Day: April 29, 2016

Argos – a Greek city-state

Argos is on the northern tip of the Gulf of Argulis.  The first settlement at Argos is estimated to be 3000 BCE.  Due its location on the gulf Argos profited by trade with its abundance of crops.  According to some, Argos was known for music and poetry. Argos was a powerful city-state on the Peloponnese peninsula, until Sparta defeated the city in 550 BCE and again in 494 BCE.

When we visited, there was not a lot of the site reconstructed.  The pictures below give a sense of the foundations of the buildings. After our visit I checked a number of websites. At the Britannica website, there were was picture of a large Roman theater at Argos.  A search with google earth revealed the ancient theater to be in the heart of the urban Argos area.  We were high above the modern city.  We missed the Roman theater, which from pictures on the web looked extremely impressive.  I copied an image off the web and put it at the end of post.

DSCN2046
Notice the evidence of commercial farming juxtaposed against the remnants of ancient Argos.

DSCN2047

DSCN2044
Sarah is walking on stones that served as the floor of a rather large building.

DSCN2050

argos
The Roman theater that we missed.  
DSCN2052
Even in ancient times, the land around Argos was fertile.  The dark green strip across the middle of the picture are orange trees.  Beyond the orange trees are olive trees.  In front the orange trees are grapevines that are just starting at this point in spring.  Unlike the terraced farming we saw along the Amalfi Coast, the farming around Argos was clearly commercial and large-scale. When driving back to Loutraki, we stopped by a small roadside stand and bought fresh oranges.  They were juicier that what you get in the US, even in Florida.