We went to the 2004 Olympic Stadium in Athens. The Stadium itself was built in 1979 as was an all-purpose area that has held many events over the years. Soccer has been the main purpose of the field, but everything from track & field to concerts have been featured. For the 2004 Olympics, the city of Athens and the country of Greece funded an Italian contractor to build the large canopy that the Stadium is known for. The canopy was assembled in two complete pieces and moved into place. The rest of the Olympic campus in Athens incorporates pools, tennis courts, velodrome, and many athletic facilities. After the Olympics concluded the facilities are still used for many professional and semi-professional events as well as community events like swimming lessons. Below is  a link to our group spin at this stadium. What a family!

GFU Greece 2013 Olympic Spin

The next day we travelled to the 1896 marble stadium. This was created for the first modern Olympics when Pierre de Coubertin revamped the Olympic Games after their cancellation years earlier. It was such an amazing experience for our entire group. We walked in and each of us were given personal informational recorders, which allowed us to have a self-guided tour of the stadium and museum. We got to see many of the previous Olympic torches of the summer and winter Olympics in the museum. The self-guided nature of it gave each of us our own pace and experience. We eventually all made our way to the placing platforms and organized ourselves among the victors of years past.

Ancient Delphi

The Delphic Museum and ruins of Delphi were the highlights of the day.  Our tour guide spoke very clearly despite her thick Greek accent.  The first sight at the museum was the statues of the two brothers.  These had a strong Egyptian influence in their making.  The tale goes that an old woman with twin sons wanted to visit the Oracle at Delphi.  The animals pulling the cart were very slow, so the sons generously took the beasts' place to get their mother to the Oracle in time.  There the mother asked Athena to give the boys the best gift for their selflessness - so Athena turned them to stone.  The meaning in this tale is easily lost in American understanding.  The sense of escape from pain and preservation of their memory was the best possible gift in these twins' eyes.

Next in the museum we beheld the gold and ivory remains of statues of Apollo, Artemis (his twin sister), and their mother.

Next was a sphinx - created much later than the Egyptian sphinx, and female this time.

We also saw a frieze of the battle between the gods and the titans, and another frieze of a war amongst the gods themselves.
The next item was a very rare piece - a slab of stone with ancient Greek music engraved on it.  The legend of Pan is related to this as Pan (a minor god who was 1/2 goat and 1/2 man and very ugly) was very skilled at playing his panpipe.  As the Oracle at Delphi resides in the temple of Apollo, the god of music, Pan was present at a festival.  He was playing very skilfully and so all the people were looking for the source of the music.  One they discovered him and saw his ugly face, they were panicked because he was so hideous and ran way.  Another item of interest is the naval of the world - an egg shaped stone with engravings said to absorb knowledge and transfer it to the Oracle.  It was believed to have been dropped by Apollo to give his Oracle more power should she need it.  The legend of Apollo is an interesting one - the original god of the area was Gaia, but Apollo slew Python, the son and protector of Gaia, and so worship switched to him.  Apollo felt guilty for taking a son from his mother, so as a way of apologizing, Apollo made his oracle a woman.  The last item of interest at the museum was "the charioteer."

This was a rare piece because it is only one of the few surviving bronze statues from Delphi.  Nero, in his reign of madness, had taken 500 other statues and melted them down for other purposes.

Next came the archaeological site.  There we saw the reconstructed building of a treasury, the remains of the Temple of Apollo, another theatre, another stadium (this time with stone seats!), and the Sanctuary of Athena.  It was very exciting yet exhausting as Delphi is built on a hill, but definitely worth the time and effort.  It's just so amazing to see things that are even over 6000 years old and to see how people lived in that time and place.

~Ben Rinne

The Monasteries at Meteora

Meteora (translated literally as “suspended in the air”), at its peak if you will, once included 24 individually maintained monasteries. Today, only six remain; Great Meteoron, Varlaam, Rousanou / Saint Barbara, Saint Nicholas Anapausas, Saint Stephen, and the Holy Trinity.

Meteora’s origins date back to the 9^th and 10^th Century, when ascetic monks climbed up by way of scaffolding and joists (horizontal support beams) wedged into holes along the cliff face. Some sources mention Barnabas, who founded a cloister to the Holy Ghost, as the first arrival around 950 – 970 AD.

