Ancient Ruins of the Peloponnese

Location: Elefsina, Greece (written in Argos, Greece)
NP: Kingston Wall - Shine on Me
Mood: Mellow

Peloponnese, a peninsula in Southern Greece and the mythological land of monsters where Hercules (Herakles) fought the Nemean lion, gods walked the earth and, most importantly, the ancient Mycenaean civilization flourished during the Bronze Age from 1600 BC only to mysteriously disappear around 1100 BC.

Here I have gathered some brief information about significant ruins we visited during our trip in Greece, mostly from the Peloponnese, where we drove around in rental cars. Ancient ruins are marked in magenta and other towns or cities we stopped over for the night in white. Under the name of the archaeological site I will give the price of the ticket for an adult (and student) and my estimate of how long it will take you to explore the site.


Eleusis
Tickets: 12€, international student card not recognized
Time: Can be seen in 1-2 hours.

Our trip began with a stop-over at Elefsina that embraces the ruins of ancient Eleusis within the town limits. Ancient Eleusis hosted the Sanctuary of Demeter, goddess of the harvest and agriculture, and was the home of the Eleusinian Mysteries, during Mycenaean times.

Plutonion

A local "guide" or employee of the site kept an eye on us and followed us around and in the tiny museum you feel watched at all times, but it didn't really retract from the wonder of the ruins around us.

The modern Elefsina itself seemed like a nice small town with narrow streets. Parking space was at a premium and the car park in Hotel Elefsina was a narrow tunnel down a steep ramp to cramped but adequate parking hall underneath the hotel. The hotel was relatively nice and the pool in the inner courtyard gave an illusion of luxury, but the central air-conditioning was vastly inefficient during the grueling +36C weather.

Elefsina

It was within walking distance to the ruins of Ancient Eleusis though.