Greece 2023: This. Is. Sparta.

 When we first talked about going to Greece, my first immediate question was if we could go to Sparta.

I asked this knowing that the answer was likely no - the actual ruins of Sparta are pretty sparse and pale in comparison to what remains in Athens - even the Greeks of the Classic period commented that it would be hard to believe for future generations to believe that the location of Sparta had ever been as significant as it was because there was nothing like what one saw in Athens - for example, in the Archaic and Classical period there was never a wall around Sparta like virtually every other Greek city - as Thucydides said:

"Suppose, for example, that the city of Sparta were to become deserted and that only the temples and foundations of buildings remained.  I think that future generations would, as time passed, find it very difficult to believe that this place had really been as powerful as it was represented to be...Since, however, the city is not regularly planned and contains no temples or monument of great magnificence, but is simply a collection of villages, in the ancient Hellenic way, its appearance would not come up to expectation."

Beyond a dearth of things to see, there is the simple fact that it is three hours south of Athens in the Peloponnese, a city on the side of the road between other places.  One does not, I suspect, "go" to Sparta unless one has a real reason for doing so.

In a gift of great kindness, The Ravishing Mrs. TB paid for a tour and so Nighean Dhonn and myself got up early one morning for a day tour.

In going to Sparta, one has to pass the Isthmus of Corinth.  The isthmus is 6.3 miles/3.9 kilometers at its narrowest point.  Control of the Isthmus is what brought great wealth to the city of Corinth.  At one time, cargo and ships could be tran-shipped over the Isthmus by the Diolkos, a stone pathway 2hich may have used a wheeled cart.  The canal was finally dug and finished in 1893 - it is only 80 feet/24 m wide and around 21 feet/7 meters deep, and so really is only used for smaller boats at this point.

Driving by Corinth, one passes the Acrocorinth - the Corinthian equivalent of the Athenian Acropolis.  This has historically been a formidable fortress and used by Greeks, Byzantines, Franks, and Ottomans.

The Peloponnese is a peninsula of high mountains between valleys.  The road we were on is relatively new and allows one to cross the peninsula in 3 hours; before it would have taken 8-9 hours or more.

Unlike the Acropolis of Athens, Ancient Sparta is not teeming with tourists:  it almost reminds one of a regional park.  There is no fee for entrance and beyond ourselves, there were likely not half a dozen people there, including park personnel.  Like many sites, it is a hodgepodge of ruins from various periods.

Below are the ruins of "The Round Building".  There are no firm conclusions on what this was; the blocks are from the Roman Restoration in the early 1st Century A.D.

There are far more olive trees and grass than ruins there.

St. Nikon's Basilica, built in the 6th-7th century A.D.

The Sanctuary of Athena Chalkiokos.  This temple dates from Archaic Greek times (8th Century B.C.).  The Regent Pausanias, to avoid arrest by the Ephors, fled here in 479 B.C. for sanctuary.  He could not be killed as it was temple; instead, the Ephors blocked up the entrance, allowed Pausanias to starve, and just before he died dragged him from the sanctuary to prevent contamination of the sacred space.

Sparta had a theater since the 5th Century B.C.; this theater (which may or may not be at that location) dates from 30-20 B.C.  At its height, it could have had 14,000 spectators.

This building - called "The Two Niched Building" - dates from the 4th Century A.D.  Its uses are not fully known.

The Spartan Agora - Similar to the Athenian Agora, this building would have consisted of columns and a covered roof.  It dates from the 4th Century B.C.

The city of Sparti (the modern name of the location, re-founded as a city in 1834) includes a larger than life statue of Leonidas.

It also has a list of every winner of the Olympic Games since their founding in 776 B.C.  The most recent entry in 2004 is for a member of the Greek Men's Water Polo Team.

Sparta also has a small archaeological museum with materials - mostly stones and pottery - found at the excavation site.  Many of these pieces I had seen in books; it was fascinating to see them in person.

In the end, Thucydides' was correct:  The ruins of Sparta hardly demonstrate any sort of powerful city state at all, and belie the fact that it was one of the most powerful for almost 300 years.