Agios Georgios Castle and Mazarakata Mycenean Tombs, Kefalonia, Greece
Final excursion of the holiday
The route to the Castle (and some cyclamen spotting)
Exploring Agios Georgios Castle
Final excursion of the holiday
It was the final day of our holiday, and we had just enjoyed two good days' walking, at Paliki and Sami. I wasn't going to push my luck with Frances and take her on a long drive to the south of the island for another long walk, but I was keen to see a couple of the other sites mentioned in the guidebook. On the evening beforehand I had read about Agios Georgios Castle, which had been the capital of the island until this title was transferred to Argostoli in 1759. So, it clearly couldn't be just a small fortress. Not much prospect of any serious hiking, but the route described in the guidebook included the nearby Mycenean Tombs at Mazarakata, and there was a sandy beach to finish off the tour at Avithos.
However, checking with our hotel receptionist before we set out, we were advised that Avithos beach had lost a lot of its sand over the winter, and we should go instead to Porto Heli beach just west of it.
The route to the Castle (and some cyclamen spotting)
We drove south through Argostoli and along the side of the bay, then continued south-east where we had previously turned left around the head of the bay for journeys north and east. It was a rare straight stretch of road across the low-lying basin, and we could see the shape of the castle hill ahead of us. The road split, and we took the left fork signed for the castle. It provided a quiet route curving round the left side of the hill.
I stopped to look at the mass of flowers under the trees - cyclamen again, I think, as in Paliki - and there was a striking image on the other side of the road: an old stone building with a corrugated tin roof that was rusting away in neat patterns of russet brown. [ On the subject of the cyclamen, I've checked via Google, and there's a handy Cyclamen Society site which identifies our cheerful little flower as Cyclamen Repandum, subspecies peloponnesiacum var. vividum - read all about it! ]
The road continued upwards, into a village, then turned sharply right at the top of the hill along a wide street. Over the brow of the hill we could see the walls of the castle ahead of us. There was a coach parked in the street, and quite a few cars, in front of rows of houses. We parked, coated ourselves with suntan cream, and walked towards the castle.
The cafe up to the left was busy with people - probably from the coach party. A doorway on the right had miscellaneous items shaped into an attractive display. A little dog dozed in a gateway, and Frances walked towards it; then it leapt up, barking loudly with annoyance, and Frances jumped back! Closer to the castle was another cafe/restaurant on the right, proudly boasting that it had been recognised in various British publications such as the Guardian.
Exploring Agios Georgios Castle
Then we reached the massive towers and gateway of the castle entrance, with the stone road climbing up through. It looked mightily impressive, but the other side was a bit of an anti-climax - lots of walls, most less than half complete, and no indication of any points of interest. An old metal cannon lay on the right, near to the parapet, and the view from here was perhaps the most striking aspect of this part of the castle. The coastal plain was spread out below us, with villages and houses and olive groves stretching to the western coastline in the distance.
We continued alongside the main wall, climbing gently up a stone pavement, past a renovated building with a smart wooden door that was locked shut. Beyond that it was only ruined walls and uneven grassy hummocks in between, but with a track that was easy enough to follow to the various vantage points. It required a bit of an effort of imagination to picture this place three centuries ago, the centre of political, military and economic power on Kefalonia. Lots of scope for the tourist organisation to exploit with some European funding, I thought!
The parapet facing north looked out towards Argostoli and Paliki, with some industrial or quarrying area in the middle distance. Nearby was a row of stone constructions, half overgrown by grass, which looked like stores. Turning south, onto the higher part of the hill, we could see Mount Ainos at fairly close quarters. A couple of people were sitting on the roof of one building, eating their lunch.
We climbed over rocks, and reached a circular structure. I thought it looked like a base for a gun to be rotated on. It appeared complete enough to date from the second world war. Later someone suggested it was a horse or donkey mill, and that's possible too. Unfortunately there wasn't any explanation to be seen. A check via Google unearths the Ministry of Culture website which doesn't give much more away, except that the castle is tidied up every year but hasn't been excavated, unfortunately. Another website gives a bit more background.
We continued over to the wall at the south end, and down to the right, where we found ourselves at the top of a small arena. Wooden seats formed a semi-circular amphitheatre stretching down to a grassy area in the shade of tall pine trees. Clearly it was a location for modern performances of some sort. There was just the two of us, so we each put on a quick performance for the other, and had a good laugh.
