The original Christian tour on Paul's footsteps in Athens and ancient Corinth

Meeting point

Departure

07:00, 07:30, 08:00, 08:30, 09:00, 09:30 daily; scheduled year-round (operator schedule, seats confirmed at checkout)

Pickup

Hotel pickup included

Operator

Athens Tours Greece; booking and payment are completed on Viator

1. 1
   Piraeus

   Pick up from your accommodation in Athens, or your cruise ship pier at Piraeus port. We will drive along the coastal road of Saronic Gulf to enjoy the Piraeus and Athens riviera.

   20 min
2. Acropolis

   The greatest and finest sanctuary of ancient Athens, dedicated primarily to its patron, the goddess Athena, dominates the centre of the modern city from the rocky crag known as the Acropolis. The most celebrated myths of ancient Athens, its greatest religious festivals, earliest cults and several decisive events in the city's history are all connected to this sacred precinct. The monuments of the Acropolis stand in harmony with their natural setting. These unique masterpieces of ancient architecture combine different orders and styles of Classical art in a most innovative manner and have influenced art and culture for many centuries. The Acropolis of the fifth century BC is the most accurate reflection of the splendor, power and wealth of Athens at its greatest peak, the golden age of Pericles.

   Pass by, no stop
3. 3
   Areopago

   It is located just to the right of the exit of the Acropolis. Also known as the “Hill of Ares”. In classical times, this was the site of the Council of Nobles and the Judicial Court, which mainly dealt with homicide. It is said that Ares was tried here by the Gods for the murder of Alirrothios, one of the sons of Poseidon. Another trial said to have taken place here was that of Orestes who was alleged to have killed his mother Clytemnestra, and her lover. In preclassical times, the Areopagus was where the council of the elders of the city would meet. The members were actually those who were held in high regard in public office. In 480 BC, the hill was used as a campsite by the Persians, when they were undertaking their siege of the Acropolis. It was also at the Areopagus that Saint Paul preached the famous “Sermon on an Unknown God”, apparently after seeing an altar to the “Unknown God”. This speech is commemorated with a bronze plaque that you can see at the foot of the rock.

   20 min
4. 4
   Propylaea

   The Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis were built on the west side of the hill, where the gate of the Mycenaean fortification once stood. The first propylon, or gate, was constructed in the age of Peisistratos (mid-sixth century BC), after the Acropolis had become a sanctuary dedicated to Athena. A new propylon, built in 510-480 BC, was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC and repaired after the end of the Persian Wars, during the fortification of the Acropolis by Themistokles and Kimon. The monumental Propylaia admired by modern visitors were part of the great Periklean building program. They were erected in 437-432 BC, after the completion of the Parthenon, by architect Mnesikles. The original building plan was particularly daring both in architectural and artistic terms, but was never completed.

   5 min · Admission not included
5. 5
   Temple of Athena Nike

   The temple of Athena Nike, designed by the architect Kallikrates, was built between 426 and 421 BC on a bastion at the southwestern edge of the Acropolis. The small Ionic temple had a relief-carved frieze with different thematic representations on each side. On the east was shown a gathering of gods around the enthroned Zeus, while the other sides presented scenes of war between Greeks and Persians or Greeks with other Greeks. The south side depicted the victorious battle of the Greeks against the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC, led by the Athenians. Few sculptural remains are preserved from the temple’s pediments. It is believed the west pediment depicted the victory of the Olympian gods against the Giants (Gigantomachy), while the east depicted the victory of the Athenians against the Amazons (Amazonomachy). Around 410 BC, a marble parapet, adorned with carved reliefs, was installed around the dangerous edge of the temple’s bastion for the protection of visitors.

   5 min · Admission not included
6. 6
   Parthenon

   Parthenon; Temple that dominates the hill of the Acropolis at Athens. Built in the mid-5th century BCE and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos. The temple is generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order, the simplest of the three Classical Greek architectural orders. It was part of a magnificent rebuilding program directed by the Athenian statesman Pericles, following the sack of the Acropolis during the Greco-Persian Wars (492–449 BCE). The project was to include, among other things, the Propylaea, the gateway to the sacred precinct; the Erechtheum, a shrine to the agricultural deities, especially Erichthonius; and the Temple of Athena Nike, an architectural symbol of the harmony with which the Dorian and Ionian peoples lived under the government of Athens.The Parthenon was to be the chief shrine to Athena and also the treasury of the Delian League, a confederacy of ancient Greek states under the leadership of Athens, founded in 478 BCE.

