Pages

Sunday, August 16, 2020

The Palace of Nestor ~ Both Real and Imagined


The mixing of fact and fiction in Greek history can start messing with your head if you let it. In fact  this piece has been a challenge for this old journalist who wants 'just the facts', yet when it comes to writing about the Palace of Nestor it has to involve a bit of legend as well. . .

A pantry stocked with 2,853 wine cups and a storage room lined with large jars that held the olive oil. Now that was impressive! And tangible; something I could relate to, as we stepped back in time at the site of the Palace of Nestor.

A pantry with 2,853 wine cups - Nestor's Palace

In reality, everything about what remains at this place believed to be The Palace of Nestor, an archeological site a couple hours drive from our home in the Greek Peloponnese, is impressive. Especially when one considers that it was built back in the Bronze Age by those folks known as Mycenaeans. 

But I am the first to admit that some things in history -- especially history so ancient that it dates back to the writings of Homer -- are easier to grasp than others. 

Broken goblets in the pantry floor waiting to be dug up


For me, it was the wine goblets, or kylikes, and the olive oil storage jars, pithoi, as they linked both the ancient history of this area to the present day in a tangible way.  While I have a hard time grasping the concept of Nestor sending 90 ships from Pylos to fight in the Trojan War, I get the importance of wine and olive oil production in this area of the Greek Peloponnese.

The goblets and storage jars are in the palace believed to be that of the legendary Nestor, King of Pylos, who was written about by Homer. Now here's where the mental balancing act comes into play: Nestor was a legendary character, like those in folktales, the kind that include supernatural beings and elements of mythology. Legends are associated with a particular place or person and over the years are told so often they become a matter of history.

So the remains of the Palace of Nestor, whether real or imagined, was a place to behold. . .


Palace of Nestor - Greek Peloponnese

Nestor's Palace 

How it might have looked


Let's begin with the imagined:  the rendition above is how one archaeologist thinks it may have looked based on what is left of it, (shown below).  Prior to our visit I might have thought it was a stretch of her imagination, but having seen it, I too, can envision what a magnificent place this might have been.

We first happened upon Nestor's Palace back in 2014, several years before we became expats living just a couple hours drive from it. Back then, the site was still hidden behind construction fencing and not open to the public. A multi-million dollar project was underway which resulted in the construction of the roof over the palace's excavated footprint and a walkway high above it so tourists like us can get a bird's eye view of the place.

Discovering the remains of Nestor's Palace

We'd filed the memory of it away until a couple of years ago a friend in the United States sent us a Smithsonian Magazine that had a feature article about the place. The article certainly made it sound interesting, but still we didn't go visit. It had been there for centuries; so no need to rush, we'd get there one day.

Nestor had himself view property for sure!

Well that pandemic lockdown last spring changed our somewhat lackadaisical approach to life in general and especially to visiting those bucket-list places. This summer, during our stay at Costa Navarino - that Westin resort to our west - we finally visited Nestor's Palace. It was 15 minutes from the resort! How could we have not visited this jewel sooner?

A Trip to the Palace


Signage explained what we were seeing in the palace as it is and might have been


Our visit on a weekday morning was a self-guided tour. We had the place to ourselves as tourism was just getting going again after the lockdown. We strolled on the elevated walkway reading signage in Greek and English. 

Olive oil was stored in these containers Add caption

Olive oil production and commerce was big back in Nestor's day, just as it remains today in Greece.  It was used in cooking as well as funerary and religious rituals, baths and the processing of cloth.  The storage room was large and so much of it left to excavate. . .but we lucked out and caught an archaeologist at work!

Olive oil storage room being excavated


And the bathtub! According to Homer, Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, King of Ithaca (more legendary characters), was a guest of Nestor and in a welcoming ceremony organized by Nestor, the young man was bathed in this tub by Polykaste, Nestor's daughter.   

Now they all were legendary characters, but there was the tub right before our eyes. . .it starts to blur that real and imagined, doesn't it? 

The tub were Telemachus bathed?


Palace Goods on Display 

The palace was destroyed by fire around 1200 BC. It wasn't until the 1930's that excavations began at the site which are continuing today.  Dozens of items discovered during the excavation are on display in a small museum in the nearby village of Chora.

The Scout admires the tax collection jar
 

One of our favorite items at the museum  -- was again something tangible that we could relate to - the tax collection vessel.  Back then taxes were paid in olive oil. When you paid your taxes, the oil was poured into this jar, that stands about six feet tall! Now that would have been lot of olive oil!

Linear B Script - oldest on European soil


However one of  the most important tangible finds from a historical point of view were 800 clay tablets that were accidentally preserved by baking in the fire that destroyed the palace.  The tablets contain writing that is called Linear B Script, it is in an early form of Greek language and is considered to be the oldest script found on European soil that can be read and understood.  

Wine goblets from the Palace of Nestor


For me though, it was the wine goblets again. . .a display of something tangible; that hit home. It was reality of which I could wrap my head around. 

Thanks for joining us on a bit of time travel today into the real and imagined world of Greek history. Should you find yourself in the Greek Peloponnese, we recommend you pay a visit to the Palace of Nestor and the nearby museum. 

We hope this finds you and yours staying safe and well ~ join us next week for more tales from Greece!

Linking this week with:

18 comments:

  1. Very cool! We visited ruins of Akrotiri, Santorini, Greece, an ancient settlement that was buried in a volcano. Excavation began in 1967 and continues to this day. Only one gold item and no human remains were found, which means the people had time to leave before the volcanic eruption. There is a roof over the area of the ruins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Greece does have some great archaeological sites. . .so many we will likely never see them all. Akrotiri sounds fascinating.

      Delete
  2. I have to admit to being a little jealous of your visit to the land of castles. Being able to walk through such historic sites must have been amazing. Definitely added to our post-COVID list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Think you two would love both the site and the Museum. Fingers crossed that post-COVID travels come soon.

      Delete
  3. That was a great tour you gave me! Love the wine goblets, the tax vessel, and the oldest script. And so very near your Stone House!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is close and Ancient Messini is even closer and we haven't yet visited it either. Shame on us!!

      Delete
  4. I'd love to see these palatial ruins! They remind me a bit of the ruins we toured in Ephesus, Turkey, while on our Greek Isles cruise. Even though they have woven legend into the story, there were real people who lived there, which is fascinating to learn about! Thanks for the tour...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so right! Somebody built it and somebody lived there. . .what a world it must have been!

      Delete
  5. The Palace of Nestor looks like an amazing place to visit. Thx so much for putting it on my radar, Jackie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you get back to Greece, I think you'd love this place!

      Delete
  6. It is hard to get to grips with the age of those items and how well preserved they are, especially the wine goblets. Don't really understand the legend bit when the evidence is there of real people living in the palace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is difficult to wrap one's head around the time in which these things were being used and what the world was like back then. And then when the legends and real life start intertwining it can get real confusing! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. What a wonderful experience to be there and see all those artefacts. The photos bring reality to the Palace of Nestor so that I can imagine being there. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rosie for coming along on the tour with us! Hope you join in future travels as well!! Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  8. Fascinating! Love the look into the past.
    Thank you for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/08/big-batch-quick-dinner-rolls.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really enjoyed this tour with you.

    I am a big fan of castles!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for coming along on the tour of this one! Hope to see you back again soon ~ xxx

    ReplyDelete

We have been having problems in recent weeks with our comment section and I am not quite sure how to fix it. Thanks for letting us know. Some comments have been coming in as emails, so I will respond to those as I get them.