The culture and spirit of Greece once No 2

Άποψη του βουλευτηρίου στη Δωδώνη.

Dodona, Modern Greece

Dodona was an ancient Greek town located in Epirus, a region that’s still inside the borders of modern Greece and which became particularly famous in antiquity as a cultural and religious spot where many people traveled from around the then-known world to worship Zeus and the goddess Dione, from which the city took its name.
Zeus was worshipped at Dodona as "Zeus Naios" or "Naos" (god of the spring below the oak in the temenos or sanctuary, cf. Naiads) and as "Zeus Bouleus" (Counsellor).
According to Plutarch, the worship of Jupiter (Zeus) at Dodona was set up by Deucalion and Pyrrha, presumably after the Flood.

 Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas and the region where the Hellenes originated. The oracle was first under the control of the Thesprotians before it passed into the hands of the Molossians. It remained an important religious sanctuary until the rise of Christianity during the Late Roman era.

Although the earliest inscriptions at the site date to c. 550–500 BCE, archaeological excavations conducted for more than a century have recovered artifacts as early as the Mycenaean era, many now at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, and some in the archaeological museum at nearby Ioannina.

Cult activity at Dodona was already established in some form during the Late Bronze Age (or Mycenaean period). During the post-Mycenaean period (or "Greek Dark Ages"), evidence of activity at Dodona is scanty, but there is a resumption of contact between Dodona and southern Greece during the Archaic period (8th century BCE) with the presence of bronze votive offerings (i.e. tripods) from southern Greek cities. Archaeologists also have found Illyrian dedications and objects that were received by the oracle during the 7th century BCE. Until 650 BCE, Dodona was a religious and oracular centre mainly for northern tribes: only after 650 BCE did it become important for the southern tribes.

The earliest mention of Dodona is in Homer, and only Zeus is mentioned in this account. In the Iliad (circa 750 BCE), Achilles prays to "High Zeus, Lord of Dodona, Pelasgian, living afar off, brooding over wintry Dodona" (thus demonstrating that Zeus also could be invoked from a distance). No buildings are mentioned, and the priests (called Selloi) slept on the ground with unwashed feet. No priestesses are mentioned in Homer.

The oracle also features in another passage involving Odysseus, giving a story of his visit to Dodona. Odysseus's words "bespeak a familiarity with Dodona, a realization of its importance, and an understanding that it was normal to consult Zeus there on a problem of personal conduct."

The ancient theater of Dodona, built in the third century BCE under Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus who was one of the most ferocious adversaries of Rome, had a capacity of 18,000 and was at the time the largest and most impressive theater in the ancient world.

  Aigosthena, Modern Greece

Aigosthena was an ancient Greek fortified port city in Attica under the rule of one of the most historic and advanced Greek city-states, Megara. The town was known for its impressive city walls that remained impenetrable for many years and its strategic position that made Megara one of the biggest threats to Athens for many years. Interestingly, the area is quite a popular tourist attraction because there are still ruins of some of the tallest surviving towers and buildings from antiquity.
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