Ancient Epirus

We explore Corfu’s old town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where we find a tangle of narrow streets occupied by an eclectic mix of boutiques, tavernas, Italianate churches and neo classical architecture. We visit the Venetian Fortress to discover the island’s more modern history and its role as a buttress against the might of the Ottoman empire. After lunch, we will visit the ancient origins of Corfu at Paleopolis and the Archaeological Museum. Here we see the finds from this great Corinthian colony, originally founded by Phoenicians and later absorbed into the Hellenic sphere. In the museum, we see the important archaic Gorgon pediment of the Temple of Artemis, as well as the cenotaph of Menecrates.

This morning we take the ferry across the Ionian Sea to Saranda in Albania, and continue overland to Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage status since 1992 and Albania’s best known archaeological site. It is one of the most striking in the Mediterranean, with splendid ruins in a breath-taking setting on the shores of the Ionian Sea. Our guide lecturer Oliver Gilkes has directed excavations here for many years which have revealed some remarkable monuments of all periods. After lunch, we visit the museum, before continuing along the coast to our hotel in Saranda.

We leave Saranda this morning and visit Antigonea near the village of Saraqinishtë in the Drino valley. This lovely hillside site sits in peaceful countryside about 600m above sea level. Founded in the 3^rd century BCE by King Pyrrhus, it was named after his wife, Antigone, the stepdaughter of King Ptolemy of Egypt, a former general of Alexander the Great. In the afternoon we visit Hadrianopolis which like Antigonae, was also once an expansive city built on a grid plan, before continuing to our hotel in Gjirokastra.

Today we explore the amazing Ottoman city of Gjirokastra, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we shall have the chance to visit the Gjirokastra Museum, the medieval Fortress and the National Museum of Arms. This afternoon we enjoy a special visit to the late Ottoman mansion, Zekate House. Built in 1812, Zekate is widely considered to be one of the grandest examples of its kind, providing us with amazing an insight into the upper echelons of Ottoman life. We then leave Gjirokastra and cross the mountains to arrive in Ioannina.

This morning we get to know Ioannina, one of the loveliest towns of Greece. This was the medieval town and the heart of the realm of the Vezir, Ali of Tepelena whom Byron included in his poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. We take a walking tour of the Castro, and we visit the Archaeological Museum, where the finds from Dodona can be seen, including pilgrim’s questions and answers! In the afternoon we explore Dodona itself, the oldest oracle in Greece, to view the shrine and oracles of Zeus, where the god spoke to supplicants via the rustling of leaves in an oak tree. It was the location of huge festivals.

Today is dedicated to Nikopolis, ‘Victory City’, constructed by Augustus in celebration of the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE and a means to secure Roman military control over Western Greece. Nikopolis was not only a colony of veteran Roman soldiers but also a settlement populated by the inhabitants of surrounding towns (like Kassope) who were forcibly removed from their homes. Here, we visit the Actian sanctuary, with its altar, theatre and stadium, the museum and parts of the ancient city centre including its walls and basilicas. Returning to Ioannina in the afternoon, we stop at the Haigos Giorgios aqueduct which once carried water over 30 to the Nymphaeum complex at Nikopolis.

We drive southwards to Arta, on the Ambracian Gulf. The capital of Pyrrhus of Epirus it was also an important Byzantine centre, and we will visit the Archaeological Museum, the remarkable Church of Panagia Parigoritissia and the famous bridge. We return to Ioannina via the small Hellenistic fortified centre of Orraon, an Epirote-Molossian city, with very well-preserved houses. With massive fortification walls reinforced with towers in places and a cistern for collecting water, this city-fortress was located in a strategic position, guarding the passage from the Amvrakikos Gulf to the Ioannina basin, the territory of Molossoi.

This morning we explore the Hellenistic city of Kassope. Situated high in the hills it has spectacular views of the plain below, and is a model city, with agora, theatre, and a regular street grid. Kassope was abandoned along with other settlements to provide the population for the new city of Nicopolis.

In the afternoon, we visit the Nekromanteion of the Acheron on the Ionian coast. This is a controversial site, which might be part of the oracle of the dead known from classical sources.

We transfer to the airport for our flight back to London.