Mount Olympus!

From Dion, we drove up the mountain as far as we could on pavement. Once we hit the dirt road we stopped and I made everyone get out to prove we had been there.

Beautiful view up the mountain.

There was a cute church down the mountain.

The kids on Olympus.

Proof I was there!  Just in case you didn't think I was.

Even though the trip was quick, we all had a really good time.  It was nice to see more of our part of the world.  Now if I can just make it to Athens for Spring Break...

The rest of the pictures

After following the path through the sanctuaries, we came to the city walls of Dion.  Right inside are the excavations of 2 homes.  A little farther up the road were the baths.  We didn't venture more into the city because it was cold, and also because it was very similar to Stobi (an ancient Roman city in Macedonia) that we had visited a couple months ago.  I don't think I've posted those pictures, though.  Sorry.  So the houses and the baths are all we saw in the city, then headed back to see some more sanctuaries (that were really just holes in the ground) and the amphitheater.

The city wall was built and patched with whatever was available!

House just inside the city walls.  The statues are replicas of what was found.

Another home, right next to the other.  They are separated by only a small alley.





The public baths.  The sand on the left is covering the mosaics on the floor.  They do this during the winter to preserve the tiles from the weather.

Another room in the public baths.  The pilings supported the floor, and circulated heat created in the fireplaces you can see in the walls.

The Hellenistic Amphitheater.  Alexander camped in the open space in the foreground.  This was also another attempt at getting a good shot of the mountain.

At this point, Aubree was really low, so I entrusted the camera to the boys so they could get shots of the amphitheater.  This is the place where Alexander the Great camped before his last campaign, offered sacrifices to the gods, and had his soldiers compete in games.  Chris and Nick don't tend to focus on the same things that I would have.  Enjoy.

Not a bad picture!





Yeah, right!

It would be nice if this were actually observed!

Part of Nick's face.

Such a pretty eye!

The path.

Can't forget the sky!

There was still more to see - the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, a smaller baths, and a Roman theater, but we were all hungry, and Aubree needed more than just a couple crackers.  We felt like we had seen the most important things, and nobody was disappointed that it was time to leave.

Taking it outside...

These are pictures from the grounds outside the museum. There are quite a few headless statues, lots of graves and headstones, and a bunch of other random items.

The pineapple is quite popular on headstones.  Not quite sure why.

Grave excavations (we think).

A storage area with a bunch of stuff.

This is from Zeus' sanctuary.

Really cool metal doors.

I tried all day to get a good shot of the mountain.  It was too hazy, though.

After we finished at the museum, we walked down the hill to the excavation park.  They have a pamphlet with a map and description of the park, and it was also really nice to have signs at each location to tell us what we were looking at.

Sanctuary of Demeter

Sanctuary of Demeter

Statue and head in the Sanctuary of Demeter

Sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos.  Do you recognize the statue and eagle from the museum?  These are replicas, but placed where they were found during excavation.  Cool, huh?

Sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos

On the bridge between the Sanctuaries of Zeus Hypsistos and Isis

Aubree and Chris!

Mike and Nick Bob!

Sanctuary of Isis

Sanctuary of Isis

Steps leading to the temple in the Sanctuary of Isis

Copy of the statue Aphrodite Hypolympidia in its recess at the Sanctuary of Isis

The Sanctuary of Isis was built atop sacred hot springs.

Can you imagine how this would have looked with all the columns?

 I bought a book about the archeological site and museum, so don't think I'm so awesome for remembering all the names and locations!  I still have more to add, so stay tuned!