Aigeira

The area was founded in the 3rd millennium BC. The city was known as Hyperesia (Greek: Υπερησία, Hyperesia) during Homeric times. In 688 BC, Hyperesia changed to Aegira.
According to Pausanias, Hyperesia was threatened once by a hostile army from Sicyon. The locals defended their city by placing burning torches on their goats' (aiges in Greek) antlers. As a result, the invadors left in fear while the Hyperesians renamed their town Αigeira (Greek: Aίγειρα) to honor the goats.
The city was prosperous and was one of the twelve most important cities in the Achaean League. It was also a member of the Achaean league. According to Pausanias, there was a statue of Zeus and Athena as well as a temple of Artemis Agrotera.
The city was destroyed when Achaea became part of the Roman Empire. Allegedly it was destroyed by a flood. Since then, the city is 400 m above sea level. Others said it was destroyed by an earthquake.
[edit]Archaeology
The Austrian Archaeological Institute made excavations in Aigeira in 1916. The team along with Otto Walter found the head of the statue of Zeus which according to Pausanias was a work by the Attic sculptor Eukleides Euclid. Walter also found the left arm, the finger at the right hand later.
From 1972, excavations led by Wilhelm Alzinger excavated the Mycenaean acropolis, the ancient theatre and several naiskoi next to the theatre (naiskos (small temple)). The floor of one of is decorated with a pebble mosaic representing an eagle with a serpent. Also, the Tycheio (sanctaury of Tyche) described by Pausanias was uncovered next to the theatre. Further to the north, foundations of two small temples were explored by Anton Bammer. On the terrace north of the acropolis, a presumably public building with banqueting rooms and bathing facilities was located ande excavated by Georg Ladstätter.

Aigosthena

The Aigosthena was ancient town of Megara. The northern city of Megareon.Itan builtat the foot of the ancient Kithairona.Konta also Megarian city frost. In the 4th centuryBC in Aigosthena were large fortifications with the aid of the Athenians to treat ieBoeoticos risk, because then the Megarians had allied with Athina.Ta Aigosthenawas the center of the cult of the seer and healer hero Melampus and thanks to therelative sanctuary of the state and ancient traveler Pausanias. At the annualcelebration of the holy races were held. The Melampus was a Greek oracle, savedthe Dionysian religion as stated in the methomiriki paradosi.Ta walls of the areabecause of Turkish preserved in very good condition perhaps because he haddeserted the area by residents.

Amfiaraeion

The Amfiareio of Oropos located in a small valley west of the stairs Oropou the Mafrodilesi, who crosses a dry river, which the ancients called Ravine. The Amfiareio was the largest temple in ancient Greece the chthonic god and hero of Argos Amfiaraou. Throughout the period of operation was the national sanctuary of Oropos, one of the oldest cities of ancient Greece. The Amfiareio founded in the late fifth century. BC when Oropos was in the hands of the Athenians. The Amphiaraos belonged to the deities of the underworld. The happiest period of perhaps history Amfiareiou was the third century BC and the first half of the second century BC (As in 146 BC), when the Oropos was a member of the League of Boeotia.

Ancient Acropolis Krefsidos

The seaside citadel of ancient Krefsidos located on the eastern slope of MountKorompili.Diatireitai in good condition the fortification wall with towers of the fourthcentury. p.Ch.archikou length of about 300 m.I Krefsis and neighboring Shifa were the ports of Thespies.

Ancient Feneos

Feneos is a village and a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sikyona, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 2,359 as of 2001. The seat of the municipality was in Goura.In ancient times the area was considered part of the Arcadian region. Feneos lies at the foot of Mount Cyllene, mythical birthplace of the god Hermes. It therefore served as an important cult centre for the god, notably during the annual festival of the Hermaea.In the Aeneid, Evander's fond memories of a visit by Aeneas' father Anchises to Feneos are one factor in his decision to ally his Arcadian colonists to the Trojans.

