In the spirit of the Easter and Passover holidays this week I bring you fantastic works of art I have stumbled upon in the course of my travels in Greece and Crete in the past week.   I must admit that my knowledge of the Byzantine Empire is sketchy at best, but remnants of that period dot the Greek countryside, and Thebes was in fact the 2nd major Center of power after Constantinople.  The Thebes Archeological Museum contained an impressive collection of Byzantine artifacts so we’ll start there.

This is a marble alter plaque from the 12th century.  I love the intricate design which reminds me of Celtic designs from Ireland.

Museum description reads: “Part of a plaque with the ascension of Alexander the Great. The scène depicts a popular subject in Byzantium, inspired by the romance of Alexander the Great.  According to this, Alexander, in his efforts to conquer the skies, ascended to heaven in a Chariot drawn by Griffins. 11-12 century”

Ancient Jewish tombstone from Thebes which reads:

Wild Land / And a World / Salvation / Do not look at me as a permanent dweller / in the land of Morea for / in a great City of / Sages and scriba’s / I came to soujourn in the land.

Now that is just about perfect!

Yours truly  with “Christ Pantocrater” 13th century, Thebes.

Yesterday I hiked two miles from Sougia, Crete to the remains of a 3rd century B.C. Hellenistic / Roman religious and trading center called Lissos.

Lissos is only accessible by foot or boat, which makes wandering around the  ancient antiquity pretty special.   The picture above is a bird’s eye view of Lissos with the Libyan Sea in the background.  I took this photo from the E4 trail which cuts straight through Lissos on the route to Paleochora.

The most impressive standing structure in Lissos is the remains of the Asclepeion, which was the Temple dedicated to healing, sacred to Asclepius, the Greek God of healing.

Amazingly, the original mosaic floor from the Roman era remains relatively intact and I was able to enter the Temple and take these photos, which includes a stunning black and red bird on a turquoise background, and multiple geometric Patterns.

In addition to the Greek and Roman ruins strewn around Lissos, there were also two 12th century Byzantine Chapels which contained amazing frescos and paintings inside the sanctuaries.    I will wrap up with these final photos.   Happy Easter  and Passover to all of you!