Andante Travels

Introduction

This is a very beautiful journey, with many fascinating landmarks and impressive sites along the way, crossing the mountainous peninsula of mainland Greece from the Epirot stronghold of Ali Pasha at Iannina to the Macedonia of Philip II and Alexander the Great.

Iannina, city of St John, lies at the foot of Mount Mitzikeli, on the shores of Epirus’ largest lake. It was rich and prosperous during the 18th century as the seat of Ali Pasha, and is now the ideal base from which to explore the antiquities of the area. From the ruins of Kassope there are views of the Ambracian Gulf, site of the Battle of Actium, which led Octavian to take absolute power as the first Roman Emperor.

From here we cross the Pindos mountains to the Meteora, where medieval monasteries were built on pinnacles of rock as a way of withdrawing from the world. Access to these remote communities was originally by ladders or hoists, but several have now been made more easily accessible, and the terrified accounts of early travellers will not be replicated on our tour - although some have a lot of steps to climb.

The Macedonian kingdom was made strong by Philip II, and became a world power under his son, Alexander. Palaces, houses, painted tombs and exquisite pebble mosaics from this exceptional time survive at Verghina and Pella, and are some of the highlights of our tour. Thessaloniki, second city of the Byzantine empire, has spectacular churches and a prizewinning Byzantine museum, as well as many other delights.

 

Itinerary

Day One
Fly via Athens to Iannina and drive to hotel.

Day Two
The sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona, mentioned by Homer as being the oldest in Greece. The original focus of worship was a holy oak tree, where the god gave oracles through the rustling of leaves; later it was elaborated with stone mouments such as a theatre, temples and a stoa. We also visit the ancient city of Orraon, strategically situated at the southern end of an important pass connecting the Plain of Iannina with the Ambracian Gulf - with wonderful views.

Day Three
The mysterious Nekromanteion (Oracle of the Dead) on the Acheron, river of Hades. This has been identified as the spot where Odysseus consulted the spirits of the underworld, as chronicled by Homer. Certainly the finds show that at a later date sacrifices were made here, and possibly hallucinatory comestibles were used. We also visit the lovely ancient town of Kassope, laid out in the 4th century BC on a grid, and depopulated when the inhabitants were forced to move after the foundation of Nikopolis. From here there is a view towards Nikopolis (‘Victory City’), founded by Augustus after the Battle of Actium and towards the site of the battle itself.

Day Four
Charmingly situated on Lake Pambotis is the castle of Iannina, seat of Ali Pasha. We visit the fine newly-displayed Archaeological Museum, the castle and museum of Byzantine Epirus. Afternoon free, perhaps for boat trip to the island in the lake.

Day Five
Spectacular drive through the Pindos mountains to the Meteora monasteries. There are now six major monasteries, but, at their zenith in the 16th century, 24 of the rocks were topped by monastic institutions. The original anchorites (derived from the Greek word to withdraw) lived independently in caves, meeting only for the liturgy on Sundays. The earliest evidence for this particular community dates to the 14th century, but there may have been earlier inhabitants who left no trace. Very few monks live here now.

 

 

Day Six
Drive via Larissa and the Vale of Tempe to the ancient town of Dion, the Macedonians’ sacred city, under Mt Olympos. The site museum houses the finds from the sanctuaries to Zeus, Hera, Isis and Demeter, as well as from the city itself.

 

Day Seven
Capital of the Macedonian kingdom before its move to Pella in the 4th century BC, Verghina (ancient Aigai), remained the royal burial site and continued to be a palatial centre. We see the remarkable painted tombs, displayed in the excellent site museum under the recreated mound which originally covered the burials (entrance pictured below). The facades of the tombs and their paintings can therefore be seen at close hand, although at least one enclosed tomb has been kept in a closed state and can only be seen in photographs.
Continue to Pella, second Macedonian capital which was only discovered in the 1950s. It is the birthplace of both Philip II and Alexander the Great, with courtyard houses and a palace. The particular glory of Pella is the exceptional mosaics made from carefully-selected natural pebbles with occasional use of artifical tesserae of terracotta and strips of lead. They date from the 3rd century BC, and are the precursors of the mosaics which became ubiquitous in the Roman world. The more renowned mosaics are on display in the new
museum, whilst others are still in situ.

Day Eight
Thessaloniki, capital of northern Greece, was named after the half-sister of Alexander, but is better known as the second city of the later Byzantine Empire. We see the rotunda of St George with fabulous mosaics, the Roman arch and palace of Galerius and the striking new Byzantine museum. The attractive but little-known castle of Rendina occupies a hill in a thickly-wooded defile. It formed the core of a Byzantine settlement.