Ancient Figaleia

Ancient Figaleia (or Phigaleia) was a thriving and important city in ancient Arcadia.Located near the present villages of Ilia Phigaleia and gardens in the beautiful valley of the river Neda. Neda (the only female river) got its name from the nymph Neda, a goddess of water. The city was built on a hill, with many walls around cliffs and powerful ocheirotiko enclosure and ekosmeito of fine statues. The city was the Temple of Artemis "soteiras" with a stone statue of the goddess and a gym with beautiful statues of Hermes and the Olympic pankration Arrachiona. The Figalias had two sacred mountains. The Kotilion term, where they built the temple of Apollo and oil condition (south of the village of Ilia throat), on the south side of which was a cave overlooking the deep gorge, where worshiped Melaena Demeter.

Ancient Greece

Greek temples were designed and constructed according to set proportions, mostly determined by the lower diameter of the columns or by the dimensions of the foundation levels. The nearly mathematical strictness of the basic designs thus reached was lightened by optical refinements. In spite of the still widespread idealised image, Greek temples were painted, so that bright reds and blues contrasted with the white of the building stones or of stucco. The more elaborate temples were equipped with very rich figural decoration in the form of reliefsand pedimental sculpture. The construction of temples was usually organised and financed by cities or by the administrations of sanctuaries. Private individuals, especially Hellenistic rulers, could also sponsor such buildings. In the late Hellenistic period, their decreasing financial wealth, along with the progressive incorporation of the Greek world within the Roman State, whose officials and rulers took over as sponsors, led to the end of Greek temple construction. New temples now belonged to the tradition of Roman architecture, which, in spite of the Greek influence on it, aimed for different goals and followed different aesthetic principles.The basic principles for the development of Greek temple architecture have their roots between the 10th century BC and the 7th century BC. In its simplest form as a naos, the temple was a simple rectangular shrine with protruding side walls (antae), forming a small porch. Until the 8th century BC, there were also apsidal structures with more or less semi-circular back walls, but the rectangular type prevailed. By adding columns to this small basic structure, the Greeks triggered the development and variety of their temple architecture.

Ancient Ilida

Elis,is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis regional unit. It is in southern Greece on the Peloponnesos peninsula, bounded on the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messenia, and west by the Ionian Sea. Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, the polis of Elis controlled much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities, which will have had perioikic status.
The first Olympic festival was organized in Elean land, Olympia, Greece by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BCE - with tradition dating the first games at 776 BCE. The Hellanodikai, the judges of the Games, were of Elean origin.
The local form of the name was Valis, or Valeia, and its meaning, in all probability, In its physical constitution Elis is similar to Achaea and Arcadia; its mountains are mere offshoots of the Arcadian highlands, and its principal rivers are fed by Arcadian springs.
According to Strabo, the first settlement was created by Oxylus the Aetolian who invaded there and subjugated the residents. The city of Elis underwent synoikism - as Strabo notes - in 471 BC.Elis held authority over the site of Olympia and the Olympic games.
The spirit of the games had influenced the formation of the market: apart from the bouleuterion, which was housed in one of the gymnasia, most of the other buildings were related to the games, including two gymnasia, a palaestrum, and the House of the Hellanodikai.

Ancient Lilaia

During the reign of King Phillip of Macedon the Phocean cities were involved in two important battles; the Battle of Crocus Field and the Battle of Thermopylae. In order to acquire the financial means to support a mercenary army the Phoceans had already taken control of Delphi. As soon as the funds came to a naught Phillip seized the opportunity to sack the Phocean cities in 346B.C. Lilaia struck by the blow, joined another neighboring city, Erochos.
The fortification walls at the citadel summit indicate traces of a constructional phase before the city was destroyed by Phillip. Another part of the fortress dates back to the reconstructional phase following the reign of Phillip .
In the year 200B.C the city was under siege by King PhillipV so the inhabitants decided upon surrendering under conditions. As a result, the Macedonians established a military guard within the city. The citizens in their attempt to be liberated under Patron’s leadership banished the guards after a victorious battle.
The city is mentioned frequently in the accounts of Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny and Pausanias. The latter recites that within the city he saw the theatre, the agora, the baths, an Apollo sanctuary and another one sacred to the god’s sister Artemis. The internal of both temples was ornamented by the statues of the gods in standing posture. He highlighted that the statues were made from Pentelic marble created by Athenian sculptors a fact that points to the city’s prosperity at the time.
Lilaia was constantly inhabited until the Byzantine era but soon after the city fell into decay and thus it was abandoned.

