Cape Sounion, the southern tip of The Attica Peninsula in Greece, is the site of the stunning Temple of Poseidon built-in 440 BC on top of an earlier temple destroyed in a prior war.
Archeological finds at The Cape date from as early as 700 BC.
According to Greek Mythology, Poseidon God of the Sea, was second in importance only to Zeus, the supreme Deity. For an ocean reliant society like Ancient Greece, the God of the Sea, controller of storms and shipwrecks, was critically important to appease. This temple was the site of many ceremonies in Poseidon’s honor, often attended by entire city states, that sometimes included animal sacrifice.
The temple stands 200 feet above the sea, is rectangular in shape, and originally had 34 columns, supporting an exterior colonnade on all four sides.
A 20 foot tall statue of Poseidon stood inside the structure made of bronze and covered in gold leaf.
Lord Byron made at least two trips to The Temple, reportedly signed his name at the base, and mentioned it in his poem, The Isles of Greece:
“Place me on Sunium’s marbled steep,
Where nothing, save the waves and I,
May hear our mutual murmurs sweep;
There, swan-like, let me sing and die:”
Sounion is an upscale summer home location for Athenians, with some of the most expensive real estate in Greece, some villas reportedly worth 20 million or so euros. The town is lovely, with quiet beaches, quaint restaurants, and a variety of wonderful places to stay, that thankfully are not as expensive as the surrounding real estate.
We are home at The Holler now, and I am posting at home about places we visited on our last trip, so it is still:
Cheers to you from beautiful Cape Sounion & Poseidon’s Ancient Temple~
For more info see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounion
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Wow.
Those ancient Greeks were quite impressive weren’t they!
Yep!
Beautiful!!! I have always wanted to see this place. 😊
I hope you do. It is an easy commute from Athens.
A definite “WOW” location. Cheers to your find.
Greece has so many of these WOW places!
Reblogged this on SUSANNE LEIST.
I am blessed to have a friend like you Susanne. Thank you & cheers to you~ <3
Ever wonder how those ancient Greeks built those columns?
Yep. It looks like they built them in segments and stacked them on top of each other. I wonder if they carved them after stacking to align them so perfectly.
What a stunning location and I can feel the atmosphere from your photos. I love how this ‘newer’ temple from 440BC stands in the ruins of an even older one! Glorious pictures and as a sea-lover I have the greatest respect for Poseidon! 😀
Mind boggling isn’t it. 2700 hundred years!
Great photos, Cindy! So majestic! 💖
Cheers to you Amy & thank you too! <3
You can almost hear the ancient Greeks and Romans whispering when you walk through their ancient temples, Cindy. Or at least, I can. –Curt
Yep. I know just what you mean!
Looks like a wonderful place to visit and explore. Awesome pictures.
So happy you enjoyed & cheers to you my friend~ <3
I remember when I visited a few years ago, it was incredibly windy. The gusts were so strong, I thought, “What a perfect place to build a temple to the god of the sea”
How cool is that! There was no wind when I was there. Maybe Poseidon was sleeping when you were there, and thus not on top his people protecting tasks. The weather was calm when I was there, so he was clearly awake.
Haha felt more like he was punishing the tourists! I remember being able to almost “lean on” the wind because it was so strong.
Wow! Not a trace of that when we were there.
The architecture is classic. Beautiful collection assembled.
Very happy you enjoyed & cheers to you!
Bonjour ou mon bonsoir CINDY
Je ne suis pas présent tous les jours
Mais notre amitié est comme une fleur ou
comme une orchidée ou celle-ci fleurit parfois
Dans des endroits insoupçonnés
Cette fleur il faut savoir la cultiver et en prendre soin
Avec tendresse et patience
Je te souhaite une belle journée ou soirée bisous
de même pour tous les tiens
Bernard bisous
https://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/223684fleur.jpg
Bonjour Bernard! Merci beaucoup mon ami! Bisous~ <3
Girl I’m so jealous! I’m excited when I get to go to Target nowadays! 😉 These pics are absolutely gorgeous. What wonderful sites to see. Love love love!