It wasn't much further back down stone steps to the entrance gate, and we made our way out, pausing to admire the stonework in the tower on our left. Halfway back to the car, a sign pointed to the right, to a church, and we decided to go and have a look. Behind the house on our left was a garden full of crops, protected by a scarecrow. This also amused us, as we had recently seen a cartoon film, "Howl's Moving Castle", which featured a scarecrow just like this one. The path turned right towards the gate of the church. It was locked, and Frances made a play of trying to climb over it. On the other side, the church was in ruins as well, with only the gable end supporting the bell seeming to be intact.
We headed back to the car, and set off again. Instead of returning the same way, we drove ahead then turned left down a road below the church. It zig-zagged a couple of times down the steep side of the hill, then there was a long stretch taking us down to the plain below, near to an attractive looking (not ruined) church amongst trees.
We turned left then right towards Mazarakata, and at the next crossroads followed the sign to the right, continuing a short distance until we reached the fence on the right where the Mycenean Tombs were situated. There was parking on the left-hand-side of the road. The first of the tombs were clearly visible from the roadside through the fence, and the castle which we had just left could be seen in the distance beyond the olive trees, providing a view full of interest. Another group of people had just left the site, through the metal gate, and we went in after them - there were no other visitors. The ticket booth was empty.
We explored around the open pits cut out of the rock, and beyond these found others in a cave that seemed to have been excavated as well. One tomb-hole was tiny, presumably for a child. It was all very eerie, another Indiana Jones experience! A cleft in the rock provided an escape route on the other side, and we emerged onto grassland. Now we could see that there was a series of these clefts, each leading into man-made caves with tomb-holes cut into the floor.
Intrigued by this, I've just reverted to Google again, and have been directed straight to Wikipedia, where it says the Mycenean civilisation was at the end of the Bronze Age, and lasted from about 1600-1100 BC. It was the Myceneans who defeated the Minoans in Crete, and Troy in modern-day Turkey.
And then there's the bit about the tombs: "The Mycenaeans buried their nobles in beehive tombs (tholoi), large circular burial chambers with a high vaulted roof and straight entry passage lined with stone. They often buried daggers or some other form of military equipment with the deceased. The nobility were frequently buried with gold masks, tiaras, armour, and jeweled weapons. Mycenaeans were buried in a sitting position, and some of the nobility underwent mummification." Hmm, so that sheds a bit of light on what we saw. Read more on Wikipedia:
Frances gave another of her performances here, playing the part of a mummy emerging from the tombs, but quickly became a young girl on holiday again when I said it was time to find the beach.
Easier said than done! This part of the island is a maze of narrow roads and little villages, with delightful churches and ancient olive trees beside the road. Without trying to describe the route we took, we went along one narrow road and risked falling off the edge into a field. We edged backwards to turn, and eventually reached a junction near Svoronata where I thought I took the road to Porto Heli beach. After many twists and turns, we eventually reached Avithos beach! Oh well, we parked, unpacked our stuff and trudged down the steep slope to the beach, past the signs for a lively looking restaurant.
There were a few other people on this long narrow stretch of sand, but we found a big space to set up camp. It looked delightful, but they guy at the hotel had been right - there wasn't much sand under the seawater, it was mostly stones. We had our picnic lunch, brushing off the usual wasps. The view out to see was beautiful, but we thought we'd try to find the other beach. Besides, there was an enormous crab on this beach!
Following the narrow roads along to the west, I managed to find my way back to the coast again, and had to stop quickly as the road dipped sharply. I checked, and sure enough, there was a long wide beach below, sheltered in a bay. I parked off the road and we walked down the track. At the bottom, coming onto the beach, was a moist area, and it turned out to be really sticky clay which clung onto our sandals. There was a better route down to the beach a bit further on, but we were there anyway, and found a spot on dry sand to get changed. The sand was very fine, hence the clay I suppose.
It proved to be a good choice - the sand shelved very gently into the sea, the waves were quite small but worth splashing about in, and the warm sun sparkled off the surface as we swam. It was the widest stretch of sand we'd seen all week. A family from Switzerland were camped nearby, and we chatted with them and Frances played with their little girl. We stayed for a couple of hours, but eventually had to pack up and leave - so that we could get back to the hotel and get ready to go home. It was a great way to end the holiday.
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