Cave Nymfis Koroneias

The cave-doline located on NE slopes of Helicon, at an altitude of about 820m. west of the village of St. Triada.Sti V.pareia the draft is the entrance of spilaiou.Sti D.sidewall slots are pediment reliefs and apparently the cult was in exoteriko.To interior consists of a main room dimensions 8CH10 m.

Delphi

The site of Delphi is located in lower central Greece, on multiple plateaux/terraces along the slope of Mount Parnassus, and includes the Sanctuary of Apollo, the site of the ancient Oracle. This semicircular spur is known as Phaedriades, and overlooks the Pleistos Valley. Southwest of Delphi, about 15 km (9.3 mi) away, is the harbor-city of Kirrha on the Corinthian Gulf. Delphi was thought of by the Greeks as the middle of the entire Earth.
Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

Elateia

Ancient Elateia was situated about the middle of the great fertile basin that extends nearly 20 miles, from the narrows of the Cephissus River below Amphicleia, to the entrance into Boeotia. Hence it was admirably placed for commanding the passes into Southern Greece from Mount Oeta, and became a post of great military importance.Pausanias describes it as situated over against Amphicleia, at the distance of 180 stadia from the latter town, on a gently rising slope in the plain of the Cephissus.Elateia is not mentioned by Homer. Its inhabitants claimed they were Arcadians, deriving their name from Elatus, the son of Arcas.It was burnt, along with the other Phocian towns, by the Persian army of Xerxes in 480 BC.When Philip II of Macedon entered Phocis in 339 BC, with the professed object of conducting war against Amphissa, he seized Elateia and began to restore its fortifications. The alarm this caused at Athens shows that they regarded Phocis as a key of Southern Greece. The subsequent history of Elateia is given in some detail by Pausanias. It successfully resisted Cassander in 301 BC, but it was taken by the king of Macedon Philip V, the son of Demetrius II Aetolicus. It remained faithful to Philip V when the Romans invaded Greece, and was taken by assault by the Romans in 198 BC.At a later time, the Romans declared the town free, because the inhabitants had repulsed an 86 BC attack by Taxiles, the general of Mithridates VI.
Among noteworthy sites in Elateia, Pausanias mentions the agora, a temple of Asclepius that contained a beardless statue of the god, a theater, and an ancient brazen statue of Athena. He also mentions a temple of Athena Cranaea, situated 20 stadia from Elateia: the road to it was a very gentle ascent, but the temple stood upon a steep hill of small size.
The ancient city has been repeatedly sacked and destroyed in its history, and also subject to several earthquakes. For these reasons the one modern excavation of the classical site has not been much successful; the one exception was the Temple of Athena Cranaia, 3 km from the town. What has been attested is continuous occupation of the valley, that goes back to as far as 6000 BC.

Eleusina

From as early as 1700 BC up to the 4th century AD, Eleusina was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, or the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore. These Mysteries revolved around a belief that there was a hope for life after death for those who were initiated. Such a belief was cultivated from the introduction ceremony in which the hopeful initiates were shown a number of things including the seed of life in a stalk of grain. The central myth of the Mysteries was Demeter's quest for her lost daughter (Kore the Maiden, or Persephone) who had been abducted by Hades. It was here that Demeter, disguised as an old lady who was abducted by pirates in Crete, came to an old well where the four daughters of the local king Keleos and his queen Metaneira (Kallidike, Kleisidike, Demo and Kallithoe) found her and took her to their palace to nurse the son of Keleos and Metaneira, Demophoon. Demeter raised Demophoon, anointing him with nectar and ambrosia, until Metaneira found out and insulted her. Demeter arose insulted, and casting off her disguise, and, in all her glory, instructed Meteneira to build a temple to her. Keleos, informed the next morning by Metaneira, ordered the citizens to build a rich shrine to Demeter, where she sat in her temple until the lot of the world prayed to Zeus to make the world provide food again.

