Excursion to Ancient Mycenae, to the Ancient Theatre of Epidavros and Ancient Nemea

Combine more than one destinations in a trip, a shore trip or a regular tour, visit Ancient Mycenae, the world famous Ancient Theatre of Epidavros and go by Ancient Nemea, to the Temple of Zeus.

Ancient Mycenae is set amidst the Mountain of Agios Ilias and Mount Zara, approximately 22 km from Nafplion. For 400 hundred years this vestige of a kingdom was the most powerful in Greece, spreading between 1600-1200 BC. Mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey and the Iliad the richness of Mycenae was thought only to be myth until archeologists literally struck gold in 1822-90. The citadel walls which are 13 metres high and 7 metres wide were thought, by the ancient Greeks, to have been built by a Cyclops.

Epidavros is one of the most renowned of Greece’s archeological sites is located just 30km east of Nafplion. The Theatre is still the most popular attraction and plays to this day are acted-out during the summer months, drawing in crowds of up to 16,000. The atmosphere is electrifying. Asclepius Sanctuary is set amongst the green foothills of Mount Arahneo the air is full of the smell of herbs and pine trees. It is easy to see how the sanctuary had a beneficial effect upon the ailing.

Ancient Nemea, like Olympia, was a Sanctuary where athletic games were held in honour of Zeus which were later known as the Panhellenic Festival Games. In mythology, Nemea was famous as the home of the Nemean Lion, which was killed by the hero Heracles and as the place where the infant Opheltes, lying on a bed of parsley, was killed by a serpent while his nurse fetched water.