Bursa, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Bursa, Turkey

Weather: Intervals of clouds and sunshine, 51/67F.

Route: From Troy 304 km east on E90.

Population: 1,999,998

Places to visit: The Great Mosque, Tombs of Osman and Orhan, Saganli Botanik Park, Panorama 1326 Bursa Fetih Muzesi, Emir Sultan Camii, Muradiye Complex, Bursa City Museum, Hunkar Kosku, Ataturk Museum, Aktopraklik Hoyuk Arkeopark ve Acikhava Muzesi, Bursa Archaeological Museum.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

The Grand Mosque (from planetware.com)

The Central Bazaar (From planetware.com)

Troy, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Troy, Turkey

Weather: Mostly sunny skies with gusty winds, 54/66F.

Route: From Pergamon 203 km NNW on D550 and E87.

Significance: The site of famous Troy of Homer's Iliad was abandoned in the late Byzantine era (500 CE), and was thought to be only a legend until archaeologist Heinrich Schlieman found it in 1870. He and archaeologists after him found 4000 years of history at this site from the Bronze age to the Romans.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

A gate that was built 1,000 years before the Spartans and Mycenaeans laid siege to Troy if The Iliad was true (from whc.unesco.org)

The Roman era Odeon (from whc.unesco.org)

Pergamon, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Pergamon, Turkey

Weather: Intervals of clouds and sunshine, 49/72F.

Route: From Ephesus 185 km north on E87 and O-33.

Significance: Pergamon was an important city from Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. There are ruins of structures important to Paganism, Christianity, Judiasm, and Islam. The city is dramatically set on a promontory above the Caicus River. The major museum of antiquity in Berlin is called the Pergamon Museum, mostly because it houses the Pergamon Altar.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

The Greek Theatre (from whc.unesco.org)

The Trajeneum (from whc.unesco.org)

Ephesus, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Ephesus, Turkey

Weather: Partly cloudy skies, 56/76F.

Route: From Hierapolis 193 km west on D320.

Significance: As several of our recent places, Ephesus was also a Greek and then Roman city. It was best known as the location of the Temple of Artemis, one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." Not much is left of the temple, but there are many other impressive sites - such as the huge theatre, the two story facade of the Library of Celsus and the Temple of Hadrian.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

The Greek Theatre (from whc.unesco.org)

The Library of Celsus (from whc.unesco.org)

Hierapolis, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Hierapolis, Turkey

Weather: Partly cloudy skies, 46/74F.

Route: From Aphrodisias 97 km NE on D585 and E87.

Significance: Hierapolis was a Greek and then Roman spa resort town. The site includes petrified waterfalls. It was also a popular place to be buried, as the large necropolis shows.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Video:

Images:

Ruins of the town (From whc.unesco.org)

The necropolis (from whc.unesco.org)

Aphrodisias, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Aphrodisias, Turkey

Weather: Partly cloudy skies, 39/67F.

Route: From Xanthos 259 km NNW on D330.

Significance: Aphrodisias was a Greek city built around a temple to Aphrodite, built in 3rd century BC. It became wealthy in part based on nearby marble quarries. There are many ruined structures, including the temple of Aphrodite, a stadium, an odeon, sarcophigi etc.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

Aerial view of the archaeological site (from whc.unesco.org)

The Roman era monumental gateway (From whc.unesco.org)

Xanthos, Turkey - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Xanthos, Turkey

Weather: Partly cloudy, 62/76F.

Route: From Rhodes 478 km east on ferries and D400.

Significance: Xanthos was the capital of Lycia, a civilization with its own language that existed since the Bronze age in 15th century BC. It was initially on the side of the Persians against the Greeks, but then was entered the Athenian league after the defeat of the Persians. The archaeological sites show a strong Greek influence.  The area changed hands many times during antiquity eventually becoming part of the modern state of Turkey.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

Xanthos city ruins (from whc.unesco.org)

Xanthian obelisk with inscriptions in Lycian (from whc.unesco.org)

Rhodes, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Rhodes, Greece

Weather: Sunny, 68/77F.

Route: From Samos 354 km SE on ferries.

Places to visit: Monolithos Castle, Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, Acropolis of Lindos, Kritinia Castle, Archaeological Museum of Rhodes, Monastery Tsambika, Acropolis of Rhodes, Kahal Kadosh Shalom Synagogue, Rodos Nature - Folklore Museum, Ancient Olympic Stadium Rhodes, Colossus of Rhodes, Tsambika Byzantine Museum, Fortifications of Rhodes.

Images:

Entrance to the harbor of Rhodes, where the Colossus once stood (from whc.unesco.org)

Palace of the Grand Master (from whc.unesco.org)

Samos, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Samos, Greece

Weather: Mainly sunny, 61/72F.

Route: From Patmos 106 km NE on ferry.