Lavrion Minerals

After the battle of Marathon, Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to devote the anticipated revenue derived from a major silver vein strike in the mines of Laurion circa 483 BC to expanding the Athenian fleet to 200 triremes, and thus laid the foundation of the Athenian naval power. The mines, which were the property of the state, were usually farmed out for a certain fixed sum and a percentage on the working; slave labour was exclusively employed. Towards the end of the 5th century, the output fell, partly owing to the Spartan occupation of Decelea.

Megara

In historical times, Megara was an early dependency of Corinth, in which capacity colonists from Megara founded Megara Hyblaea, a small polis north of Syracuse in Sicily. Megara then fought a war of independence with Corinth, and afterwards founded (c. 667 BC) Byzantium, as well as Chalcedon (685 BC). Megara was known for its money in historical times.
In the late seventh century BC Theagenes established himself as tyrant of Megara reportedly by slaughtering the cattle of the rich to win over the poor.During the second Persian invasion of Greece (480-479 BC) Megara fought alongside the Spartans and Athenians at crucial battles such as Salamis and Plataea.
Megara's defection from the Spartan dominated Peloponnesian League (c.460 BC) was one of the causes of the First Peloponnesian War. By the terms of the Thirty Years' Peace of 446-445 BC Megara was returned to the Peloponnesian League.
In the Peloponnesian War (c. 431 BC-404 BC), Megara was an ally of Sparta. The Megarian decree is considered to be one of several contributing "causes" of the Peloponnesian War.The Megarian decree was issued by Athens with the purpose of choking out the Megarian economy. The decree stated that Megarian merchants were not allowed in territory controlled by Athens.
The most famous citizen of Megara in antiquity was Byzas, the legendary founder of Byzantium in the 7th century BC. The 6th century BC poet Theognis also came from Megara. In the early 4th century BC, Euclid of Megara founded the Megarian school of philosophy which flourished for about a century, and became famous for the use of logic and dialectic.
The Megarans were proverbial for their generosity in building and endowing temples. Jerome reports "There is a common saying about the Megarians 'They build as if they are to live forever; they live as if they are to die tomorrow.

Mycenaean settlement Halandritsa

The Chalandritsa populated by the Paleolithic era. To place a cross in the Chalandritsa, 1985 during excavations for the health centre halls found relics of proϊstorikoy agglomeration. homes are located around the perimeter of the Hill and at the Center believe that there was a public building or temple. Also in a very short distance mykinaϊko cemetery has been found that are believed to be the graveyard of the settlement. The name of the settlement is unknown since no inscriptions, but ceramic and stone tools dating to the 11th century BC. The dwellings have foundations that might restrain and second floor, and four of them beneath the floors they found baby burials.

Mycenean Acropolis Gla

The site is located on a limestone outcrop or hill that jutted into Lake Kopais (now drained) or formed an island within it. The flat-topped outcrop rises up to 38m above the surrounding area. It measures circa 900 x 575m (. The ancient name of the site is unknown, it is unclear whether it is one of the Boeotian places named by Homer. The scholarly designation "Gla" is from the Albanian word for fortification, the modern local population calls the site Paliokastro
The walls are built of medium-sized limestone blocks, mostly in the Cyclopean masonry technique (ashlar masonry is employed at some of the gates). They have a total length of 2.8 km, are up to 6.75m wide and 3-5m high. In many locations they are built directly on the cliffs that form the limit of the outcrop. It had four gates, an unusually high number for a Mycenaean fortification, in the north, west, south and southeast. Elaborate built ramps led to the gates. The fortification can be dated to early LH III B, that is, circa 1300 BC.
The most striking interior feature is a large L-shaped building, often described as a "palace". It is in the north of the site, which is subdivided by several internal walls in this area. The "palace" is located on an artificial terrace and consists of three wings. Each of the wings contains mostly very small rooms, arranged in groups of six and accessed by corridors. At the two ends of the L, there are similar arrangements of rooms resembling the megaron complexes known from Tiryns, Mycenae Dimini and Pylos. Nevertheless, the lack of several typical features of other Mycenaean palaces, namely of a "throne room", a hearth and a "bathroom" casts some doubt on the designation of the structure as a palace.
Two further Mycenaean architectural complexes were found further south, in the area of the so-called "agora", which is separated from the "palace area" by a wall. The two complexes are parallel to each other and have similar plans. In each, a long corridor links buildings in the north and south of the complex. They are subdivided into small rooms. There is no scholarly consensus on their function. Suggestions include use as barracks, storage spaces/distribution centres, or workshops. The storage theory is supported by the discovery of large amounts of carbonised grain in one of the buildings.

