The Greek ‘Classical Period’ was not only a time of beauty, art and culture. It is through historic writings that we learn that Diogenes the Cynic, the ancient Greek philosopher, was probably the man who invented ‘the finger’ insult! The biographer of ancient Greek philosophers, Diogenes Laertios, wrote that the cynical philosopher made the gesture to […]

They call it the “Parthenon of the Peloponnese”. The columned temple of Apollo Epicurius is as beautiful as the Parthenon in Athens, as it rises within the sanctuary of Bassae in the mountains of Arcadia, near the border of the Messinia prefecture. The temple is located on a mountain top, at a height of 1,130 metres above […]

Greek archaeologists have unearthed a major part of the ancient theatre of Thouria on the outskirts of the city of Kalamata, in the Peloponnese, the Greek Culture Ministry has announced. The first remains of the theatre, which date back to the 4th century B.C., came to light during excavations in the summer of 2016. During […]

The ancient Greeks may have built their temples in locations previously struck by earthquakes in the belief that the land held spiritual powers, a British scientist has claimed. According to a study by Iain Stewart, professor of geoscience communication at the University of Plymouth, several sacred sites in the Aegean region are located on fault […]

A bronze arm and many other artefacts from the ancient shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, have been recovered by marine archaeologists. Divers found the encrusted right arm under half a metre of sediment on the boulder-strewn slope, where the ship and its cargo now rest. The huge vessel, perhaps 50m from bow to […]

Little-known Iklaina in the Peloponnese was a major centre of Mycenaean culture and finds indicate that it was the first city-state in ancient Greece. Iklaina marks the transition from a world without states to a world where the state is the dominant political institution. In the city-state located in today’s Messenia prefecture, archaeologists have discovered […]

A team of archaeologists in Bulgaria has resumed a search for fossils of an ape-like creature which may be the oldest-known direct ancestor of man and whose discovery has challenged the central hypothesis that humankind originated in Africa. The Graecopithecus freybergi, which lived 7.2 million years ago, is known only from a lower jawbone, unearthed […]

Whilst researching the wreckage of a First World War Sopwith Camel bi-plane discovered on the mountain above Prinos, information has come to light regarding the identity of a possible British spy on Thassos during the First World War! His name was William Riddle, locally known at the time as “Billy Riddle” and described in contemporary […]

Two divers from a team investigating the Roman-era shipwreck off the Aegean island of Antikythera have discovered ancient human remains, presumably of one of the crew. It was in the year 1900 that Greek sponge divers discovered the wreck, which became famous for one artefact that had been part of its ancient cargo, the Antikythera […]

At least 80 skeletons lie in a mass grave in an ancient Greek cemetery, their wrists clamped by iron shackles. They are the victims, say archaeologists, of a mass execution. But who they were, how they got there and why they appear to have been buried with a measure of respect – that all remains […]