Exploring the World in 'Blue Velvet of Sark': Ancient Sparta (Part 1)

Almost as soon as we had tied up in the marina at Kalamáta Nicky went off to try and find a hire-car company that was still open before Easter. Even the marina office was closed so we weren’t holding out much hope. However, in the marina bar she found a member of the bar staff who could help and, after a quick phone call, she’d arranged to have car delivered to us at 8am on Easter Saturday.

The hire-car lady turned up exactly on time and, when she heard where we planned to visit, recommended that we took the old road to Sparta.

This turned out to be excellent advice; the scenery was just fantastic. Overlooked by the highest snow-capped mountains, the road climbed steeply up over the high ground and wended its way through deep gorges.

We lost count of the number of hairpin bends that we negotiated and, as we crested the highest point, looking down on them stepped down the slope on the other side we both felt that we were on a James Bond film set [Ed: No photos because Reg was too busy steering].

The road clung to the side of the gorges and, in places, tunnels and overhangs had been cut out to make space for it to pass. Hiring the car was worth it just for driving this road!

Bronze statue of Leonidas

We reached Sparta after about an hour and a half of immensely enjoyable driving. It’s not so often that you can say that! Negotiating the streets of modern Sparta, it was clear that artichokes are in season. Piles of them were being sold from the street corners in the centre. We resolved to buy some during our wanderings.

A handy parking space opened up right by this rather grand statue of an ancient Spartan warrior and just a short walk from the old ruins. We abandoned the car there and set off to explore.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the fertile valley of the Eurotas River has been inhabited since the 4^th century BC. Its capital, ancient Sparta, was built on the west bank of the river on the same site as the modern city. Sadly, that means that may of the archaeological finds are still to be unearthed as and when redevelopment of the modern city allows. Where we were heading was up to the Acropolis.

The round building

The first ruin we came across was ‘the round building’. As the name suggests, archaeologists aren’t sure what this building was for. Built on a natural rise, the marble steps led up to a large platform. It’s believed that the building may have been the circular building of Epimendes containing statues of Zeus and Aphrodite (circa 600BC) but scholars have also suggested that it might have been a place for public musical performance, or the sanctuary of the Goddess Gaia, or where the colossal statue of the Demos of Sparta once stood. Pausanias the traveller wrote about Sparta when he visited the city in the 2^nd century AD. He recorded that the city had many temples, shrines, tombs, heroa, porticos, statues, altars and public buildings. Useful but, given that the remains of the majority of these are probably hidden under modern Sparta, one senses that confirming what the ancient ruins on the Acropolis are presents something of a headache for archaeologists.

The Roman Stoa

What is clear is that the Acropolis and Agora were the religious and administrative centre of the city from the 8^th century BC until the Roman period and its continuous use is documented until the Byzantine times.

Adjoining the Round Building is part of the Roman Stoa. This 2 story building was 188 metres long and 14.5 meters wide and both separated and connected the Acropolis and Agora with the housing area of the city extending to the south.

The inscribed wall of the eastern parados

One of the most important of the ruins, on the southern side of the Acropolis Hill, is the ancient theatre. Sadly, much of the stone was removed during the Byzantine period, but also as late as 1834 as building material for modern Sparta.

The theatre was large with a diameter of 171 metres and seating for 17,000 spectators. There was a theatre in the city from as early as the 5^th century BC but construction of this theatre probably started in 30-20 BC. It was developed over the years and used until the beginning of the 4^th century AD. Carved into the marble façade on the eastern parados is a record of Spartan officials and honoraria, presumable those who paid for the development of the theatre.