Orchomenos

The Neolithic remains found at Orchomenos were first thought to be in situ (Bulle 1907) but it later appeared that they consisted of fill in a levelling deposit (Kunze 1931; Treuil 1983). Thus, the associated round houses (two to six meters in diameter) should not be dated to that period, but rather to the Early Bronze Age (2800-1900 BC). Later in that period, houses were apsidal.In the Bronze Age, during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries, Orchomenos became a rich and important centre of civilization in Mycenaean Greece, the latter of which was a rival to Thebes. According to the founding myth of Orchomenos, its royal dynasty had been established by the Minyans, who had followed their eponymous leader Minyas from coastal Thessaly to settle the site. The palace, which had frescoed walls, and the great tholos tombs show the power of Orchomenos in Mycenaean times. A massive hydraulic undertaking drained the marshes of Lake Copaïs. Like many sites around the Aegean, Orchomenos was burned and its palace destroyed, ca. 1200 BC. Orchomenos is mentioned among the Achaean cities sending ships to engage in the Trojan War in Homer's "Catalogue of Ships" in Iliad: together with Aspledon, they contributed thirty ships and their complement of men. Orchomenos seems to have been one of the city-states that joined the maritime Amphictyony in the seventh century BC. Orchemenos claimed Heracles as its champion.Orchomenos joined the Boeotian League ca. 600 BC.[citation needed] Orchomenos struck its coinage from the mid-sixth century. Classical Orchomenos was known for its sanctuary of the Charites, the oldest in the city, according to Pausanias (5.172-80); the Byzantine (9th century) monastery church of Panaghia Skripou probably occupies the long-sacred spot.Here the Charites had their earliest veneration, in legend instituted by Eteocles; musical and poetical agonistic games, the Charitesia, were held in their honour, in the theatre that was discovered in 1972.The Agrionia, a festival of the god Dionysus, involved the ritual pursuit of women by a man representing Dionysus.

Plataea

Plataea or Plataeae (Ancient Greek: Πλάταια or Πλαταιαί) was an ancient city, located in Greece in southeastern Boeotia, south of Thebes. It was the location of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, in which an alliance of Greek city-states defeated the Persians.
Plataea was destroyed in the Peloponnesian War by Thebes and Sparta in 427 BC and rebuilt in 386 BC


Herodotus tells that in order to avoid coming under Theban hegemony Plataea offered to "put themselves into Spartan hands". However, the Spartans refused this offer and, wishing to cause mischief between the Boeotians and Athens, recommended that the Plataeans ally themselves with Athens instead. This advice was accepted and a delegation sent to Athens, where the Athenians were agreeable to such a proposal. On learning that Athens had accepted the alliance, the Thebans sent an army against Plataea, but were met by an Athenian one. Corinth attempted to mediate the dispute, and achieved an agreement that set the borders between Thebes and Plataea. In addition to this, Thebes made a commitment not to interfere with cities that did not want to be a part of a Boeotian state. However, after the Corinthians had left and Athenians were starting their journey home, they were set upon by the Boeotians. In the subsequent battle, the Athenians prevailed and set the river Asopus as the border between Thebes and Plataea.
With Athens as their allies, the Plataeans were able to avoid subjugation by their neighbours and maintain their freedom. In honour of this debt, at the Battle of Marathon, Plataea alone would fight at the Athenians' side. Sending "every available man" in support (this is thought to have amounted to about 1,000 men), when it was Athens's time to face invasion and conquest. In acknowledgement and gratitude of her ally's fidelity, the Athenians gave the Plataeans the honour of the left flank during the battle. After the battle the Plataeans were allowed to share Athenian memorials and in the (normally exclusively Athenian) religious rites, sacrifices and games asking for the blessing of Athens's patron gods.

