Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae and Archaeological Site of Tiryns

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

   At over a thousand metres in the mountains of Arcadia, on a rocky shoulder above the gorges of the Neda, stands one of the best preserved temples of ancient Greece, and since the 1980s it has stood under a vast white tent. The Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae was built in the fifth century BC by the people of nearby Phigalia, who dedicated it to Apollo the helper, it is said, for saving them from plague. Ancient writers attributed its design to Iktinos, one of the architects of the Parthenon. It was the first Greek monument in Greece to be listed as a World Heritage Site, in 1986.

   Read the complete Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae is where the day begins. Next is Archaeological Site of Mystras.

2. 2. Archaeological Site of Mystras

   Mystras is a whole Byzantine city draped down a steep hillside, a few kilometres west of modern Sparta, at the foot of the Taygetos mountains. It began in 1249, when William II of Villehardouin, a Frankish prince ruling the Peloponnese after the Fourth Crusade, built a castle on the summit. Within a few years the Byzantines had taken it back, and Mystras grew into the capital of the Despotate of the Morea, a centre of learning and art in the last centuries of the empire. The philosopher Gemistos Plethon taught here, and in 1449 Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, was crowned here before leaving for Constantinople, where he died when the city fell in 1453.

   Read the complete Archaeological Site of Mystras write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Archaeological Site of Mystras comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is Archaeological Site of Tiryns.

3. 3. Archaeological Site of Tiryns

   Homer called it Tiryns of the great walls, and when you stand next to them you see that he was not exaggerating. The citadel rises from a low limestone ridge in the Argolid plain, and its walls are built of blocks so enormous that later Greeks decided only the Cyclopes, one-eyed giants, could have lifted them. The name stuck: Cyclopean masonry. Tiryns was one of the great centres of the Mycenaean world in the late Bronze Age, linked in legend to Heracles, who was said to have served its king, and its galleries are the best part. These long corridors are roofed with corbelled stone vaults, their walls polished smooth over the centuries by sheep sheltering from the weather.

   Read the complete Archaeological Site of Tiryns write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 221 km into the recorded legs you reach Archaeological Site of Tiryns. Next is back through Archaeological Site of Mystras.

4. 4. back through Archaeological Site of Mystras

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Archaeological Site of Mystras write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Archaeological Site of Mystras, late in the day. Next is Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae.

5. 5. Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae. That is the ride.