On Location - Greece

The capital city and the home of democracy.  

The formations are home to Greek Eastern Orthodox monasteries; of the 24 originally built, there are only 6 still functioning.  As early as the eleventh century, monks occupied the caverns of Meteora. The construction of monasteries did not start until the fourteenth century, when the monks sought somewhere to hide in the face of an increasing number of Turkish attacks on Greece. At this time, access to the top was via removable ladders or windlass. Nowadays, getting up there is a lot simpler due to steps being carved into the rock during the 1920s.

A look at a number of the ancient sites located around mainland Greece.  Included here are the sites of Olympia, Epidaurus, and the Corinth Canal.

Nafplio was once the capital of modern Greece prior to Athens taking over the title in 1834. Overlooking the city is an 18th Century Venetian Castle overlooking the city offers spectacular views out across the Argolic Gulf.

Located on a peninsula to the Southeast of Athens is Sounion, home to the Temple of Poseidon.  Constructed in around 440BC the temple was ultimately laid to waste by a Persian invasion some decades later.  The location is still a draw for tourists and Athenians alike; the perfect spot to watch the sunset over the Aegean Sea / Mediterranean.

Taking it's name from the two primary gorges running through it, this National Park is the Northwest of mainland Greece. The park is part of the Natura 2000 ecological network and one of UNESCO Geoparks and spans an elevation range from 550 to 2,497m.  The core of the park, comprises the spectacular Vikos Gorge, carved by the Voidomatis river and holds the world record for being the deepest gorge relative to it's width.  The photos shown here are from a trip to mainland Greece in September 2020.

According to myth, Vouraikos Gorge was created by Heracles who opened it up to reach his beloved Voura who lived by the sea.  The Diakopto–Kalavryta railway is a historic narrow guage (750 mm) gauge rack railway located on the northern Peloponnese of Greece.  It runs 22 km from Diakopto to Kalavryta through the Vouraikos Gorge; rising from sea level to an elevation of 720m there are many bridges over the Vouraikos River, and numerous tunnels through the limestone mountains.  The gradient of the track has a maximum of 17.5% and is fitted with a rack system to enable the train to make the assent.  Riding the train from Diakopto to Kalavryta takes around an hour, the hike back (downhill) following the tracks took me around 6 hours as there were plenty opportunities to stop, admire the scenery and take lots of photos.

A selection of photos from here and there taken during the roadtrip around mainland Greece.