Son of a Sailor

Cape Sounion, steeped in history and famous visitors.

Coming off five straight days of bus travel between some of the most important historic sites in the ancient and modern world….it was nice to be able to stay in one place for a couple days. After arriving in Athens in the late afternoon and then experiencing a night of delicious Greek food and lively entertainment….we slept soundly and got up to head out to Cape Sounion….where the great temple of Poseidon dominates the headland and alerts all to his dominion of the seas.

**Cape Sounion is a headland dominated by the Temple of Poseidon.**

Cape Sounion is a promontory at the southernmost point of the Attica peninsula of Greece; known not only as a clearly defined piece of land but historic site as well. The actual promontory is home to the large Temple of Poseidon, original Greek defensive positions (a fortress) and a Temple of Athena. The point has served as a lookout and warning post for centuries as well as a destination for travelers throughout the ages.

On this particular morning, we loaded our bus early and drove south along the coast through the trendy Glyfada and Voula neighborhoods of the Athens Riviera…..south toward the exact end of the mainland of Greece and the end of the Attica Peninsula.

As our bus journey continued, we passed a curious monument that I was able to snap a picture of, but had to research a bit more later. See, as you go down the Attica Peninsula, you pass several islands offshore. This monument was immediately adjacent to one of the islands. The monument and memorial is also fairly new, having been constructed in 2014. The memorial is for the worst maritime disaster in the Mediterranean Sea by a single ship, which happened during WWII. The merchant ship SS Oria had been requisitioned by the Germans to carry Italian Prisoners to camps in Greece. The SS Oria was carrying 4,116 Italian Prisoners (on a 285 ft ship) on a trip from Rhodes to Piraeus…when it was caught in a storm just off the coast of the Attica Peninsula against one of these small islands. Of the total of 4,159 people on the SS Oria, only 30 people survived. A total of 4,129 men died crammed in the hold of the SS Aria as she was forced onto the rocks in the storm and broke apart. Here’s the memorial:

Arriving before the site opened, we were the first bus and group into the park, meaning we could check out the site without millions of our friends being there with us. Of note, one of the things I learned is that this site is known for its ancient (and more recent) graffiti…meaning some of the names inscribed on the ancient stones have meaning. The other thing that’s unique about this Temple is that a number of the pillars are original and have never fallen down or been rebuilt…they’re not sure why. There is also an ancient fortress here on the site, a defensive wall running down the hill to where an ancient harbor/dock used to be for several warships and the remains of ancient guard houses. On a hill across from the the fortress and the Temple of Poseidon is the remains of the Temple of Athena (which we didn’t get to go see) and the possible burial site of Phrontis, a warrior from the Trojan War, mentioned in Homers Odyssey.

**Looking up at the Temple of Poseidon from the Visitors Center/closed restaurant.**

**Looking south, the parking lot and visitors center below. This is the southernmost view from mainland Greece.**

**Looking north from the top of the promontory, with the Ancient Greek Fortress Walls Visible in the foreground. The Temple of Athena is on the small hill at the right of the picture.**

The Temple of Poseidon

So this is one of the few temples we saw with LOTS of graffiti signatures carved into the stones….all over the temple. You can see writing at the top of the temple stones where they were put after the writing was done….you can see the graffiti signatures on the pillars and all over the the place. And….now the temple is roped off, so you can’t just wander inside and carve whatever you want. But there are some famous signatures on the temple stone, check out the most famous below:

Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon were beautiful and peaceful. We were the only group there on that early morning…lucky for us. This was one of my favorite visits…up there with Delphi and the fortress at Mycenae. We traveled to Greece as a family and we continue to travel together as a family. Thanks for reading.