Greece 2025: Mainland Greece

Greece is one place I never considered traveling to, but when a fellow traveler (who was to be my roommate) suggested it, I thought I'd try it. I had no expectations; the only thing I could picture was Santorini, like the pictures you see in the travel photos. 

This trip was a pilgrimage, so not a "vacation" per se. Our group consisted of about 35 people, so not a huge group but not a small one, either. We saw so many things that I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime. So many things that I have no idea how I'm going to cover them all, but I'm going to give it my best shot! This series will be split up into Mainland Greece and the Islands.

We started our pilgrimage in Thessaloniki. Our flight from Dulles to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines started out pretty rough. As we flew over Canada, we experienced turbulence for about 2 hours. This is the first flight I've been on where the stewards had to interrupt dinner service several times to be safe. The poor young lady beside me was in tears, although our steward tried to reassure her that it was fine and we weren't in danger. I'm not sure I completely believed him; it was very rough. 

Once in Istanbul, we had a couple of hours until our flight to Thessaloniki, where we met our fabulous guide, Giota. With a degree in history and archeology, she was able to give us the historical and archeological findings of the sites we saw. She was just incredible. 

Krynides

Our first stop was at Krynides, the location where Lydia was baptized by St. Paul. The Baptistry was gorgeous, with icons and murals adorning the inside.

View of the Baptistry from the river

The back of the Baptistry

The ceiling

The dome

View from the Baptistry

Zigaktis River, where Lydia was baptized by St. Paul

Ruins of a Roman Veteran Cemetery

Philippi

From there, it was a short walk to Philippi. Literally, just a short walk!

The Christian Basilica

Doorways near the theater

Ruins of Basilica B, which had a dome. Unfortunately, it collapsed before the church was completed.

The Via Egnatia was a Roman Road connecting Rome and Constantinople (Istanbul)

The Octagon was built over the tomb of a Macedonian (not to be confused with the country Macedonia) heroon of Euephenes in 2 BC

The writing indicates that the church built was dedicated to St. Paul

The Theater

Wine jugs

We did a quick drive-by of the Aquaduct of Kavala. It was built in the 16th century and was pretty impressive. 

Beopoia (Veria)

Beopoia (or Veria) was a charming little town. We were only there for a very short time, unfortunately.

I loved seeing these wells.

A house in Veria

This was the reason we were in this town: St. Paul preached here

These are the steps St. Paul is believed to have stood on when he preached.

Vergina

The Ancient Cemetery of Aegae Royal Tombs was very unexpected. The story of how this was discovered had all of us shaking our heads, wondering how Manolis Andronikos (archaeologist) felt when he realized what he found. Unfortunately for him, it was discovered at the end of the dig season, so he had to sit on the discovery until the next season. 

The entrance to the cemetery

King Philip II's Tomb. The father of Alexander the Great, he was assassinated in 336 BC

Golden myrtle wreath belonging to King Philip II's wife

King Philip II's armor and shield

King Philip II's wreath. His bones were found in the larnax.

Replica of a mural found in one of the tombs depicting Hades abducting Persephone

Thessaloniki

Since we were on Pilgrimage, we visited several churches. This Greek Orthodox Church is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was built over the site of Roman baths in 413 AD. This is the site of St. Demetrius' martyrdom. If you visit, definitely take time to go to the crypt. Unfortunately, we weren't given this recommendation so I missed it.

The Holy Church is built on the site of the stadium where gladiatorial contests were held 

The Larnaca with the relics of St. Demetrius

The well of Agiasma: the first tomb of St. Demetrius since he was thrown into the well after being speared by his disciples to keep it from being destroyed by the pagans

Just a walk down the hill from St. Demetrius is the agora. As I stood on the side of the street looking down at the agora and then up the hill, it was amazing to think that under the hill was the site of the baths. 

The Agora

Alexander the Great

The White Tower. During the Ottoman occupation, this tower held death-row prisoners. The story is that the last remaining prisoner begged for his life and said he would do anything to spare it. For his life, he had to clean the side of the tower, which was red because of the tortures and killings that had happened. The tower, once cleaned, became white.

Meteora

This is one of the most amazing places I've ever seen. As we drove closer to town, the views were unreal.

