeus made of an outer casing of gold and ivory set over a wooden frame and stood over 40 feet in height.
One interesting technique they had for ensuring fair play at the games was the wall of shame. On the right hand side of the path that athletes used to enter the arena was a large open area filled with bronze statues of winners in previous games. On the left side was the wall of shame. If an athlete was caught cheating, he had to pay to produce a bronze statue of himself which would stand along the wall of shame. On its base was his name, his father’s name and the name of the city he was representing.
In addition he was banned from ever competing in the Olympics again as were his sons, and his city was banned from the next two games. Interestingly, while the names of many of the winners have been lost to history, the names of the 16 cheating athletes that wound up along the wall of shame are still known.
The museum on the site had a fascinating collection of ancient greek and later Roman sculptures as well as the largest collection of ancient Greek helmets in the world.
But the best thing they had was, would you believe it, the actual helmet of Miltiades, the highly talented Greek commander whose Athenian army defeated a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. This battle is thought to have been one of the key turning points in the history of the West as a loss here would have signalled the end of Greek civilisation and, but for Miltiades’ outstanding generalship, we would be living in a very different world today.
We got back to the ship and decided to check out the town of Katakolon which is a pretty place mainly focused on the tourist trade.
It has a population of around 600 and a pier that can only handle one cruise ship at a time. The pier is a bit exposed and with the winds that came in this afternoon, the ship had to keep its bow and stern thrusters operating to reduce the strain on its mooring lines.
We had a late lunch in one of their waterfront cafes before the increasing winds forced us back to the ship.
,
Hardys’ Travels 