Day Nine
Day in Thessaloniki, visiting Aghios Dimitrios and Aghia Sofia - two of the major churches - and then the Roman forum. See the impressive fortifications and a fine vew from the upper town over the city to the sea. Free afternoon to explore further.

Day Ten
Depart from Thessaloniki to London via Athens.

NB Photography and videoing is forbidden in all monasteries and there is also a strict dress code for those entering.

Included

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Flights Scheduled flights London/Athens/Ianinna; Thessaloniki/Athens/London.
• Transfers private coach provided to coincide with group flights
• Local Travel Private a/c coach
• Meals All meals included (dinners with wine & water).
• Guide Lecturer Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"!  The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards.  There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that. They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you.  After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them.  If you would like to know more about Dr Robin Barber, please click his name.
• Tour Manager We never know how best to call the very special people whom we choose to accompany you on your tour.  They are usually employed in this capacity only by us, and have been trained to do things in the Andante way - unobtrusive, friendly and quietly efficient.
• Local Guide
• Fieldnotes written for the tour
• Entry & tips Entry to all sites in programme; tips included.

Flights & Visa

Scheduled Flights with Olympic Air  (Details TBA)

Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)

Note: Passport must be valid at least three months after the period of your intended stay.

Hotels

Hotels
4 nights in a family-run, comfortable hotel in the centre of Iannina;
1 night in a simple hotel in Kastraki, below the Meteora monasteries;
1 night in a village hotel in Verghina;
3 nights in central Thessaloniki.

Map

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Comments

What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?

"I enjoyed the variety of historical sites, the flowers, the birds, the butterflies, the fireflies and the companionship of the other guests. I also loved eating somewhere different each evening. Keep the wine coming - I'll be back!"

"I expected Meteora to be a wonderful place, and I was not disappointed. However, what really surprised me were the royal tombs in Verghina. The artefacts displayed were of very high quality craftsmanship and of sophisticated design."

"The weather was superb, the company pleasant and friendly. The varied programme went from West to East, with spectacular scenery. The drive over the Pindus Mountains and the view from Kassope was greatly appreciated. All the ancient sites were well chosen, the wild flowers were beautiful everywhere."

"I have enjoyed the tour very much. The scenery of this part of Greece is absolutely stunning. The archaeological remains at some of the sites might not have been so impressive as the Peloponnese but the locations were superb; e.g. Kassope. It was also nice to have the Greek guide, Costas, in addition to the Andante staff for he was full of stories, which gave an all around background. He also ensured what we tasted a wide range of typical local food."

Reading List

 

This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed. In many cases, we expect that you will find some of these books even more interesting and useful to read once the tour is over.

 

 

 

* Guide Lecturer's Choice (if you only want to read one or two books)

 

General

The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3^rd. edn., 1999 (Oxford U.P.), edited by S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth) has short articles on sites and regions

Brian Sparkes (ed), Greek Civilization: an introduction, 1998 (Blackwell). Comprehensive coverage of antiquity, but useful also on mediaeval and modern Greece

Heavy reference works

N. G. L. Hammond, Epirus, 1967 (Oxford U. P.)

N. G. L. Hammond (with G.Griffith and F. Walbank), A History of Macedonia (3 vols.), 1972-8 (Oxford U. P.)

 

Guidebooks (the first three titles give good background information)

C. Mee and A. Spawforth, Greece, 2001 (Oxford U. P.). Covers prehistoric and classical sites only

Greece (Blue Guide series): 6^th edition, 1995, and 6^th. edition revised reprint, 2001 (both ed. Robin Barber); 7^th edition 2006 (eds. S. Marker and J. Pettifer). N. B. The 6^th edition has more comprehensive introductory articles

Diana Farr Louis, Travels in Northern Greece: Greece, land of Evergreen Forests, Towering Mountains, Lakes and Rivers, Athens (Athens News), c 2007. Recommended as an appealing general guide to the region

Paul Hetherington, Byzantine and Medieval Greece: churches, castles and art, 1991 (John Murray)

The series of slim red-covered guidebooks issued by the Greek Archaeological receipts fund (TAPA) covers all  the main sites on the itinerary (look up by site / place name). Most are by experienced archaeologists but aimed at the interested amateur