   45 min · Admission not included
7. 7
   On the high stylobate of the south porch of the Erechtheion are six maidens, who take the place of columns in supporting the entablature

   Now severely weathered and affected by pollution, five of the caryatids were removed to the Acropolis Museum in 1978 and replaced with replicas. The other figure (the second from the left in the first row of four) was appropriated by Lord Elgin, who, between 1801 and 1805, removed about half of the surviving sculptures from the fallen ruins of the Acropolis and from the Parthenon, itself. They were acquired by the British Museum in 1816 and put on public display the following year. Between 1937 and 1938, even the caryatid you can find in the British Museum in London, which certainly is in better condition than its sisters, was damaged when masons abraded the surface (as well as that of some of the Parthenon sculptures) in a misguided and unauthorized attempt to brighten them for the opening of the new gallery in which they were to be displayed.

   5 min · Admission not included
8. 8
   Ancient Agora of Athens

   After our visit at Acropolis ,you will visit the Ancient Agora, 20 min travel. The ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos, also called Market Hill. The word "agora" applies to an assembly of people and by extension marks the gathering place. In modern Greek, the term means "marketplace". Just about every ancient and modern city includes a place for an agora, and the Agora of Athens is located at the heart of the city, remaining in use either as an assembly, as a commercial, or as a residential area for about 5000 years. Consequently, the area has undergone countless building, destruction, and rebuilding cycles. Today these strata of history have been distilled through excavations to expose the Agora's important functions from Archaic to Greco-Roman and Byzantine times.

   1h 20m · Admission not included
9. 9
   Peloponnese

   Admire the travel along the coastal road of the Saronic golf till we will arrive at the famous Corinth canal in Peloponnese. The Peloponnese is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf. Peloponnese grape varieties have a very special place in the treasure of native Greek grape varieties. Τhe Peloponnese Wine Roads take you on a journey to a modern, sometimes rare and definitely unknown to many wine world, full of authenticity and history. Native Peloponnese grape varieties do not only reflect the diversity of Greek and Peloponnesian wine, but also the significance of some very special Greek varieties. Among them are two of the four most renowned varieties of the Greek vineyard in the world’s best markets: the exotic Moschofilero-Mantinia and the captivating Agiorgitiko-Nemea. Moreover, Mavrodafni is known for the popular dessert

   1h
10. 10
    Corinth Canal

    The Corinth Canal is a waterway that crosses the narrow isthmus of Corinth to link the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. As such, the canal separates the Greek mainland from the Peloponnese, turning it into an island. It is an important navigational route that once allowed ships to enter the Aegean Sea. Dug through the isthmus at sea level, the canal is 6.4 kilometers long with a width of only 25 meters. The canal, though executed in the late 19th century, has been a 2000-year-old dream. Before that, ships in the Aegean Sea that wanted to cross to the Adriatic or anchor in Corinth, a rich shipping city, had to circle the Peloponnese, which would prolong their journey an extra 185 nautical miles. It is believed that Periander, the tyrant of Corinth (602 BC), was the first to conceive of the idea of digging the Corinth Canal. As the project was too complicated, Periander constructed the diolkós, a stone road that allowed ships to be transferred on wheeled platforms.

    15 min
11. 11
    Food tour Corinth - Eat and live like a local

    It is time now for lunch. Free time for lunch in a traditional restaurant in Ancient Corinth to experience a food tour in the Greek cusine.Not included in the prise.

    1h
12. 12
    Ancient Corinth (Archaia Korinthos)

    After our visit at Corinth canal we will be traveling approx 20 min to reach ancient Corinth. Ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (6500-3250 B.C.) Its fertile soil but mainly its strategic location at the intersection of land routes from the Balkan peninsula of Aimos and mainland Greece on towards the Peloponnese and waterways that connect the western Mediterranean to its Eastern counterpart, to Asia Minor and to Syro-Palestine, offered the region from very early on enormous potential for communication, growth and prosperity. The city, known since the Mycenaean period. The tremendous output of agricultural products, already in earlier historical periods, favored intense expansion in trade activities mainly towards the Western Mediterranean, while in the 8th century BC Corinthian colonies were founded, like Corfu in the Ionian Sea, Syracuse in Sicily, with an important role in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world.

    1h 20m · Admission not included
13. 13
    Piraeus

    Our tour ends by dropping you off at the same spot we have picked you up in Athens or at Piraeus cruise port.

    1h 20m

About this tour, from the operator