Greece: Butterflies of Mount Chelmos and the Northern Peloponnese

This post illustrates some of the new species we saw on the second part of our wonderful butterfly holiday in Greece with Greenwings.

 Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta)

 Great Banded Grayling (Kanetida circe)

Spotted Fritillary (Meliteae didyma)

Ripart's Anomalous Blue (Agrodiaetus ripartii)

Berger's Clouded Yellow (Colias alphcariensis)

C

Chelmos Blue (Agrodiaetus iphigenia)

Lesser Fiery Copper (Lycaena thersamon)

Anomalous Blue (Agrodiaetus admetus)

Odd-spot Blue (F) (Turanana endymion)

Mealeager's Blue (Meleageria daphnis)

Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous)

Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae)

Greece: Butterflies of Mount Parnassus and Delphi

This post illustrates some of the new species we saw on the first part of our wonderful butterfly holiday in Greece with Greenwings.

Clouded Apollo (Parnessius mnemosyne)

 

Balkan Marbled White (Melanargia clarissa)
 

 Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia)
 Rare at home, but less so in Greece.

Ilex Hairstreak (Satirium ilicis)

Grecian Copper (Lycaena ottomana)

Amanda's Blue (Agrodiaetus amanda)

 Lattice Brown (Kirinia roxelana)

Grass Jewel (Freyeria trochilus)

Europe's smallest butterfly 

Oriental Meadow Brown (Hyponephele lupina)

Note the distinctive scalloped wing edges)

Greece: Galaxidi and the Rio-Antirrio Bridge

View into the Gulf of Corinth

We are en route from our first base at Delphi to a new location at Kalavtra in the Northern Peloponnese. On the way, we are stopping for lunch at Galaxidi and pretty fishing village on the shore of the Gulf of Corinth, which is an large inlet of the Ionian Sea, closed at the eastern end until the Corinth Canal was opened in the 19th century. We will cross the Gulf at one of its narrowest points over the Rio-Antirrio Bridge.

Galaxidi is effectively located in an inlet off a larger inlet and it is almost surrounded by mountains.

At the end of the harbour there are moorings fro small boats and a pleasing collection of small fish restaurants. After our stroll round we had an excellent lunch at one in the far corner. Swallows nested under the awning and kept us amused when conversation faltered.

We walked along the quayside away from the restaurant and soon passed this fine but dilapidated house with its lovely Corinthian pilasters.

Near the end of the quay we headed up a steep road passing a number of substantial houses.

At the top is the newish church of St Nicholas, built on the site of the Church of Saint John of Jerusalem, built by the Hospitallers in 1404. It is not clear why the old church had to be replaced.

We turned left here and ambled along the high road, parallel to the harbour. Another church presented itself on the right. It had an unusual design and a very plan facade.

The end of the nave presumably had three small chapels.

After this the road gradually descended towards the harbour. I was taken by a ruined house in a very different architectural style from the others. It look like it would make a fine renovation project!

After lunch it was back into the minibuses to head towards the Rio-Antirrio Bridge to cross into the Peloponnese. This large peninsular was known as the Morea in medieval times. I have often wondered if the word "Peloponnese" means anything, but I can find only descriptions.

The Rio-Antirrio Bridge is named for the two localities it connects, but apparently its official name is the Charilaos Trikoupis bridge, after the 19th century Prime Minister who came up with the idea of building a bridge here. At 1.8 miles it is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges. It opened in 2004.

Photography was a challenge as there was nowhere to park, without making a time-consuming detour (the butterflies were waiting!), so the following pictures were taken through the closed windows of the minibus. The first gives a sense, albeit rather hazy, of the style and scale of the bridge with its four great pylons.

As we approached the bridge this rather dramatic image presented itself ...

... and this was the fantastic view once we were actually on it.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Ratings: Galixidi 3 stars, Bridge 5 stars.

It was overall a very interesting and varied day as we had some good spotting in a disused quarry on the way to Galaxidi and stopped at a marvelous woodland site before we reached Kalavytra.

Greece: Delphi

The Temple of Apollo

We are in Greece on a butterfly spotting holiday, but this morning we are taking time out from that to visit the famous site of Delphi, where there was a celebrated Oracle (the Pythia, who became ecstatic and prophesied as the voice of the god Apollo) and where the Pythian Games were held.

Our first impression on entering is of the site stretching uphill - it's not clear how far or what's up there.