Over time, various monks founded other monasteries, and they most used a rope pulley system to ascend and descend. It is said that the monks only replaced the ropes “when the Lord let them break.” In the 1920’s, the old rope pulleys and retractable ladders were made obsolete when stairways were carved into the cliff faces and wooden bridges were installed to make the monasteries more accessible to the public.

There was an era of political strife within the Byzantine Empire, as well as a time of conflict, with Turkish raiders seeking dominance over the fertile plains of Thessaly, in the 14^th Century. Athanasios of Mount Athos brought a group of followers to Meteora, which overlooks Thessaly, in 1344 AD and founded what is now known as Megalo Meteoro (Great Meteoron). Legends claim that Athanasios didn’t climb at all – he was carried by an eagle. Afterwards, it was made so that the only possible entry to Meteoron was via a rope ladder, which could be pulled up at any time. Due to the aforementioned strife and conflict, the population of Meteora grew significantly over the 14^th and 15^th Centuries as monks seeking sanctuary from the Turks climbed the great rocks. It served again in a similar fashion during the Ottoman rule in the 18^th Century.

In the 16^th Century, Nektarios and Theophanes founded the Varlaam Monastery, which is said to have once housed the finger of Saint John and the shoulder blade of Saint Andrew.

It was in the 17^th Century that Meteora reached the total of twenty-four monasteries. Interestingly, despite the asceticism of the monks, they were quite wealthy thanks to groundside estates, numerous flocks and herds, and bountiful crops on the plains. However, much of Meteora was lost due to the Axis occupation during World War II; looting and pillaging destroyed much, and nature had a hand in this as well. Thus, only six monasteries are still active today, with ruins of others dotting the massive rock formations.

Our own visit began in a shop at the bottom of the hills, where we learned how the artists at Meteora hand-create the Orthodox icons for sale at the site. A shop worker used icons in various states of completeness to demonstrate the process, from canvas to paint to frame to gold leaf. But the real magic started when the workshop ended and the artists came out to play.

The artists used an original as a template, then painted many copies of the same design step by step, color by color.

Icons for sale in the shop.

After shopping, we drove and drove up the windy hills to the monasteries, learning that the view really is as beautiful as it appears on the postcards. And that the goats at Meteora don’t care what kind of schedule you’re on, they’ll get out of the road as they please.

Took this road in a bus...then turned around at the top and took it back down.

Goats don't care.

We initially drove to visit the Monastery of Great Meteoron, the largest in Meteora, but it was closed for the day, so we backtracked down to the second-largest Verlaam Monastery on another hill. It boasted fewer steps, but was still a respectable climb. And we did spot a rope pulley, though it had a crane hook and metal case attached to it rather than any baskets holding monks.

Verlaam.

Verlaam's pulley (thankfully, no longer used to transport people).

Inside Verlaam’s walls were a chapel plastered with icons and paintings, a museum with vestments, embroideries, hymnals, and Bibles on display, a prayer room with a box for requests “for prayer for health and wellness,” a gift shop with additional icons and postcards, and a terrace for looking over the hills. We spent about an hour there, praying, perusing, and enjoying the view. Monks wandered in and out, taking a break from their private quarters to greet their guests in Greek.

The monks’ hospitality became even more significant when Tim discussed the privacy they prefer when they’re not welcoming visitors.

“They sometimes go down into [other] monasteries or into the towns, but they like to stay there [in their own monasteries] twenty-four-seven,” he explained. “So we are entering their homes, whether they want us to or not.”

It has to be a little strange when part of your job description as a monk includes fielding tourists. We may not be exactly what the monks at Meteora signed up for, but we’re extremely grateful for their willingness to let us into their beautiful monasteries in an extraordinary place.

Monastery of the Holy Trinity. We didn't visit, but it was beautifully visible from the road.

Cameron Beals and Annica Redmond

CITY OF ATHENS

When we entered Athens we drove past parliament and got to see the changing of the guard on the way to our hotel. We also saw the University of Athens and other parts of the big city. On the first night in the city of Athens me and my friend Andrew explored the city and tried to find Lycabettus Hill. We didn't find it but we did find two Greek Orthodox churches. We went inside one of them and the caretaker of the church gave me a copy of the New Testament in Greek. He said even though it belonged to the church he would let me have it for free as long as I translated it into English.