Laughing…..I hear you! If it makes you feel any better, I waited a long time to be able to do this. Reading this comment did make me realize, I need to go check out Targette’! I am certain there must be things there I need, and just haven’t realized until I go! It’s great how that happens isn’t it! Especially for Target. 😉 😉
Wonderful ‘old world’ pictures, Cindy!
We do have a wonderful old world don’t we! Cheers to you my friend~ <3
Breathtakingly beautiful. Thanks for sharing a slice of Greece with us. <3
I feel like I am missing your posts. I was just over at your blog and can’t tell if I am following you. I will head over again and see if I can figure out what is going on. <3
I just saw your comment and replied. 🙂 WordPress is playing nasty again. 🙁 You do know I’m self hosted? That means there’s no ‘follow’ button but a sign up for emailed posts once a week. But you should still be able to see me in the reader. <3
I didn’t know you were self hosted. I will keep my eye open for you in the reader. I also didn’t know that self hosted bloggers weren’t given a follow button. Thank you for letting me know! <3
My pleasure to keep people informed Cindy, lol. <3
That’s a gorgeous view up there – first photo.
Literally a bird’s-eye view of the coast and sea!
Absolutely stunning! Greece is one of my favorite places. <3
It is pretty amazing isn’t it, and the impact stays with you long after you leave~ <3
Thank you Cindy for sharing such superb photos
Thank you much more for your very kind appreciation!
I like the idea of quiet beaches and quaint towns. Plus, I love travel that affords interesting lessons in ancient history. Mr B mostly enjoys relaxing on holidays, so Greece sounds very appealing. Thanks too for sharing that poem by Byron. Wouldn’t it have been posh to travel there in his day and stand there in your wrinkled linen travel attire whilst he rambled on. Seems he was a bit of a scoundrel too ;/ Most likely a better travel mate than husband 😀 What on Earth is that growing in your last photo? Is that at home? It’s spectacular! Cheers, Boomdee
Mr & Mrs B should go to Greece! The islands are idyllic , with quiet, small beaches, often with little covered restaurants right on the sand. And every island has ruins of temples, old cathedrals, and ancient towns to explore. You can travel from island to island by high speed ferry which is easy and gorgeous!
OMgosh, this is exciting! I think I’m going to Greece! LOL
Go! It is glorious, economical Greece! <3
I never fail to be totally amazed that structures this old can still have anything at all remaining. It’s fascinating and wonderful!
It is fascinating and wonderful and thought provoking too. All these ancient civilizations that rose and fell. There is a lesson here somewhere for us I think.
“Pride goeth before the fall” comes to mind! 😉
That applies to all of us doesn’t it!
Wow – there is so much history there that it actually gave me goosebumps looking at the pics!
Maybe it is time for you and hubby to go to Greece!
Excellent work and presentation,I wish my posts on Ancient Olympia & Sounion were as brilliant as yours,dear Cindy!Delighted you appreciated and enjoyed your visits to my country.Sending hugs & respect your way 🙂 <3
Thank you so much my dear friend for your lovely comments! Your posts are brilliant and I am in love with your amazing country! <3 <3
Can’t thank you enough,dear Cindy!Delighted to hear you love my country;it’s great honour for Greece to receive visitors like you 🙂 <3
<3 <3
History, mythology, geography, culture… and, a few wildflowers. – Oscar
Don’t forget the beach! Greece has it all!
What a wonderful place to visit. I probably wouldn’t want to leave!
Places like this you start to miss before you leave! <3
lovely pics, what an inspiration, Dhalia had forwarded…lovely pics…looks like all are award winners
Amazing blog. Loved it. So much to read and know.
Lovely to meet you & thank you very much!
Wow it brings me back precious memories 😍😍
How wonderful! Thank you for letting me know~
Loved this – and the pictures!
Okay, I’m amazed! You’re photos are incredible! Glad you get to see such beauty
I’m glad I got some a lovely comment from you & very nice to meet you!
Very nice to meet you as well 🙂
<3