Our wild camping spot waswonderfully quiet over night and we woke up to views of the olive groves and hills.
There was only one member of staff at the small site and it must be a loney existance much of the time. We were greeted with a cheery 'kalimera' (good morning) and walked over the burried remains of the town of Peristerias to the ruins of three Mycenean tholos tombs. The first one was very clearly a tholos tomb with the entrance way and the bottom of the round tomb still standing to a height of 3 or 4 metres. The second tomb was in a poor state but the third tomb had been restored to its full glory and we were able to go into it. The acoustics were incredible - footsteps echoed around and even a quietest whisper sounded loud. The tomb was originally covered by a tumulus and the wall built around it is still visible. This tomb is said to be that of King Nestor but I don't think that there is any evidence of that.
To follow the theme of Nestor, we set off for his palace a short distance from the town of Pylos. This time there is proof that it was the palace of Nestor and it is a very important site being the most complete Mycenean palace in mainland Greece. Although the walls are only preserved to a low level, the layout of the palace is very clear and the finds have been able to explain the use of all the rooms, giving a much clearer idea of everyday (rich people's) life in Mycenean times. Over a thousand clay tablets were found here, preserved when they were baked by the fire that destroyed the palace in c1200 BC. They were written in ancient scripts called Linea A and Linea B and, at the time they were found, nobody could decipher them. Michael Ventris (a British man), with help from others, deciphered Linear B and proved that it was early Greek.
Like Bassae, the site is covered by a massive roof but, unlike Bassae, it does not spoil the effect. The site is viewed from a raised walkway and this means that it is much easier to understand the layout of the palace and the cover is doing a good job of protecting the ruins. We visited the site before the roof and walkways were built and they are definitely a big improvement.
We drove the short distance to Gialova and Navarino Beach Camping. This is right on the beach with a great view over the beautiful Navarino Bay. We have stayed at ACSI campsites, paying typically €20 per night but this campsite is not part of ACSI and costs €31 per night - more expensive but still cheap compared with many British campsites and the weather is better!
Photos: Our wild camping pitch at Peristerias; The restored Peristerias tholos tomb; The throne room of the Palace of Nestor with its huge central hearth and the base for the wooden throne against the far right wall; The olive oil storage room with its pithoi still in position.
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