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Battlefield
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We arrived at the site of Olympia to find every coach within 100 kilometres parked in the Coach Park. They were from the cruise ship that had docked at the wharf 30 km away. So Ellena decided that we should visit the Museum first and come back to the actual site later. A good move as when we returned there were hardly anyone there. The Museum is filled with the artefacts dug from the site during the long excavation.
Since my last visit in April 2019 there has been much work done at that ancient site of Olympia. The area near the gymnasium and the palestra there seems to have had many columns erected using those from the storage area. All the grass has been continued to be cut which improves the look of the area of the sanctuary and the site looked excellent.
Elena took us around the site, altars, training areas, special fountain built by the Romans, Temple of Zeus and the actual Stadium where the games were conducted. The Olympic Games were conducted every 4 years from the 8th Century BCE to the 4th Century CE when the Roman Emperor Theodosius I legally cancelled the games as he said they were a Pagan ritual.
A coffee stop followed before we left to visit a private museum which specialised in the Korean War and the Greek Army's participation. Captain Konstantinos Farros served in the Greek Army during the War and has built a Memorial in his backyard as a tribute for the Greek soldiers who were lost in that campaign. He has been passionate in remembering the campaign, his time there but mostly to ensure that those who were lost would not be forgotten. Following a view of his museum we conducted a small Service in the memory of those lost. On view outside his museum was his scout car, jeep and Bren Gun Carrier.
Konstantinos told us that when the 1941 War started, his parents sent him away to Brallos for safety as they thought Athens would not be, not knowing that the Brallos Pass was to be the scene of heavy fighting in April 1941. He still remembers the battle there and as a 11-year-old he was able to walk over the area where the battle had been fought and collected some bits and pieces left there. Actually, he found the 25 pounder shells left when Lieutenent Anderson and is gunners left following an 8 hour duel with German Gunners. This most probably started him as a collector? We stayed with him quite some time and we were sad to leave but after some refreshments on the patio of his beautiful home , we said our goodbyes and headed back home for tomorrow we are returning to Athens.
Graham Fleeton.
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