After the Acropolis, Delphi is the most popular archaeological site in Greece. Many people don't even know why they are going to Delphi. It's just something they know they are supposed to do when they go to Greece. But for those people who read, Delphi has a special meaning, more than just another collection of ruins in a country that is full of them. Delphi in ancient times was considered the center of the known world, the place where heaven and earth met. This was the place on earth where man was closest to God. In Mythology, Delphi was the meeting place of two eagles, released by Zeus and sent in opposite directions. Where they met indicated the center of the earth. Delphi is known as the center of worship for the God Apollo, son of Zeus who embodied moral discipline and spiritual clarity. But even before the area was associated with Apollo there were other deities worshipped here including the earth goddess Gea, Themis, Demeter, and Poseidon, the well-known god of the sea. By the end of the Mycenaean period, Apollo had displaced these other deities and became the guardian of the oracle.
The oracle of Delphi was a spiritual experience whereby the spirit of Apollo was asked for advice on critical matters relating to people's lives or affairs of the state. Questions were asked to the Pythia, a priestess who 'channeled' the spirit of the God. Whether one believes in the channeling of Gods or spirits is an individual thing. But even the most skeptical person must realize that there was something 'magical' going on in Delhi for several thousand years and the fact that the town still attracts a million visitors a year is a hint that some of that magic is still there. Many people who come to Delphi claim they have felt 'something'. It may depend on your receptivity and your belief system, but there are people who believe that the spirit of Apollo still resides in Delphi and just as he was thousands of years ago, he is still available now, to answer questions and give personal advice or affairs of the state. One might keep in mind that a visit to Delphi is also on the itinerary of visiting dignitaries and the list of Greek politicians who have not visited the sacred oracle would be a short one. Just food for thought, but visiting Delphi with an open mind may be an enriching experience. (www.greecetravel.com)

The first Olympic games in 776 BC were the beginning of a sport event which took place in regular intervals of four years. The games started out as a tribute to Zeus. Greek athletes from all over Greece, which was split into many different countries at that time, met for five days. For three months all the fights between the different people had to be stopped. Only “free Greeks” were allowed to participate. Barbarians, which means non-Greek citizens, were allowed to watch the games as spectators while slaves were banned of course. Women were also not allowed inside the Olympic grove after the start of the games.
The site of ancient Olympia is gigantic: The temples of Hera and Zeus, the hippodrome and stadium, the Greek baths, Gymnasion and Palaestra, all this and more can be discovered here, so your visit may take some time...

The famous theatre at Asclepius of Epidaurus is one of the most important monuments of ancient Greece and a world-class attraction. It combines perfect acoustics, elegance and symmetrical proportions. It was built around 340-33 BC, so that the patients of the Asclepion could watch theatrical performances and was in use until the 3rd century AD. Imagine it how it once was, when musicians, singers and actors performed here every four years in the spring. Imagine the dramatic performances and rituals that honored the god of medicine, Asclepius, and be transported to another time.
An institution from 1955 onward, the ancient theater of Epidaurus once again holds a prominent position in modern Greek culture. It has hosted acclaimed ancient dramas, operas, symphonies and dance performances, featuring top Greek and foreign actors, directors, set designers, choreographers, musicians and composers. The most famous of all the performances were those of the Greek National Opera in 1960 and 61 when the legendary diva Maria Callas sang Bellini’s ‘Norma’ and Cherubini’s ‘Medea’ respectively.
This lush green landscape in the Peloponnese, with its sunny climate and numerous thermal springs was the perfect location in which to build the Asclepion – the headquarters of antiquity’s god-physician and the most important healing centre in the Greek and Roman world. Its fame travelled beyond the borders of the Argolid and it is known as the birthplace of medicine. Its monuments are renowned masterpieces of ancient Greek art and have borne witness to the practice of medicine in ancient Greece. The worship of the god Asclepius was established here in the 6th century BC. (www.discovergreece.com)

Athens, with its tall buildings and contemporary shops, is the first European city when approached from the Middle East. When approached from the west, from elsewhere in Europe, what strikes the visitor is the influence of the East - in the food, music, and clamorous street life - perhaps vestiges of a time when Athens was divorced from European society under the yoke of Ottoman rule. Nevertheless, it is wrong to say that Athens is a mixture of East and West: it is Greek and, more particularly, Athenian. The city, after all, nurtured Western civilization thousands of years ago. Athens remains on the world stage to this day. (www.britannica.com)

How could anyone describe this astonishing geological phenomenon, the breathtaking landscape, the inspiration and spirituality felt, the awe for man’s achievements in an effort to express his religious drive when these are only some of the many things a traveler experiences when visiting this phenomenal land!
These immense, solid rocks, split by earthquakes, weathered by water and wind over millions of years, are nature’s authentic masterpiece. Emerging about 25 million years ago as the elevated seabed material that was the outcome of strong tectonic movements, the Meteora rocks became a shelter of humankind. The first hermits arrived in this area to seek spiritual isolation and inhabited the caves of the rocks, with the sole aid of ropes and ladders. Common existential needs and strong religious faith compelled them to live united in the first monastic communities, their common drive of faith guiding them towards the unrepeated construction of monasteries of highest architectural and artistic value.
The 24 monasteries emerged on the countless summits of the rocks from the 14th until the 16th century, 6 of them remaining to be explored and admired by all. These monasteries became the centers of the Orthodox creed in the Byzantine era, having produced some of the best pieces of religious art and craft and still possessing a collection of precious manuscripts, which today are on display in their museums. The Meteora monasteries have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and the Meteora-Antichassia region has been officially declared a Natura 2000 Ecological Zone by the Greek Ministry of Environment, for the protection of rare species of birds and flowers. (www.visitmeteora.travel)

This inlet, measuring 130 km (81 miles) long, up to 32 km (20 miles) wide and up to 935 m (3,070 ft) deep, connects Athens and the port of Piraeus to the Ionian Sea. It was a cul-de-sac until 1893, when the new Corinth Canal provided a shortcut across the base of the Peloponnese peninsula.
The gulf fills the gap between the Anatolian and the Eurasian plates, which drift apart with a speed of about 1 cm (0.4 in) per year. The "Superbridge" which spans the gulf at its narrowest point was designed to adapt to this movement.