BSA Course Day 17 - Palace of Nestor, Methoni & Pylos Castle

Weather: 30 degrees & sunny

Step count: 15,099

Our day started at the nearby Palace of Nestor of Homer's 'sandy Pylos', the best preserved Mycenean palace in mainland Greece and second only in importance to Mycenae itself. The remains are sheltered beneath a permanent tent-like structure, with walkways allowing visitors to view the surviving walls from above which gives a greater appreciation of the architecture of the palace than walking at ground level.

Photo credit: British School at Athens

We were immediately captivated by Laura's passionate description of the discovery of the site, especially as it was deserted in the early morning which perfectly set the scene for the story. At 8.30am on the 3rd of April 1949, a team led by Carl Blegen of the University of Cincinnati together with Greek archaeologist Konstantinos Kouroniotis dug the first trench at the site they had chosen. Incredibly, they reached the archive room which yielded over 200 Linear B tablets, and the finds of the following eight hours changed the history of Aegean archaeology forever. Ironically the fire associated with the destruction of the palace around 1200 BCE preserved these clay tablets, which were only ever intended for temporary use in the administration of the palace but were set forever by the heat, and were the first ever discovered. When deciphered and read in conjunction with several hundred others located as excavations progressed, they revealed previously unknown details about the palace's role as an operational, economical, political and religious centre and contributed a great deal towards understanding of Mycenean society.

The many rooms of the main building which can be seen include the megaron - a main throne room with a ceremonial circular hearth - as well as storage areas, with pithoi - large jars used for holding liquids such as olive oil - still in place. A drainage system is also still visible.

(1) Circular hearth (2) Pithoi (3) Drainage

I didn't take as many photographs as I'd have liked as two of our tutors have worked on the excavations at Pylos and I was immersed in their personal view of the site. And with a lot to cover in one day we had limited time to explore, but I will definitely be back as I would love to see the Minoan frescoes found at the palace which are displayed, along with the smaller finds, in the site museum.

View from the Palace of Nestor

We had time for a brief visit to Tholos IV, the earliest tomb excavated by the Cincinnati team, and stopped for a group photograph.

Photo credit: British School at Athens

Not far from the tholos is an olive grove, wholly unremarkable at first glance apart from a small area marked only with a small temporary fence. We were not permitted to take photographs, and in any event there is little to distinguish the area from its surroundings. But it was a true, and unexpected, privilege to be allowed a 'behind the rope' visit to the Griffin Warrior's grave, the richest burial site after the finds at Mycenae and still not fully understood, whilst Laura shared its story. It was discovered in 2015 by a team led by Davis and Stocker also from the University of Cincinnati, whilst excavating in a different area to that they had originally planned, and there are so many questions still to be answered about the occupant of the shaft grave - the means of burial is itself significant as it pre-dated the later tholos tombs used for elite Myceneans - and the array of objects that were buried with him.

Perhaps the most famous of these is the Pylos Combat Agate, a small sealstone which may represent the warrior himself as many of the objects depicted on it were found alongside him in the grave. It is remarkable for the minute detail on the tiny 3.6cm stone, created at a time when magnification tools were not known to exist. It is hoped that further studies may shed some light on the connection between the Myceneans of mainland Greece and the Minoans of Crete, as there are numerous examples of Minoan art and architecture at Mycenean palace sites which is not yet fully explained. I will never forget standing in the quiet of the olive trees contemplating the 3,500 year old burial, and imagining what secrets it has still to reveal.

Pylos combat agate

Follow the text links to find out more about the fascinating story of the Griffin Warrior discovery and the Pylos Combat Agate.

Next stop was the castle of Methoni, where we saw the lion of St Mark stamping Venetian authority on this medieval fortification. We spent time considering the architecture and what it could tell us about the purpose of the structures we could see, and there were several which would not have looked out of place as a movie set for Star Wars!

We enjoyed exploring the picturesque fortress and couldn't resist gathering for another group photo at the beautiful sea gate, although it was a little windy!

Methoni castle

The sun felt a lot hotter than the 30 degrees the weather forecast predicted so we were more than ready for the treat of an extended lunch break. Methoni has a lovely beach so many of the group ventured into the sea for a swim, whilst I enjoyed a cold drink and a few moments of blissful peace just taking in the view.

Methoni

Our final stop brought us back towards our temporary base, and we spent the afternoon at Niokastro, the 'new castle' of Pylos which was built between the 15th-16th centuries CE.

Pylos Castle

There are two small and very different museums housed within its walls, and with our museology hats on we were encouraged to think about how the objects were displayed in each, comparing the two and deciding what we liked about each and why. The Archaeological Museum of Pylos told the story of Pylos through finds unearthed from Neolithic times onwards, and the Museum of Underwater Archaeology which focused on finds from shipwrecks around the Peloponnese. I have a fascination with ships and the sea so the underwater museum won out for me, especially as it was themed to feel like the interior of a sunken wooden ship. But there were some really interesting objects to see in each. I was particularly drawn to a beautiful painted clay jar from the Koukounara tombs, dating back to the 1600-1400 BCE (photo 1), clay askoi, hot water flasks shaped to fit the area of the body on which they were placed to alleviate pain (photo 2), and amphorae dating back to the 5th century BCE.

The castle has a magnificent view of the bay which was the setting for two important sea battles, almost 2,500 years apart. The battle of Sphacteria took place in 425 BCE during the Peloponnesian War, with Athens forcing the Spartans stranded on the island of the same name to surrender. The battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827 . We had fun re-enacting the battles - acting skills varied between participants with some who had clearly missed their vocation! - which helped us to understand how they developed and brought them to life in a way that reading or a lecture alone can't convey.

Bay of Sphacteria from Pylos Castle

After a walk back to the hotel, a rest and some food, the sea called me again and I got to witness yet another amazing sunset. It will be so hard to leave this lovely place.