User talk:Ramoskrystle27



GREEK TRAVEL GUIDE...........................

all around the world. millions of places to go and yet only a few places we will actually go. Many cultures have come and gone, and left relatively little for us to know them by. But there are a couple of reasons why we know so much about the Greeks. they built monuments in stone. Huge temples and agoras, or market places appeared wherever they settled. They decorated the buildings with scenes of daily life, warfare and sea battles. They buried their dead in graveyards, and the headstones are some of the most poignant sculptures ever made. the Greeks were greatly admired by the Romans, who helped preserve greek drama and other writings. The plays of Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles are still performed today. greek is a beautiful place filled with millions of things to go look at.The main attraction for those interested in ancient Greece is Athens. Its agora, areopagus and cemetery are all worth visiting. But the highlight is the acropolis, containing the Parthenon and other buildings. No visitor should miss the treasures of the new Acropolis museum or the National Archaeological museum. Just along the coast from Athens is the temple of Poseidon at Sounion, made famous in poetry by Lord Byron. Even closer, but in what is largely an industrial area is Eleusis. This was where the Eleusinian Mysteries were enacted. No one knows exactly what these were, as the initiates never divulged their secrets.The islands of the Aegean have their own treasures and pleasures. Close to Athens lies the island of Aegina, where you can find the temple of Aphaia, a beautiful temple of modest proportions. Out in the Aegean lies Delos, regarded by the people of ancient Greece as a sacred island. The popular islands around it in a circle are appropriately named The Cyclades. Paros is the island hoppers' favourite and Naxos has excellent antiquities. Further south is Santorini, one of the most amazing islands anywhere in the world. It is in fact a huge volcano, and at its southern end is Akrotiri. Like Pompeii this was buried for millennia under volcanic ash, and was only unearthed in the 1960's. Crete contains a number of Minoan sites, such as the famous Knossos. Cyprus was fought over many times in the ancient world, and Rhodes, while there is more to see of recent history (the street of the Knights Templar), it still has a few gems to offer such as the acropolis at LIndos. Kos has a few remains as well, and is also a good destination as a day trip from Rhodes.The people of ancient Greece didn't confine themselves to the area we know today as Greece. They left their homeland and set up colonies all around the Mediterranean. Paestum, south of Naples, has some of the most spectacular temples, and an excellent museum as well. Sicily was also a popular destination, and there are a number of important sites at Agrigento, Syracuse and Segesta. There are many other places you can visit, in fact, you can hardly set foot anywhere in the Mediterranean without finding bits and pieces of ancient Greece. But the ones we've listed are the main ones you'll find from popular holiday destinations.

And finally...

It isn't all ancient ruins and piles of rubble...