Rock Climbers on the mountain

Lunch View

All Saints Monastery

Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas Anapafsas (L)

Our destination: St. Stephan

The monastery was breathtaking. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the views were incredible.

We visited an icon writer and learned about the process. This priest was commissioned to write an icon for Pope John Paul II.

We spent the night at Amalia Hotel and it was amazing. That was by far the best place we stayed, including the ship.

Our room looked out onto a park of sorts. There was a walking path not far from the room.

The door actually had 2 doors: my roommate & I slept with the glass door open, locking the vented door so we were able to get fresh air at night.

Delphi

We rode through the town of Delphi, which had to be relocated after the original site was found in 1893. The views on the way to Delphi were incredible.

Olive Trees

Mt. Olympus

The museum at Delphi is not something you want to skip over. It is amazing what was found during the excavation.

The Charioteer was buried during the 373 BC earthquake.

Sleeping Eros. The Romans renamed him "Cupid"

Socrates

The Omphalos of Delphi is said to mark the center of the world; in Greek Mythology, the stone is said to have been dropped by Zeus at the point where 2 eagles (that were launched at the same time, flying at the same speed, from 2 ends of the world) crossed paths.

The Column of the Dancers of Delphi (330-320 BC). It is believed that a tripod stood on top of the column, with the omphalos resting on top of that.

Ivory relief of Apollo turned black as a result of a fire in the mid-5th century BC.

Column of the Naxians and the Sphinx. Dedicated to the Sanctuary of Apollo by the Naxians around 570 BC . The Egyptian Sphinxes are male and laying down.

Idols from the Mycenaean Period 15 BC

The Archeological Site is on a hill, so there's a lot of walking uphill. But it's so worth it!

The Agora Marketplace

The Treasury of the Sikyonians and Siphnians

The Navel Historical Marker

The Altar of Chiots Area. The spiral column is a reproduction of the tripod of the Plataeans. Dedicated to Apollow, it was a gold tripod supported on a bronze column in the form of a 3-bodied serpent. The original is in Constantinople. 

The Temple of Apollo dates back to 4th century BC. This is the 3rd temple to be erected on this spot.

Pillar of Prusias II

Remnants of a Delphi Gymnasium. This was closed to the public after a visitor was struck in the head by following rock.

Corinth

The Corinth Canal was truly a sight to behold. Way before the canal was built, slaves would pull ships from the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea to the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. These pictures don't do the canal justice. It was amazing.

The Corinth Canal separates the Peloponnese Peninsula from the Greek Mainland. 

Smaller recreational boats continue to use the canal

The ancient city of Corinth. I couldn't believe I was standing there. We had the privilege of attending Mass right there. Right in the same area where St. Paul preached. Just incredible.

Menorah with the inscription "Synagogue" in Hebrew

Salted fish, a delicacy, was found in these jugs

Mosaics in museum

Imperial Temple

Acropolis of Corinth, where the Temple of Aphrodite was established

Square of Corinth

Corinth with the Acropolis on the top of a mountain

The meat market

Columns of the Temple of Apollo, dated 540 BC. The temple was never destroyed. The columns are in 1 piece.

Bema with the flogging stone

Ancient Roman Road from 2000 years ago

Aquaduct

West shops

Temple of Apollo

Athens Acropolis

Even though it was a pretty long hike to the top, we took our time and stopped every now and then. It was very crowded!

View from the bottom looking up

Another well!

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is still used today for concerts and other live events

The Temple of Nike

View of Athens and the Aegean Sea

The flat space is Pnyx Hill, where Athenians gathered for Ecclesia

The rock in the forefront is Mars Hill (Areopagus)...where St. Paul's famous "Areopagus Sermon" took place. Martyrs and criminals were tried here. Socrates was not tried here but in the Agora.   

Propylaea: Separates the religious world from the secular world. It was built with the openings wide enough to fit chariots.

The Erechtheion Temple was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon between 421 and 406 BCE and was the most sacred of the Acropolis. There are 6 Caryatids in place of columns. These are replicas. 

The Parthenon. We were fortunate to be there without any scaffolding on the outside. It took 9 years to build and then another 5 or 6 more to decorate.

Chariot of the moon

Sculpture in the top of the Parthenon

The Acropolis and Agora at night

As many things as we saw on the mainland, there were so many more to see as we boarded the ship and traveled to the islands. Look for more posts on Greece 2025.