After a super mild winter we got all the cold the winter "owed" us at once. After 2 weeks in a row with very miserable weather for our brilliant Mediterranean standards now it's finally time to undust my bike and take it out for a spin.
Here it is sunbathing under this very old olive tree:
Begs the question what am I doing here right? See what's behind the bike:
Not clear? Let me help:
Now it looks more like a church or monastery right? that's because it actually is.
Unfortunately it's under lock and key though:
Hence from here all I can see is this:
Nice yard with some super old trees (especially that olive tree on the left). But still you might wonder what am I doing here in case you are following me for a while knowing that I am not known for my full on religious faith. The most (but not only) attractive part of this church is its history:
What we see today here was built on the central part of a paleochristian church (6th AD) that pre existed. It's a post Byzantium church that also used to be a monastery. What makes it even more special is (at least as it is said) that Lord Byron had an overnight here as he was making his way to Sounio back in 1820. Now who is Lord Byron?
George Gordon Byron was an English aristocrat, romantic poet, politician, and well known in Hellas for being philhellene contributing in the revolution against the Ottoman empire back in the day. He died in his beloved Hellas in 1824.
Two centuries later I am walking around this historic place where the soft grass allows me to move in a stealth and comfy way capturing those cute baby chamomile:
These are the cells of the monks from the outside:
And here's all I can picture from the church itself:
As you can see there's several very old olive trees in there that probably welcomed Lord Byron back in the day. What definitely wasn't there then is this (abandoned as it looks from here) factory in the background:
Urbex material for later? We'll see 😉
Time to say goodbye to the church:
Walking back on the grass again I capture this cute little guy who just woke up to these first warm rays of light on this rather cold morning:
It's the perfect opposite to these super old olive trees who have been generously offering their oil to several generations of humans so far:
I decide to walk this olive grove opposite side of the church as I am easily attracted by aligned olive trees:
The above are much younger than the previous ones but next to another pretty old one I find this also old (though maybe not as) old storeroom:
What a time machine this place is:
I know it's too small to hide something impressive but you all want me to look inside don't ya?
Next to it I find one of the oldest fig trees I've ever seen:
Bare as these trees are during winter, they are as green and full of leaves during summer with delicious fruits on them.
I hop on my bike to check out that factory I saw before. Its gate is open but kinda feels freshly open:
As I struggle to find a stone to place under the sidestand of my bike preventing it from falling over in the mud I see a coin. I try to pick it up cause it doesn't look Greek to me and ... it's actually a penny!
Beyond weird at a place that has zero tourism.
I step inside and the whole complex looks abandoned though that sign at the front part looks as a very recent add on:
After a couple of steps I hear sounds of activity. I have two more churches to visit plus an ancient site so I decide to skip this for the moment, leave it for another time I'll be (hopefully solo) around and hop on my bike.
See you in part 2!