Sacred Landscape of Central Greece

AN 'ARCHAEOLOGICAL PILGRIMAGE' THROUGH THE GREEK MAINLAND

A brief student report on the 2024 excursion to central Greece It was like a reward for passing the exam week when we stood together at Vienna Airport on Friday, June 28, 2024, awaiting our departure to Athens. A week and a half in Greece lay ahead of us - a week and a half packed with archaeological highlights, places whose layouts we already knew from various courses, mythical valleys where you could possibly be kissed by the muses or invoke Apollo, and museums with so many art treasures that it would be impossible to give each 'highlight' its own space. Our journey would take us through several ancient regions: Attica, Euboea, Boeotia, Phocis and Lokris.

Our excursion officially began on June 29 in Athens: from Syntagma Square in the city center, we took the coach (aptly named the 'Plato Bus') towards Rhamnous and Oropos. We were unable to visit Rhamnous in its entirety due to the high risk of forest fires, but we quickly realized something else in addition to the archaeological significance of these sites: we were now able to spend the next nine days with like-minded people who would probably take just as many photos of 'stones' as we did - and knew what to do with them!

June 30 was all about Lefkandi on Euboea. After a morning visit to the two (!) archaeological museums in Chalkida, the afternoon was spent at the sites of Xeropolis and Toumba - where, in addition to a visit to the latter, there was also a joint refresher course in STEOP skills and a stimulating discussion about protogeometric burial rites.

The following morning, a visit to Eretria and its archaeological museum required unexpected mountain climbing skills, but these were duly rewarded by the view from the thesmophoria there. After a lunch break, the first visit to an active archaeological site was already on the agenda: In Eleon, Boeotia, we were guided through the excavation site by Dr. Trevor van Damme and Prof. Brendan Burke and then - a personal highlight - through the associated finds camp.

These impressive insights were complemented on the following day, July 2nd, by a visit to the excavation of Amarynthos, Euboea. Dr. Tamara Saggini and Dr. Tobias Krapf from the Swiss Archaeological School in Greece presented their current research work at the Artemision of Amarynthos, before we continued on to the Kabirion of Thebes and the Valley of the Muses, both in Boeotia.

A visit to Orchomenos and Livadia, also in Boeotia, was followed by a visit to the archaeological museum of Thebes (which could only amaze us with its exhibits) and the sanctuary of Apollo at Ptoion. We demonstrated the acoustic effect of the latter's special geographical location by singing together in an 'experimental archaeological' manner. A little exploration of the area was also a must - and probably meant that we spent twice as long in this impressive mountain range instead of the planned one and a half hours.

July 4 was dedicated entirely to Delphi and its archaeological museum, both of which were even more impressive in reality than we had imagined.In Kalapodi, Lokris, the former excavation director Dr. Rainer Felsch showed us around 'his' excavation site before Dr. Petros Kounouklas told and showed us impressive things in and about Kynos. Dr. Kounouklas was also to accompany us on the next day, July 6, through the museum of Atalanti, which we visited after an adventurous hike through the surf to the island of Mitrou under the guidance of Prof. Aleydis Van de Moortel.Our excursion concluded on the same day with a visit to the Mycenaean fortress of Gla in Boeotia.

Chalkida, Thiva and Livanates were our starting points for the daily (purposeful) odysseys through central Greece.Thanks to their location by the sea (Chalkida, Livanates), these places offered all those who still had energy left after the day's hikes a great opportunity to end the day on the beach and in the water.The communal evening meal with a view of the sea gave us a lovely vacation feeling every day.
 
As a diverse and harmonious group, armed with the great academic guidance of Prof. Mac Sweeney and Dr. Hoernes as well as an intrepid bus driver, for whom every trail seemed wide enough as a road, we spent some of the most intense, impressive and educational days together in Greece.It is safe to say that we will not only remember the information on the respective presentation topics with gratitude for a long time to come.

Hannah Oitzl – Ilvy Paierl