This is Spartaaaa!

Statue of Leonidas.

Ancient Sparta

Me walking around and looking at the remains.

Ruins at Sparta

My sister.

Do not follow her lead!

"This is Spartaaaaaa!"

Ancient Theatre

More ruins.

The road that led us to the ancient site.

Now that I have been back in Canada for a little over a week, I can return to blogging and reflect on some of the places and things that I have seen in Greece. One of the sites my sis and I visited was Sparta, 2.5 hrs bus ride from Athens.

Sparta - History

Located in the mountainous region of Lakonia in the Peloponnese, Sparta was a great city state, equal only to Athens. They were a warrior state for Spartan boys had rigorous military training from when they were young. Shortly after birth, the mother of the child bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived it was brought before the Gerousia by the child's father. The Gerousia then decided whether it was to be reared or not. If they considered it "puny and deformed", the baby was thrown into a chasm on Mt. Taygetos.

The Spartans rivalled Athens during the Peloponnesian Wars (war between the Greek city-states), but more importantly they were known for their courage during the Greco-Persian Wars. This was a series of wars between the Greeks and the invading Persians. During the Battle of Thermopylae they were led by King Leonidas, who held strong against the millions of Persian soldiers sent by Xerxes I. Leonidas had only his personal bodyguards (300 in number) and 7000 allied forces from other Greek city states. They held the pass of Thermopylae where they fought to the death. This enabled the other Greek city-states to gather their army for an eventual victory over the Persians.

(You can watch the Hollywood adaptation, the movie 300, which is pretty entertaining.)

Our Trip

My sister and I were quite excited to visit Sparta. When we were dropped off to the site of ancient Sparta, we saw the statue of Leonidas standing quietly in the middle of an empty small paved area. It was at the edge of town and there was no big "woo-ha" leading up the statue. To the unknowing passerby, it could have just been a statue of any person on the lonely stretch of the old town. It was not by any means glorious or guarded; the giant locusts hopped around the statue and the hot sun beat down on its cracked surface.

We walked down the street and saw the signs for the ancient site. We walked up a marbled (or cobbled?) street which led to what looked like a dry field, abandoned and sparse. There were olive trees around and dry bush everywhere. Beneath the tall grass and dry shrubs, we saw peaks of what was left of Sparta's greatness. Stone walls. We walked a little bit further and saw the remains of the theatre. The site was almost completely empty. I felt a sense of sadness as I realized the once great Spartans would soon be forgotten if this site continued to be left unkept. It appears as though there is hardly any restoration or preservation work being done routinely on the site, as the government chooses to focus on the Athenian ruins instead. Here, there were no strict guards following you around, making sure you didn't touch the ancient stones. You were left free to roam and think quietly. I was quite sad to come here and see this. I really felt for the Spartans and I think they deserve more. I hope that things will change and the government will start focusing on other sites to maintain.

As I walked back towards the exit, I saw a fellow Spartan citizen walking her dog through the ruins. I imagine they do this daily walk as part of their routine. I thought to myself, how Leonidas would never in a million years thought his kingdom would become a place where only a dogowner and her dog would be their devoted visitors.

Here, are a few pics...my sister insisted we re-enact a scene in the movie 300 where Leonidas kicks the Persian messenger into a well and screams "This is Spartaaaa!!!!" She also jumped into the site of the ancient theatre (much to my disapproval).