Geography and Geology

M. Cary, The Geographic Background of Greek and Roman History, 1949 etc (Oxford U. P.)

M. D. and R. Higgins, A Geological Companion to Greece and the Aegean, 1996 (Cornell U. P.)

 

Flora

A. Huxley, Flowers in Greece, 1972 (Royal Horticultural Society) 2^nd hand only

A.Huxley and W. Taylor, Flowers of Greece and the Aegean, 1977 (Chatto and Windus) 2^nd hand only

 

Greek history, art and archaeology

A. R. Burn, The Penguin History of Greece, 1990

J. G. Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology, 2004 (paperback; Prentice Hall)

P. Connolly & H. Dodge, The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome, 1998 (Oxford U. P.). Good and instructive illustrations

M. Robertson, A Shorter History of Greek Art, 1981, (Cambridge U. P.)

D. Talbot Rice, Art of the Byzantine Era, 1963, (Thames and Hudson)

Peter Lock, The Franks in the Aegean 1204-1500, 1995 (Longman)

R. Clogg, A Concise History of Modern Greece, 2002 (rev. edn.; Cambridge U. P.)

 

 

Books in the following Making of the Past series (Elsevier / Phaidon) provide an excellent and accessible introduction to all aspects of the history and archaeology of the ancient world up to the end of the Byzantine period. They are very unlikely to be obtainable new but can be acquired as suggested below:

A. Johnston, The Emergence of Greece, 1976

R. Ling, The Greek World [The Greeks], 1976

M. Vickers, The Roman World, ?1976

C. Foss and P. Magdalino, Rome and Byzantium, 1977

 

Epirus

* A. Foss, Epirus, 1978 (Faber). Interesting and approachable

D. Nicol, The Despotate of Epirus, 1957 (Oxford U. P.)

William Plomer, The Diamond of Jannina: Ali Pasha, 1741-1822, 1970 (Cape)

Thessaly (Meteora)

* Donald M. Nicol, Meteora: the rock monasteries of Thessaly, 1963. Academic but well written, and illuminating on some obscure details of Byzantine monasticism

Macedonia

* M. Andronicos, Vergina: the Royal Tombs, 1984 (Ekdotike Athinon, Athens)

M. Andronicos et al., Philip of Macedon, 1992 (Ekdotike Athinon, Athens)

* E. Kourkoutidou, A. Tourta, Walks [Peripatoi] in Byzantine Thessaloniki, 1997 (Ekdoseis Kapon, Athens)

P. Mackridge and E.Yannakakis, Ourselves and Others: the development of a Greek Macedonian cultural identity since 1912, 1997 (Berg). Academic; interesting on the ‘Macedonian question'

Mark Mazower, Thessalonica, City of Ghosts, 2004 (Harper Collins). The complex history of Thessaloniki from the 15^th century to 1950

I. Touratsoglou, Macedonia: history, monuments, museums, 1995 (Ekdotike Athinon, Athens). With archaeological / historical introduction

 

Novels

Peter Dickinson, The Dancing Bear, 1972. A charming tale, set in the Byzantine world. O/P but quite easily and cheaply available on the internet

Robert Graves, Count Belisarius,  1938 (still available as a Penguin Classic)

Mary Renault - The Alexander Trilogy (Fire from Heaven (1969), The Persian Boy (1972), Funeral Games (1981)). All in print

 

Books published in Greece can usually be obtained from the Hellenic Bookservice, 49-51 Fortess Rd., Kentish Town, London NW5 1AD; tel. 0207 267 9499; fax 0207 267 9498; www.hellenicbooks.com

Some Greek publishers (e. g. Ekdotike Athinon) allow ordering through their website

Please note: Several of the recommended books are out of print

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 It always worth exploring www.abebooks.co.uk and www.museumbooks.demon.co.uk for new, secondhand and out-of-print books.

Travel books

We recommend to you a publishing company with a mission to keep the classic works of travel literature in print. Eland and Sickle Moon Books produce an excellent catalogue of travellers' literature, old and new.

+44 (0) 20 7833 0762 - www.travelbooks.co.uk info@travelbooks.co.uk

Archaeology books

Oxbow Books, based in Oxford, are suppliers of probably the biggest range of archaeology and history books. They produce a quarterly catalogue, and can be contacted on

+44 (0)1865 241249 - www.oxbowbooks.com oxbow@oxbowbooks.com

Book Now

Price and confirmed details for this tour will appear in our full brochure due out in October 2009.  You can reserve a place on this tour before October on payment of a deposit.  If you then change your mind, we will refund your deposit in full.