mahendra’s greece

In October 2020, a ruptured muscle fibre in my left thigh left me recovering. According to the doctors swimming offered the best means of recuperation. I love to swim in the Walchensee, the lake close by my apartment, but it does get quite cold, even in summer. Where else might I go, to swim and do some light hiking so my muscle could heal up?

Greece sounded appealing. Not only was it close enough to avoid flying long-distance to Asia or America during the Covid days, but it also combined the promise of abundant natural beauty – spectacular mountains and delightful beaches – with a rich cultural heritage. I love to visit and study such places.

My initial trip took me to the area of Mt Olympus and to the monasteries of Meteora. It left me hungry for more.

The following spring, I returned to Greece for six weeks, this time to the area of Kalamata, which is situated on the famous southern part of the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese. I started to explore the nearby Taygetos mountains, with their lush green valleys and ragged and barren peaks. I found this area so enjoyable that I returned in October and stayed for another six months, allowing me to immerse myself in the natural and cultural beauties of the region.

My explorations of Greece continued in spring and autumn 2023. This time, I was systematically searching for historical locations, further expanding my view on the evolution of human culture in Greece. The more I saw, the more I understood that the story that Greece has to tell is outstanding. 5000 years of human history have been preserved in countless ancient buildings, artefacts, written documents, and oral tradition – like nowhere else in the world. Scientists from around the world have done amazing work to reconstruct life as it was then. Today, the past can be seen, heard, and touched at many of the ancient sites. For me, the impressions from the single sites are added to each other to form a larger picture, growing slowly like a huge puzzle. The backbone of this larger picture is the timeline, which serves as an introduction and reference for the visited sites shown in the photo stories.

  • 3100 – 1100 BCE

     

    Minoan civilization

    Only on Crete, Linear A script
    Examples: The palace in Knossos

  • 1750 – 1050 BCE

     

  • Around 1150 BCE

     

    Bronze Age collapse

    Environmental change, mass migration and destruction of cities.
    Examples: Mycene, Pylos
    An article from the World History Encyclopedia: The Bronze Age Collapse

  • 1100 – 800 BCE

     

    Greek Dark Age (Iron Age)

    Widespread famine and depopulation, no large cities, no script, simple pottery. Not much archeological evidence.

  • 800 – 490 BCE

     

    Archaic Greece

    Settlements in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the Polis (Greek city state), Greek alphabet, Homer, refined pottery decoration. Establishment of the key states Athens, Corinth and Sparta in the 8th century.
    Examples: Corinth, Olympia

  • 490 – 323 BCE

     

    Classical Greece

    Greek culture: warfare, politics, science, arts, philosophy.
    Examples: Delphi, Epidauros, Corinth, Olympia, Eleusis, Bassae

  • 323 – 146 BCE

     

    Hellenistic period

    Alexander the Great and the Diadochi, expansion of Greek culture, merging with Persian and Buddhist culture.

  • 146 BCE – 324 CE

     

    Roman Greece

    Romans rule over Greece, but adapt many components of the Greek culture. From around 50 CE onwards Christian missionaries start conversions in the Roman empire. In the 4th century CE Greek religion is systematically eradicated.
    Examples: Ephesus, Messene, Eleusis, Corinth

  • 324 – 1453 CE

     

    Byzantine Greece

    Greece under the influence of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople.
    Examples: Lousios Gorge, Mystras, Ithomi, Meteora

  • 480 - 700 CE

     

    Invasions from the North

    Migrations by various non-Christian invaders like Visigoths, Ostrogoths and Slavs, who conquered large parts of the Greek mainland.

  • 1204 – 1797 CE

     

    Frankish and Venetian influence

    Beginning with the Crusades constant fights between Franks, Venetians, Byzantines and Ottomans take place.
    Example: Methoni, Mystras, Acrocorinth, Palamidi

  • 1453 – 1821 CE

     

    Ottoman Greece

    Greece under the influence of the Ottoman empire. Many members of the orthodox church retreat into the mountains.
    Example: Palamidi, Meteora

  • Since 1821

     

    Modern Greece

    Independence since 1833

Photo Stories:

Bassae
Corinth & Acrocorinth
Delphi
Eleusis
Ephesus
Epidauros
Gialova
Lousios Gorge
Messene & Ithomi
Meteora
Methoni
Mycenae
Mystras
Neda Valley
Nemea
Olympia
Ostrakina
Palamidi
Pylos