Nemea

This morning we visited Nemea. The site was a Panhellenic sanctuary where athletes, artists and poets could travel under truce to take part in games. We started with an excellent talk from the American archaeologist, now retired, who excavated the site starting in 1973, hearing some of his amusing tales about the way he got to buy the land and gain permissions for the digging to take place. We saw the remains of the Temple of Zeus, in my picture, the bath house and the stadium where the games took place. Since the excavation the games have been revived and are held every four years for true amateurs, to allow non-trained people of all ages and abilities to take part, and competitors have come representing countries from all over the world.

After lunch we had fairly brief visits to the Argive Heraion and to Tiryns, both interesting sites but which could be seen fairly quickly so we were back at the hotel by 4.30pm for a very welcome beer.