Date: May 12
Partners for the day: Katherine (text) Jackie (images)
Site(s): Sanctuary of Amphiaraos, Eretria, Lefkandi, Osios Loukas
Museum(s): Eretria Museum
Principal Buildings/Monuments: West Gate, House of the Mosaics, Heroön
Time Spent on Each Site: Amphiaraos: from ca. 9:45 to ca. 10:30 [ __.75__ hours], Eretria: ca. 12:00 to ca. 2:30 [ __2.5__ hours], Lefkandi: ca. 3:15 to ca. 3:30 [ __.25__ hours], Osios Loukas: ca. 5:30 to ca. 6:00 [ __.5__ hours]
Weather: Cloudy, scattered showers.
Today marks the beginning of our trip to Northern Greece. We left Athens this morning and headed to the site of the Sanctuary of Amphiaraos in northwestern Attica. This site was home to a healing cult similar to that of Asclepius. The foundation myth for this site was somewhat different however. Amphiaraos was a seer from Argos who fought in the campaign of the Seven Against Thebes. He foretold his own doom but could not do anything to stop it. He and his chariot were swallowed up by the earth, and he became a semi-divine figure with healing powers. Those wishing to be cured at the sanctuary had to provide the sacrifice of a ram in addition to other capital. The large number of statue bases that line the path to the Temple of Amphiaraos attest to the amount of money that people spent here. We saw the remains of the Enkoimeterion, where the sick would sleep wrapped in the skin of the ram they had sacrificed, hoping for a dream revelation from the god.
From there, the bus brought us down to the coast, where we caught a ferry to the large island of Euboea. Our first stop on Euboea was the museum at Eretria. In addition to artifacts from Eretria, the museum also houses finds from the nearby site of Lefkandi. The Heroön at Lefkandi is one of the most important sites in Greece dating to the Dark Ages, after the fall of Mycenaean civilization. This apsidal building is the largest building so far known from that period. The cremated remains of a man, and the interred remains of a woman and four horses were found in shaft graves dug in the floor of the building. The building was intentionally destroyed and filled in, and a cemetery (called the Toumba Cemetery) was built around the former entrance to the building. Many of the objects on display in the museum come from this cemetery, and the town site of Lefkandi (called Xeropolis), which was occupied from the Early Helladic through the Geometric periods (~2100-750 BCE). Some very famous objects are on display, such as a pyxis with depictions of griffins and deer feeding their young, a Protogeometric pot with figures of men shooting arrows, and a clay centaur painted with Protogeometric decoration, which was found in two different graves in the Toumba cemetery, the head in one, the body in the other. The museum has a good selection of objects from Eretria itself as well, including several figures from the pediment of the Temple of Apollo from the Archaic period. The museum is generally well lighted, and all of the objects are labeled (unfortunately for us, but fortunately for any French or Swiss tourists, the labels are only in Greek and French, as the excavations are run by the Swiss School). Some objects, like the centaur, have extra explanatory plaques. A few of the objects, like the griffin pyxis (which has a frieze of imagery, only parts of which are visible) are not displayed to their best advantage, but these objects are more the exception than the rule.
After the museum, we walked through the site of Eretria. The site had several informative plaques, which were useful for orienting oneself through the obscuring weeds. We saw the West Gate and the House of the Mosaics. The House of the Mosaics is an innovative display. The building contained two pebble mosaics of the 4th century BCE. It was built over an earlier Heroön. Small buildings with large windows were built over the portions of the building with mosaics. Light switches with timers where placed on the outside so that the mosaics can still be viewed in good light. The rest of the building is covered with a roof, but is open to the air. This protects the mosaics, but allows the rest of the building to be seen more easily.
After Eretria, we drove to Lefkandi. In contrast to the relative accessibility of the museum, the actual site of Lefkandi is much less accessible. It is generally closed to the public, although one can see the foundations of the Heroön through the fence. It has been covered by a roof to protect it, which does make it more accessible than putting in a locked building. Unfortunately, there is no signage to explain the ruins. Very little actually remains of the building. Some of this is due to the normal wear of time, but part of the site was damaged by a bulldozer before it was fully excavated. Although the remains are somewhat scanty and delicate, it would be nice to have some limited access to the site with informative signs. Although the site display of the site itself could be improved, the displays in the museum do a wonderful job of illustrating the kinds of artifacts found at the site.
Our last stop of the day was the large Byzantine church and monastery of Osios Loukas. The church was originally built in the mid 10th century AD, and was soon extended and elaborated with money from the Emperor Romanos II, who was grateful for the fulfillment of a prophecy that he would retake Crete. The church has many mosaics and paintings on the ceilings and walls, in addition to patterned stone floors. Tonight we are staying in Delphi, in anticipation of our visit to the site tomorrow.