We started to climb up the Sacred Way and at the first level there were the remains of several structures whose original purpose was unclear: they were perhaps Treasuries. The brickwork and truncated columns were very atmospheric.

The first unambiguous sight was the Athenian Treasury which dates from about 500 BC. It was used to house offerings to the god Apollo. It was restored in 1903-06 and in 2004 and gives a clear idea of what such a structure looked like. It employs the Doric order and the metopes, the decorative panels which run under the roof line, illustrate the exploits of the great heroes Heracles and Theseus.

Close by is the Rock of the Sibyl, by tradition the place where the first Sibyl delivered her prophesies.
 

Immediately adjacent are two fascinating structures. The first is a 2015 replica of the Tripod of the Plataeans which commemorated a naval victory over the Persians at Plataea in 479 BC. The original was moved to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324 AD.

Beside it is the pedestal of the statue of Aemilius Paulus, a Roman Consul who defeated the king of Macedon in 168 BC.

Now we approached the remaining columns of the large Temple of Apollo which dates from the 4th century BC.

A steep climb above the temple leads to the Theatre, completed in the second century BC and with a capacity of 5000.

This is the even more dramatic view of the Theatre seen from above.

We continued to climb and eventually reached the astonishing Stadium located right at the top of the site, built of stone and 177.5m in length. There was seating for 6,500 spectators.

Above is the finishing line, while below is the remains of the three-arched entrance.

At length we headed back downhill. On the way I enjoyed this wooded area which put me in mind of the paintings of Paul Cézanne.

As we returned past the Temple of Apollo, we were forcefully struck by the Polygonal Wall which stabilises the huge terrace upon which the Temple of Apollo sits.

Conditions: hot and sunny.

Rating: five stars. Simply magnificent.

Note: Much of the information in this post comes from helpful information panels scattered around the site. Additional information is from Greek sanctuaries and temple architecture by Mary Emerson. Not an easy read, but a very comprehensive and informative source.

Greece: Mystra (or Mystras)

Mystra castle and upper town

Mystra was once an important Byzantine city, but became sidelined after its capture by the Turks in 1460. When Greece gained independence from the Turks in 1831 it was finally abandoned after a long period of decline and a new (but totally undistinguished) city of Sparti (near to ancient Sparta) was built nearby. Mystra is now a World Heritage site.

There are two entrances to Mystra, which was built up a steep hillside: the lower town entrance and the castle entrance. We decided to start at the top where it was quieter - which worked very well - and were pleased to discover that we could then go to the lower entrance on the same ticket.

We headed uphill from the castle entrance along a rocky track and soon enjoyed a fine view down the hillside to the Palace (of which more later).

 Up close, the battlements of the castle (founded in 1249) were impressive ...

... but it soon became clear that it was a total ruin. There was a deep ravine on the rear side of the castle, making it pretty much impregnable from that direction.

We retraced our steps past the ticket office to reach the church of Santa Sophia (1350-65). It is taller inside than it looks in the photo and had one especially attractive fresco in the sanctuary.

Now we came to the strikingly named Palace of the Despots.  The modern meaning of despot is clear enough, but in the Byzantine period a Despot was simply the person in charge of an administrative area, a Despotate. The Palace has been under restoration for the last 20 years. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was the centre of government of the whole of the Peloponnese, known at that time as the Morea.

We continued our descent as far as the Monemvasia Gate which marks the entrance to the Upper town.

We were surprised to find that the road which led direct to Monemvasia started here (we were in Monemvasia only yesterday - about 74 km or 46 miles away).

We returned to the castle gate and drove down to the bottom gate from which we soon reached the wonderful Metropolis (1291) - designed as the city's cathedral. It is a small, but very beautiful building. Here is a view from higher up the hillside. The fantastic domes were added in the 15th century.

The three-sided cloister was lovely ...

... and the rather battered frescoes above the crossing were a delight.

We came next to the strangely named Hodegetria church (1322), once the church of a monastery. It is an imposing structure with a hidden clock tower to the rear at the right.

 Inside it was covered with beautiful frescoes.

The third great church of the lower town was the Monastery of the Pantanassa (1428).

Our guide book describes it as one of the last Byzantine churches. Partly this is because of the fall of Byzantium not many years later, but one should also note the gothic arches on the left indicating a change in architectural style.

It is still in use as a monastery, although apparently with not many nuns.  At this point we realised that the climbs and descents had worn us out and it was time to stop. There were still a good few buildings to explore.

Conditions: cloudy and quite cool - rather a shock after recent hot days.

Rating: five stars.