Significance: The island of Samos has been occupied since prehistory in the 6th millennium BC. The main sites recognized by UNESCO are the ancient city of Pythagoreion and the temple of Hera, built in the 8th century BC. Another unique feature of Samos is a 6th century BC aqueduct tunnel, one of the first known tunnels built for that purpose. It was also the birthplace of the famous mathematician Pythagoras.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

Heraion of Samos (from whc.unesco.org)

Ancient mosaic in Pythagoreion (from whc.unesco.org)

Patmos, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Patmos, Greece

Weather: Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds, 67/72F.

Route: From Delos 510 km west and then east on ferry.

Population: 3,047

Significance: Patmos is best known as the home of the monastery of St. John the Theologian. It is thought to be the place where St. John the disciple wrote his Gospel and the Book of Revelation and therefore has been a place of pilgrimage, especially in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

The Monastery of St. John the Theologian above the white houses of the island (from whc.unesco.org)

A small chapel in the central part of the island (from whc.unesco.org)

Delos, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Delos, Greece

Weather: Mainly sunny, 62/69F.

Route: From Heraklion 283 km north on ferry.

Significance: The birthplace of Apollo, this island was the most important island in the classical Greek world.  But it was a holy place for a thousand years before the Apollo legend was written. It was later occupied by the Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, Venetians, and Ottomans before finally being abandoned.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

House of Cleopatra (from whc.unesco.org)

The Terrace of the Lions (from whc.unesco.org)

Heraklion, Greece

Place: Heraklion, Greece

Weather: Sun and a few passing clouds, 58/69F.

Route: From Athens 343 km SE on Pireas Iraklio ferry.

Population: 211,370

Places to visit: Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Castello del Molo, The Natural History Museum of Crete, Cathedral of St. Minas, Knossos Archaeological Site, Historical Museum of Crete, Agios Titos Church, Venetian Walls and Tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis, Kera Kardiotissa Monastery, Museum of Cretan Ethnology.
 

Images:

Venetian castle and harbor (from greekcitytimes.com)

Ruins of the ancient Minoan city of Knossos (from we-love-crete.com)

Athens, Greece

 Place: Athens, Greece

Weather: Mainly sunny, 54/70F.

Route: From Corinth 83 km east on A8 and E94.

Population: 664,064 (3.7 million in the metro area)

Places to visit: Acropolis (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Acropolis Museum, National Archaeological Museum, Panathenaic Stadium, Herod Atticus Odeon, Benaki Museum, Museum of Cycladic Art, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Theater of Dionysus, Byzantine and Christian Museum, War Museum, Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, National Garden, Kerameikos Cemetery, Museum of Ancient Agora, Jewish Museum of Greece, Museum Herakleidon, Monastery of Daphni.

Images:

The acropolis above the modern city (from whc.unesco.org)

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a theater still in use (from nationsonline.org)

Corinth, Greece

 Place: Corinth, Greece

Weather: Partly cloudy, 57/70F.

Route: From Mycenae 40 km NE on A7, E65.

Population: 38,132

Places to visit: Akrokorinthos, Archaeological Museum of Corinth, Temple of Apollo, The Environment Museum of Stymphalia, Apostolos Pavlos Church, Municipal Art Gallery of Corinth, Historical and Folklore Museum of Corinth.

Images:

Temple of Apollo (from planetware.com)

Aerial view of modern Corinth (from planetware.com)

Mycenae, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Mycenae, Greece

Weather: Partly cloudy early then periods of light rain, 55/71F.

Route: From Olympia 150 km east on EO111.

Significance: The Mycenaean civilization was the Bronze age (1600-1100 BC) civilization that was a precursor of the classical Greek civilization. These were the people who inspired Homer to write is Iliad and the Odyssey.  Their fortifications used stones so large that the later Greeks thought they had been built by cyclops.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

The Lion Gate - built in approximately 1250 BC. (from whc.unesco.org)

Tomb of Clytemnestra - also from 1250 BC (from whc.unesco.org)

Olympia, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Olympia, Greece

Weather: Occasional rain, 50/60F.

Route: From Bassae 79km NNW on EO Andritsenas Epikouriou Apollona.

Significance: Arguably the most important archaeological site in Greece, it has been a holy site to worship Zeus since 10th century BC. In 776 BC it became the site for the Olympic games, which occurred every four years, just like the modern games.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

Ruins of Philippeion, which celebrate the family of Philip, including his son Alexander the Great (from whc.unesco.org)

Aerial view of the site (from whc.unesco.org)

Temple of Apollo at Bassae, Greece - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Temple of Apollo at Bassae, Greece

Weather: Rain, heavy at times, 52/63.

Route: From Sparta 90 km NW on A71.

Significance: The temple, dedicated to the god of healing and the sun, is one of the most well preserved in Greece. The 5th century BC temple was the first Greek location placed on the World Heritage Site list.  The site includes the earliest surviving Corinthian column. Some of the most impressive treasures from the site, including the Bassae frieze, are located at the British museum. The site was forgotten for 1700 years until it was rediscovered in the 18th century. It's rural location helped it to be so well preserved.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site 

Images:

The temple under a protective tent (from whc.unesco.org)

The Bassae frieze, which decorated the inside of the temple and is currently at the British Museum in London (from britishmuseum.org)