Ramnountas

The Ramnountas (also Rhamnus) is an archaeological site in eastern Attica.Located near the Marathon and the Secretary a short distance from the sea. The ancient Athenian city of Rhamnus prevailed on two strategic ports in ancient Athens, which correspond to the bays in front of the present villages Sesi and Agia Marina.In Rhamnus was worship of the goddess Nemesis, which was the largest place of worship of the goddess in the ancient sanctuary of Nemesis Ellada.To Archaic temple in Rhamnus The sanctuary of Nemesis created the Archaic period within a walled area. During the first years coexisted with round settlement but later the sanctuary was isolated and the residences and other facilities scattered around the area. The sanctuary of Nemesis continued to flourish and during the Roman period and accept dedications by Roman emperors. The first temple of Nemesis, built before the 6th century BC was relatively small church, distyle the front made from limestone. The first church was destroyed in the Persian wars and the fifth century, a new church in place earlier. The new church was built of dark marble of the area and was housed with tiles, while gradually invested with white marble and decorated with sculptures. The church's interior was decorated by the sculptor Agorakritou, a pupil of Phidias. Gradually around the temple were placed statues bases, while the area of ​​the sanctuary peritoichistike. The temple lasted until the First Christian times and finally abandoned after the victory of the archaeological site Christianismou.O The archaeological site of Rhamnus, occupies a hill 30 meters high which is very close to the sea between two bays. The walled section covers an area of ​​230 to 270 meters. The construction of the walls is made from local marble from the nearby bay of Agia Marina. Within the limits of the walls stand the temples of Nemesis and Themis, while outside the walled area surviving traces of cult houses. The Ramnountas is one of the most remote archaeological sites of Athens as it is located far away from major settlements. In recent years presented apparently leaving the site.

Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Skaramanga

Pausanias mentions a temple of Aphrodite, located today in Aphaia Skaramanga, a neighbourhood ofChaidari, about 1.5 km west of the Daphni Monastery. The monument was located via the many niches carved onthe Aigaleo mountain slope, also noted by the French author Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) on Christmas 1850. The sanctuary of Aphrodite was also a basic stop of the Eleusinian procession. D. Kampouroglou, the firstexcavator of the site found statuettes of Aphrodite and other gods, some reflecting the art of the school ofPheidias. He also located traces of a stoa, an altar, living quarters for the priests and the base for the statue ofthe goddess. In the 1930s, I. Traulos and K. Kourouniotis concluded the excavations.The sanctuary has a roughly rectangular enclosure wall (71x21 m), with an entrance and propylon to the south. There was a very small, almost square temple, with a doric portico and marble roof, on the west side of thewall. There is also a stoa and other buildings of unknown function. There are many bases of statues and votive inscriptions to Aphrodite, as well as altars and other votives, mainly clay figurines depicting the goddess, or vulvae and birds, the symbols of the goddess. It seemsthat the whole area of the sanctuary, including theniches would have been full of votive offerings, including statues, stelae, large vessels etc.A complex to the south probably served as residence area for both priests and travellers. A rectangular guard house (25x15 m) lies south of the Sacred Way. Twolater sarcophagi testify to its funerary re-use. The exact establishment date of the sanctuary is unknown, butit should not be earlier than the 4th century BC. The sanctuary lived until the Roman times and is today open to the public.

Sanctuary of Poseidon in Isthmia

The site was originally found by Oscar Broneer in 1952 with excavations continuing until 1967. He published his findings in a series of three volumes starting in 1971, and in articles in the Hesperia Journal. He dated the temple to about 700 BC and produced a reconstruction of the temple which featured a wooden peristyle in the Doric style. Between August 16 and November 29, 1989 a new period of excavation was undertaken, mostly to clear up some of the disputes that had arisen over the conclusions Broneer had made on his finds. The first report of the 1989 findings was published in Hesperia in 1992,with subsequent reports following in later years and has contributed to the debate which primarily focuses around the dating of the temple, but also includes the nature of its layout and general usage and development.

Sikyon

 Sikyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia. The king-list given by Pausaniascomprises twenty-four kings, beginning with the autochthonous Aegialeus; the penultimate king of the list, Agamemnon, compels the submission of Sicyon to Mycenae; after him comes the Dorian usurper Phalces. Pausanias shares his source with Castor of Rhodes, who used the king-list in compiling tables of history; the common source was convincingly identified by F. Jacoby as a lost Sicyonica by the late fourth-century poet Menaechmus of Sicyon.

