Monday, May 15, 2017

Serendipitous ruin in Ptoon

On our way from Aiginio to Nafplio, we stopped at Iolkos and Sesklo to see some level 5 ruins, but it was Monday, so of course, they were closed!  So, we hit a serendipitous ruin in Ptoon, literally.  We had no plan to go to Ptoon, and in fact, I was aiming for Akraiphnion, but I couldn't find the Level 5 there--even the Greek Travel Pages, my go to for satellite views of the ruins, doesn't identify it correctly http://www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?ID=14533), and as we exited Akraiphnion, there was a sign for the archaeological site a Ptoon!  Why yes, of course, we'd love to go.  Please lead on!

Ptoon was the location of the oracular spring of Apollo, so of course, after driving up the mountain, this ruin starts in the valley with the first level.  It is important to note that there are several cisterns, a basin and a channel which must mean that the water ultimately ran down the side of the mountain!


The next level was probably the temple.


And at the top, the spring.


Put them all together, it looks like this (below and detail).  The horizontal brown line just below midway is the road, and we climbed to a little below the stone outcropping where you can see the spring wall.  It was an act of faith to keep following the ever-narrowing path to the top.





1 comment:

  1. The pics are great and love that you ended up in Ptoon. Serendipitous indeed!

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