Peloponnese Guide: Ancient and Modern Argos in Argolida Prefecture

Characteristics

Less than 2 hours from Athens, modern Argos, capital of the Argolid, (pop. 21,000) was a town I that I used to just breeze through during a headlong exodus from Athens. After you stop a few times you see that its not so bad in small doses.

In escaping the sweltering heat of Athens, the attractions of Naufplion and the beaches of the Argolic Gulf such as in Candia & Eria were my goal and are more popular end destinations with most people.

Even though the town of Argos is a landlocked half hour drive to the sea, you have to drive through it anyway on your way. Here is what you'll get if you stop for an hour or two. Its not a tourist destination so one thing you'll notice is cheaper prices and less hype. This is pretty much true anywhere in the Peloponnese compared any island hot spot. Don't look for gourmet dining but I know you'll be pleased by any local restaurant, bakery or roadside souvlaki joint. Meat will be fresher and so will fruits and veggies. Grocery stores and Pharmacies too are a good place to buy things you need and will cost much less than a beach side boutique or destination establishment. Roadside produce stands sell anything from fruit and vegetables to honey, preserves and local wine in plastic liter Coke bottles. I have some really good fresh unadulterated wine this way. Nearby Nemea is good for wine stands too but you will have already driven through it on your way to Argos.

Modern Argos Town, just as in antiquity, is primarily an agricultural center, with tobacco growing and cattle breeding its foremost activities, Its squat low buildings don't possess a lot of charm, I like to think because of earthquake proofing. To make up for its lack of golden harmony however, It is a good place to buy things at Greek prices instead of tourist ones. Logical prices or Lo-ghi-kes Tee-mess!

In ancient times "The Argives" were synonymous with "Greeks" or "Hellenes" and it is from here that the world renowned beauty, Helen of Troy originally hailed from. Diomedes was leader of the Argive contingent of the Greek Army during the Trojan war and considered the 2nd bravest soldier after Achilles.

OK I admit it, modern Argos is an ugly looking town but its among the most famous in the world thanks to Homer and the ancient Greek playwrights if you think about it, and besides its Imposing castle, the museum is well worth visiting.

The prefecture of "Argolida" or 'Argolis' itself, is perhaps the most impressive of the 7 prefectures of the Peloponnese in terms of ancient sites and along with Corinthia (Corinth), wins hands down for convenience and proximity to Athens. When driving down this way I always take the old highway right out-side Corinth town instead of the new national road (to Tripoli). Its slower but infinitely more relaxing and pastoral. The occasional herd of goats or sheep and several railroad crossings are all you have to worry about. Slow down and enjoy the countryside.

Among the wonderful sites of the prefecture besides the town of Argos is Mycenae, Tiryns, Epidavros, Naufplion to name but a few of the more famous. Please use the Peloponnese menu above to read more.

The Argolid

Modern Argos is located in the middle of the Argolic plain 8km from the sea and occupies the site of the ancient city Argos (equal in population to Athens during the same era) which sits below its two ancient citadels. In Homer's works the word 'Argive' is a synonym for 'Greek' (along with 'Achaean' and 'Danaan'). No one knows the origins of the people who established what we call 'Mycenaean culture', which was well- established by 1550BC in this area.

What is known is that migrations beginning around 2000BC brought a new culture to the mainland in which a form of archaic Greek was spoken. It is now believed that the bearers of this culture came from the Balkans or from southern Russia, moving down from the Black Sea They were armored warriors on horseback, some of whom occupied Troy in 1900BC, and in the Argolid area of the Peloponnese were known as Minyans.

Myth maintains that Argos founded by Danaos, the Egyptian father of Danaids, who killed their husbands and threw their heads into the marshes of Lerna, to be punished by the god of the underworld with the tax of filling a leaking vessel with water. According to myth, Danaos also fled from his brother Aegyptos (Egypt) . Other scholars maintain that the city traced its foundation to Pelasgians from another city of the same name in the north. It is from here that the brave hero Diomedes, led the Argive contingent in the Trojan War.

The city was later under the control of Perseus and his descendants. Dominating the northeast Peloponnese and rivaled by Sparta, it began its decline in the late 6th century BC, but during the Classical period boasted a remarkable school of bronze sculptors, the most famous of whom was Polykleitos (452-412BC), who was considered unsurpassed in his statues of male figures. Though prosperous once more under the Romans, it was supplanted in importance by Nauplio and was destroyed by the Turks in 1397). During the Greek War of Independence, it held out against the Ottoman Turks in its fortress, and the Greek National Assembly held meetings in its ancient theater in 1822 and 1829.

