Temple of Olympia
Pictures of Greece
Yeroliminos
Yeroliminos is a small fishing village at the southern end of the Mani, about a 30 minute bus ride south of Areopolis. There wasn't really much of interest about the village itself - there were a couple of shops and a few tavernas, but that was about it. I think we were staying in the only hotel in the town.
Across the little inlet that serves as a harbour for the fishing boats of Yeroliminos, a series of wall-like structures was visible. I had no idea what they were, so I took a picture of them.
Once we had dropped our bags off in our rather luxurious apartments, we wandered a few kilometres inland (and uphill) to a small, virtually deserted village. At the very top of the village, there stood a church which is one of the oldest, if not the oldest in that part of Greece.
The major excursion, though, was saved for the following day. We took a taxi south to the nearby beach, and from there walked to the Sanctuary of Poseidon, which overlooks the Gateway into the Underworld. The Gateway is apparently guarded by Cerberus the three-headed dog, but we saw no sign of such a creature. However, I was attacked on a number of occasions by rather large flying scarab beetles, so maybe Cerberus was on holiday and they were 'filling in', as it were. We were also pestered by a couple of donkeys as we walked to the nearby taverna for a spot of lunch.
From the taverna, you can see how the sanctuary looks out over Poseidon's domain. The Gateway to the Underworld is at the head of the inlet on the left of the picture.
As we trekked back to the beach to meet our taxis, I noticed an interesting outline on the hillside. I'm not sure if it cam out too lcearly on the picture, but there is definitely a circular outline which, as an amateur archaeologist and historian, made me wonder if it might be iron-age in origin.