The next day in Athens we went to to the Acropolis. We stood on Mars Hill. This was the place where St. Paul addressed the Athenians. His speech is on a stone in Greek there. The story of this happening is in Acts 17. I learned the Acropolis was a fortress dedicated to the patron gods of the city.We saw the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena. I learned that the Parthenon was built in such a way as to give the optical illusion that it is a slightly taller building than it actually was. 

In the Acropolis Museum there were many statues. I learned about statues of centaurs fighting men. There is a story about a king who invited centaurs to a wedding, and the centaurs tried to abduct the women at the wedding so there was a fight. It symbolized the war against the Greeks and the Persians.

Later on our own, me, Andrew and Sarah saw the Hill of Fillapapou, which was the tomb of Phillip. We also saw the place where Socrates was imprisoned before he was killed.  

We visited the New Stadium where the 2004 Olympic games were held. We stood in the separate basketball stadium, swimming center, and bicycle race track. 

We went to the Archaeological Museum of Athens which had more well preserved statues than many other museums we have visited. There were rooms of undersea artifacts and Eygyptian artifacts. After this we went to the old stadium. At the old stadium we were given devices that  we could listen to for a guided tour. We could see the place where the athletes entered the stadium. 

After this I explored Athens with Andrew and Sarah. We ate at an Anglican Church's fundraiser. We went to the Royal Gardens and watched fish and birds. Then we went to the War Museum which had planes, guns, armour, swords and information about Greek combat from antiquity to near present day. In the process of climbing to the top of Mount Lycabettus, we discovered the quills of a the native Greek cactus.  

-Isaac Koenig  

Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient computer like device that calculates the position of the moon and the five visible planets.  Discovered at the site of an ancient ship wreck, the mechanism is one of the best extant examples of ancient ingenuity and shows how well the heavenly bodies were understood at the time of the machine's invention.  

Aristotle was the first to record the use of gears for transferring motion and Archimedes took this principal to a whole new level when he used gears to model the position of the sun and moon in a 

mechanism similar to that found off the island of 

Antikythera.  At first sight, the mechanism is hardly recognizable.  It looks like a small corroded piece of copper with a few gear teeth protruding from the top.  Most of the pictures of the mechanism make it appear larger than it really is.  The entire mechanism can be held easily in one hand.  

For me, the mechanism is most interesting for the understanding it gives into ancient engineering.  Much of what we know about the mechanism was discovered under the surface of the corroded outer gears using x-ray imaging.  Even so, there is still some speculation about certain parts of the machine's operation.  

Based on the x-ray images, a pretty accurate replica can be created.   

Several individuals have made working models based on the Antikathera design.  Below is a 3-D model of the mechanism and a working replica of the mechanism based on our current knowledge of the machine.  

Over all, the mechanism shows how much ancient technical communities understood about science.  Not only was the inventor skilled in the mechanical design of gear systems, he must also have understood the complicated math used to model the elliptical motion of the moon and stars, as well as the actual astronomical movement of the moon and visible planets.  Considering the lack of machining facilities, modern computers, and the challenge of disseminating technical information in the ancient world, this device is truly a treasure of ancient interdisciplinary engineering. 

- Andrew and Andre'

Ancient Corinth

After we were done touring the Olympic area, we got back on the bus and headed for ancient Corinth. First we went to the small archaeological museum that housed some of the sculptures, pottery, jewelry, etc. that had been found during the excavation process. Then we headed outside to walk through the ancient city of Corinth.

First we stopped at the Temple of Apollo, which still has 7 Doric columns standing today. It is quite large, and it was easy to see how when it was fully together, it would have been massive. The Temple of Apollo, along with the Temple of Aphrodite on Acrocorinth, no doubt played a major role in why God had Paul stay for so long. According to Acts 18, Paul stayed to preach in Corinth for 18 months.

We continued to tour the ruins of the city, seeing the Temple of Octavia, and then we came upon the bema of Corinth. In Acts 18, after Paul has been teaching for a while, we see that the Jews of Corinth decided to drag Paul in front of Gallio, the proconsul, because his message contradicted theirs. The place of judgment that they took him to was the bema, which is the raised platform in the city, and still stands today. After Paul was brought there by the Jews, the Roman ruler of the area released him because the charges had nothing to do with the Roman law, and were only a religious matter.