The very extensive site of Argos is open Tues-Sun 8:30am-3pm; 2euros admission. In the Agora (1km from the modern town on the Tripolis road, and is divided into two sections by the road), there are remains of a large building (perhaps a place for official council meetings during the Roman era). The bath complex with its mosaic floors are of interest, as are the starting blocks for horse-races. There are also foundations of a Roman temple, remains of a nymphaeum, and huge drainage channels vaulted with brick (Roman era). Pre-Roman history of the site is scant. On the other side of the road is found Hellenistic paving covering that of earlier periods. There is a Roman bath building from the 2nd-1st century with some marble-faced baths , sarcophagi in a crypt, and remnants of the old hypocaust heating system (with hollow spaces under the floor where heat from a furnace is channeled). Fragments of mosaic floor attest to the beauty of the building in its day.

The Theater, (left) hewn into the side of a hill, was built by Greeks during the Classical era (around 4th century BC) and twice remodeled by the Romans.

It is estimated to have held an audience of 20,000 (six thousand more than the theater of Epidauros) and is rivaled on the Greek mainland only by the theaters at Dodona and Megalopolis.

The orchestra was paved in blue and white marble during the 4th century AD when it was turned into a waterproof basin where naval contests were held.

81 rows of seats remain in the rock-cut central section.

Portions remain of the old Aqueduct as well as a Roman Odeon (right) from the 1st century AD which was built on top of an older second theater.

Halfway up the ancient road to the acropolis is the church Our Lady of the Rock built on the site of the Temple of Hera Arabia. Hera (in Greek Ira-pronounced 'Ear-ah') was an earth goddess transformed by the Greeks into the legal wife of Zeus, who presided over marriage and transcendent love in the union of marriage.

The original citadel of Argos, known as the 'Apsis' or 'Shield', which was on a rounded hill on the northeast of the ridge was supplanted by Larissa citadel. On the southwest base of the rock a Mycenaean Necropolis was discovered, with 26 chamber tombs and six shaft graves, as well as a Middle Helladic building, and to the northwest is the Sanctuary of Apollo and Athena, in the shape of a long rectangle divided into four terraces with a court with a stone altar and statues . A rock-hewn stairway leads to the temple of Apollo and a building of un-fired bricks on a stone foundation known as a Manteion, or oracle (the Greek verb 'mandevo' meaning, 'to guess').

A large church was built on top of this divinatory site. There are also a Round Temple and a Temple of Sharp-Eyed Athena. The old 6th century BC Hellenistic acropolis at Apsis, at 100meters altitude, was built on the remains of an early Bronze Age settlement (around 2000 BC), the remains of its walls tracing an oval around the modern chapel of Aghios Ilias. There are two groups of pre-Mycenaean dwellings here as well.

The medieval citadel of Larissa (open Tues-Sun 8:30am-3pm;free) sits on a spit of rock 276meters high (905 feet) and was first built during the 6th century BC on 5th century BC foundations, an outer wall of Hellenic masonry added to the inner wall of the Archaic acropolis. It was later added to by the Venetians and Turks), the earlier Byzantine medieval structure incorporating fragments from a Temple of Zeus Larisaos and a Temple of Athena. With its massive walls, cisterns and wonderful views of the entire Argolid peninsula and the Gulf of Naufplio, it is well worth the climb via a steep path that begin behind the Theater, though there is also a car road.

The Archaeological Museum in the modern town house finds from excavations at Argos/Argolis, as well as from Lerna (open Tues-Sun 8:30 am-3pm, 2euros; 3euros for museum and theater).

It is off of Elgas Street between the market square and Platia Aghiou Petrou (the main church square).

Its collection consists of Mycenaean tomb objects and armor, and pottery with the area's Roman occupation well represented in mosaics and sculpture.

The museum was built and organized by the French School of Archaeology with exhibits nicely presented and in chronological order. There is an impressive 8th century BC suit of armor with a crested helmet on display, of the kind that Homeric heroes wore and a 7th century BC fragment of painted pottery depicting Odysseus and his companions putting out the eye of the Cyclops (Polyphemus). There is a pleasant garden with a portico with Roman mosaics of Bacchus, the Seasons, and hunting scenes.