Temple of Poseidon

Ancient Greek religion was essentially propitiatory in nature: i.e., based on the notion that to avoid misfortune, one must constantly seek the favour of the relevant gods by prayers, gifts and sacrifices. To the ancient Greek, every natural feature, e.g. hill, lake, stream or wood, was controlled by a god. Thus a person about to swim in a river, for example, would say a prayer to the river-god, or make an offering to that god's shrine, to avoid the chance of drowning. The gods were considered immortal, could change shape, become invisible and travel anywhere instantaneously. But in many other respects they were considered similar to humans. They shared the whole range of human emotions, both positive and negative.

The Cave of Pan in Daphni

A sacred cave on the steep slope of Poikilo, behind the Daphni Monastery, was first located by D. Kampouroglou and excavated by I. Traulos. The cave is 11.5 m deep, 7.8
m wide and funnel-shaped. Its entrance - to the north
- had been blocked by an ancient rubble wall, which nevertheless left an opening. A terrace wall created a small court in front of the entrance. The interior had only one short partition wall and a few rectangular carvings
on the floor. Remains indicate that the cave walls had been plastered.
Movable finds (pottery, ashes, bones) suggest ritual burning of offerings and the sacrifice of small animals.
Most potsherds come from loutrophoroi, vessels used
in weddings and funerary rituals for single persons. Clay
figurines depict Satyrs, Pan, Aphrodite and other females. The excavator attributes the cult to the protector of
nature, the woods and the shepherds, namely Pan and
his companions. Similar caves to Pan have been located elsewhere in Attica too.
Artefacts date the cult to the 5th century BC only, which explains Pausanias’ ingorance of the site. The cave was inhabited by Byzantine hermits and was used as a stable
in Ottoman times.

The Sacred Way

Roads connecting ancient towns to important sanctuaries, such as Athens and Eleusina were named«sacred». The official name of the Athenian Sacred Way was «Eleusinian», according to incriptions. It was assumingly established in the Late Helladic period
(1600-100 BC) for reasons of communication between the settlements of Athens and Eleusina. The cult of
Demeter is dated to the 11th century BC or earlier. By the mid 8th century, the use of the Sacred Way had been
well established. Eleusina became part of the Athenian state in the second half of the 6th century, during the Peisistratid tyranny. The sanctuary acquired new buildings and the Sacred Way was remodelled and stayed in use throughout Antiquity.

The sanctuary of Apollo at Dafni

West of the Pythionike monument Pausanias came across the sanctuary of Apollon. It accommodated statues of Demeter and Kore. According to tradition,
Kephalos, the mythical founder of Kephallonia, sacrifised to Apollon upon this spot on his return from exile.
The sanctuary was one of the most important stops of the Eleusinian procession. According to an inscription
in the theatre of Dionysus in Athens, Apollon was worshipped as Daphnephoros (laurel-bearer) and Pausanias reports only one such sanctuary in Attica. Perhaps it was the one located in the area of Daphni, within the Byzantine monastery. It probably included
a colonnaded edifice. Three columns were removed by Lord Elgin and are exhibited today in the British
Museum. Pouqueville attempted to trace the temple and Kampouroglou reported the finding of sculpture, today in exhibition in the monastery.
The architectural form of the sanctuary is completely unknown, but the number of the reported statues and the many column parts suggest at least two temples, or a temple and a stoa. There was an ashlar enclosure wall, which was re-used for the Byzantine fortification of the monastery. It is possible that the threshold of the east gate to the monastery is the ancient threshold to the sanctuary.
The architectural remains suggest a late Classical construction date for the sanctuary. In view of the poor data, it is only possible to state that the sanctuary existed in the 2nd century AD, during Pausanias’ visit and was destroyed by Alaric and his Visigoths in 395 AD,
along with the Eleusinian sanctuary.

The Temple of Acropolis

The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis (Gr. akros, akron,edge, extremity + polis, city, pl. acropoleis) in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the preeminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007.The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king.

Thiva

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age. In ancient times, Thebes was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas.