If you like volcanoes, beaches, Mycenaeans, & Ptolemies, Methana is for you. In October, a handful of us from the @ASCSAthens took a trip where we hiked from site to site, learned a little, & swam a lot. Here’s a thread in the hopes that we get back soon!
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#Archaeology #greece
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#Archaeology #greece
The volcanic peninsula of Methana projects into the Saronic Gulf from the Argolid & is the site of one of my favorite landscape studies in Greece. The directors of the Methana Survey nailed it in titling their book “A Rough & Rocky Place,” but don’t get the idea that it’s all bad
Our first order of business on Methana was to hike from the modern settlement in the southeast to the center of Bronze Age-Classical occupation on the west near Vathi. With the agricultural importance of Methana, we had to visit one of the great Hellenistic farm towers en route!
Although in desperate need of systematic study, the acropolis of Palaiokastro near Vathi is incredible. Originally a Mycenaean settlement, it was refortified & occupied through the Roman & Byz periods. Pausanias describes an Isis sanctuary, some statues, & baths, but little else
During the Hellenistic period, when the peninsula was under Ptolemaic control, the island was renamed Arsinoe & the main settlement shifted East to the modern town of Methana. These walls under the modern church likely date to the period of the Ptolemaic garrison
Speaking of the modern town of Methana, I fully indorse a visit! There’s incredible seafoodof course, some wonderful architecture, & amazing albeit nonfunctioning thermal bath complexes
Perched above the modern town is the the Mycenaean sanctuary at Agios Konstantinos. Thought by the excavators to be a Bronze Age shrine to Poseidon, the site features some complicated architecture, a great view, and this amazing pig rhyton on display in the Piraeus museum!
But really, a trip to Methana is all about the sea. Even in October the weather was beautiful, the water was warm, and the beers were plenty cold. Here’s hoping we all get a chance to get back to this rough and rocky place ASAP!