Therefore, Paul was allowed to keep working and preaching in the city of Corinth, likely in the agora. This was the marketplace, where the shops and day-to-day happenings occurred. Paul was a tentmaker, and with Aquila and Priscilla, the Jews who befriended him according to Acts 18, he likely made his living by working in the agora. Some remnants of shops still exist, so we can see what it would have been like working out there everyday, and let me tell you, it would have been extremely hot!

Then we finished walking around the ruins, seeing two other important parts of the ancient city of Corinth. First, there is the Lechaion Road, which was the main road between Corinth and the northern port, where travelers came and went. Then there was the Peirene Fountain, which also is connected to another part up on Acrocorinth. This fountain, according to myths, inspired many writers and poets, and even Pegasus had drank from the fountain before being captured.

After our walk, we grabbed lunch and then got back on the bus to drive up to as far as the bus could reach near Acrocorinth. Unfortunately, the parking lot was still a way from the top, so we had quite a climb ahead of us. The views were amazing driving up, so we knew we needed to do the hike to get even better ones.

The acropolis of ancient Corinth is on top of a monolithic rock that was fortified multiple times by different empires. It looks basically like a large castle, because you can see the old walls surrounding much of the top. It took about a half hour to reach a clearing, but there was still massive hikes to reach the top on both sides. At the very edge of the right side, there was the Temple of Aphrodite. Although there really isn’t any remnants left, this temple is often believed to be the place of the 1,000 priestesses, or temple prostitutes, that ancient Corinth was known for. No doubt one of the many reasons Paul talked about real love to the Corinthians, especially in his first letter.

After climbing back down, we drove out to the Isthmus of Corinth and the Corinth Canal, which connects the Peloponnese Peninsula to mainland Greece. The Isthmus of Corinth is a narrow land bridge, four miles wide, and many different rulers tried unsuccessfully to create a canal for hundreds of years. Finally in the late 1800’s the canal was finished so that ships could pass through.

Visiting Ancient Corinth was really memorable because it gave us a feel for another place that Paul had been. And with the background knowledge of the city, it helps us understand why Paul needed to be there for so long, preaching the message of Jesus Christ.

~Katherine and Kelsey

Architecture and statues

Our group has seen many Greek columns and statues by this time from all eras of Greek history. The oldest and most basic style of column was the Doric column shown here in the temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was also the style of the Parthenon columns. The style is fluted with a basic unadorned capital on top. The columns were bulged in the middle to eliminate the optical illusion of thinning in the center that the daylight created.

The second style of column developed in Greece was the ionic column, which had little scrolls on it. The Erechthion on the Acropolis in Athens has this style as well as the porch of Caryatids, statues of women holding up the roof. These statues had a thick braid to reinforce their necks and provide the structure necessary to hold up the roof.

The third style of column was the Corinthian column; it combined the scrolls with a frilly pattern of leaves. The columns below were seen at Philippi and the Healing center of Asclepius, respectively.

The Byzantine art style was seen at the Baptistery of Lydia with mosaic decoration and marble columns. I as awed by the splendor inside the building.

 

A Byzantine interpretation of the Corinthian column was seen in Philippi in a cathedral. The leaves were laid flat on the column rather that springing out into the air.

 Egypt was a major trading partner of Greece before the classical era and the influence was clearly seen in the stiff stance and wide face of the stone statues of humans and in the sphinxes that were depicted in many carvings. Both these pictures were taken at Delphi.

Pottery was on of the oldest forms of Greek art. Many pots and plates have been seen in all the museums.

Later the Greeks learned how to make fluid and realistic statues and began to make more dynamic poses and facial expressions. The first statue below was made from a single block of marble, seen at Olympia. The second state was at Dion in a low part of the land where water had flowed in, creating a beautiful swamp area around the ruins.

 

As the Greek art developed it become bolder in composition and this column was created, combining in a single column the Corinthian leaves with the caryatid ladies holding the roof on their heads (seen at Delphi).

   

 

One of the few surviving bronze statues was also seen at Delphi, the Charioteer. Most bronze statues were destroyed for their metal and we know about them only through the Roman marble copies. This particular statue had detailed ivory in the eyes and copper wire for eye lashes.

The statues have provided a wonderful opportunity to practice my drawing skills as well. They simplify the details and make a quick sketch much easier.

Author: Sarah Miller