Temple of Demeter and Apollo

Demeter, Goddess of the harvest and sister of Zeus, is most known because Hades fell in love with and kidnapped her daughter (in the fall). At first , it was a mystery to Demeter who had kidnapped her daughter, Persephone, and spent all her time searching for her and neglecting her duties to the harvest. As a consequence, all the crops died until Zeus intervened (in the spring), forcing Hades to release her from the underworld.

Hades plays a clever trick getting Persephone to eat fruit in the underworld, meaning, she can never fully return and instead lives with Hades in the underworld fall through spring, and is released into our world for the spring through fall. Still to this day, every time Persephone leaves to the underworld in the fall, nothing grows anew until her return in the spring.

After taking a bus, it was a 4 kilometer hike to the temple, which was quite nice. The temple was built between 500-600BC, and much like the temple of Apollo, little remains. This temple was an inspiration for how the Parthenon would be built. We then walked to Plaka Beach. It’s nice walking through Greece farm and agricultural lands, which is a beautiful blend of past and present. Plaka Beach was shockingly empty, given what a beautiful stretch of beach it is. We finished the day watching sunset from the temple of Apollo.Read more