The central Pelopponese is, what to many, was the Greece of thirty or forty years ago – hidden Greece – outstanding and majestic mountain scenery, cliffs and gorges and history dating back to the birth of modern civilisation. With Olympia and Mycenae, the region has two of the world’s most important sites of classical civilisation. Set in beautiful surroundings one can only marvel at the heights to which ancient Greek architects, stone masons, artists and potters, aspired. They have left their work for our inspiration. 

By-passed by modern mass tourism, the broad sandy beaches of the west coast of the Pelopponese are uncrowded, even in the height of summer.


ANCIENT OLYMPIA

Olympia had become a centre for the worship of Zeus, some 12,000 years ago and one of the most important monuments on the site is the temple dedicated to him in 470 BC and later destroyed in an earthquake which caused the columns to collapse domino fashion. Today they still lie where they fall, in parallel rows, all facing in one direction.

Olympia provides a variety of subjects and inspirations for the painter and the photographer as well as for those with an interest in classical civilisation and Greek culture. The museum at Olympia is outstanding.



MOUNTAINS AND MONASTERIES
High in the heartland of The Pelopponese, lie a number of mountain villages. Built entirely of stone in the 18th and 19th centuries by local craftsmen, these villages are now carefully preserved. Nearby, perched magnificently on cliff tops are the ancient monasteries of St. John and Philosophou. The scenery is breathtaking – mountains, rivers, gorges and lakes. 

KAIAFA
With lakes, rivers, mountains, forests and beaches, this region of the Pelopponese has rightly been declared an area of outstanding natural beauty. Some 30 minutes south of Olympia, lies Lake Kaiafa. Although formed as a result of earthquake activity, 1500 years ago, it has been bestowed by nature with the exact measurements required for Olympic rowing. Sheltered by high mountains it has now become a centre for watersport activities throughout the year. The woods which line its shores provide natural scenic beauty and reflections. Only a few minutes walk from the western shores of the lake are magnificent sandy beaches, lined in places by pine woods and 
blessed on many an evening by brilliant sunsets. In the far distance lie the shadowy mountains of Zakynthos and Cephalonia.

MYCENAE The Mycenaean period was the golden age of Greek antiquity, the age of myths, of great heroes and of mighty kings - Jason and the Argonauts, Hercules, The Trojan War, Ulysses and Agamemnon – an age which has left an immense cultural and artistic heritage – architecture, sculpture and pottery. Set between two mountains and protected to the south by the gorge of Khavos, Mycenae occupies a commanding position, built on and into the mountain rock the very stones themselves seem to speak of the power, the authority and the majesty of those who lived and ruled there.  The excavation and restoration work, has left a landscape of delight for both the photographer and painter – royal burial graves, including the tomb of Agamemnon, cut into the hillside, and the famous Lion Gate, topped by one of the earliest stone sculptures of Greek antiquity.