The Peloponnese: Messinia Prefecture: the Palace of Nestor

The palace site is open in summer from Tues-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat-Sun 8:30am-3pm; winter daily 8:30am-3pm; 3euros admission.

Nestor was one of Agamemnon' advisors during the Trojan war and considered (along with Odysseus) one of the wiliest dudes around. They probably thought up the idea of the Trojan Horse, still with us today in one form or another.

He certainly picked a nice location for his palace, of which, unfortunately, not a whole heck of a lot remains. Still this is the real Greece and if thats what you are looking for here it is!

At its peak the palace area was the largest of its kind in Greece with 4 basic buildings and a large number of ancillary structures.

The central building has a monumental gate or propylion, a courtyard, a throne room and passageways leading to nearby store rooms.

The palace was 2 stored and the family lived on the upper floor. In the small room next to the central gate was a records office and within which was found a large number of clay tablets inscribed in Linear B script. They had been charred by fire which apparently ruined the palace in about 1200 BC. They appear to be accounts and are written in a form of ancient Greek. The second building is older and seems to be an in-law apartment for the crown prince or the king's mother. A large storeroom with amphora's for the storage of oil was discovered on the SW part of the hill. A large tholos (round) tomb stands to the NE of the hill (below right).

Nestor’s Palace about a half hour drive from Pylos, is also known as the Palace of Englianos (after the hill on which it sits). The site was discovered in 1939 and excavated after World War II, and according to modern archaeological techniques. It looks out towards the bay, with fertile valleys around it.

The scene from the Odyssey set in this palace is the visit of Odysseus’ son Telemachus, who has come from his home island of Ithaca (Ithaki in Greek) to seek news of his father from King Nestor. He arrives on the beach with the goddess Pallas Athena (who is in disguise), and finds Nestor, his sons and court making a sacrifice to Poseidon. No news of his father is to be had, but Nestor promises Telemachus a chariot so that he can inquire at Sparta. After being feasted, he is taken to the palace to be bathed and anointed with oil by Nestor’s beautiful and youngest daughter, Polycaste, from which salubrious treatment he acquires the ‘body of an immortal.’ Curiously, a bathtub (below right) was discovered during the excavations.

The basic design of the palace resembles those at Mycenae or Tiryns, with an internal court leading off to the other sections of the palace, though reminiscent of Knossos in that it appears not to have been fortified, depending more on sea power than on monumental walls to withstand siege.

There are some 45 rooms and halls, and the megaron, or throne room, has the typical open hearth (left). A very beautiful fresco of a griffin (which may have been the royal emblem) is over the throne (now housed in the museum in Hora).

The storerooms here yielded thousands of pots and cups, leading excavators to believe that the rooms may have been warehouses for the distribution of the products of the royal workshops.

The bathroom is associated with the famous bathtub (right) in which Telemachus allegedly achieved his godlike form. Several hundred tablets inscribed in Linear B script were found on the first day of digging in the site, near the main entrance courtyard.

These were the first such inscriptions found on the Greek mainland, and proved conlusively that the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations had been connected.

A fire had destroyed this palace around 1200BC and the tablets were baked hard in the fire. The palace site is open in summer from Tues-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat-Sun *:30am-3pm; winter daily 8:30am-3pm; 3euros admission.

The Museum at Chora

Hora Museum: is in the nearby town of Hora (Hora Trifylias) and is open Tues-Sun 8:30am-3pm; 2euros admission, is at S. Marinatou in the main square.

There’s a Friday morning produce market here as well.

It is recommended that you visit the museum first, to make your visit to the site more satisfying.

The walk from Hora to the site takes about three quarters of an hour.

The museum features the palace frescoes, including a warrior in a helmet with boar’s tusks (something which was described by Homer).

Objects from the site and from the Mycenaean tombs in the area include much pottery and some beautiful gold cups.