Our incredible experience begins at Yialasi Beach, located a short stroll from the center of Epidaurus. We will paddle westward to the famous Sunken City, also known as Argolida’s Lost Atlantis, with a great view of the imposing Volcano of Methana.
The city was built 1200 BC. You can see the remains of it and in some places even the ancient breakwater is still preserved. Walls, foundations of buildings, amphorae of huge dimensions and paved sections are sunken, meters below sea level, and only few meters away from shore. Being only two meters in depth, makes it a unique location for underwater site-seeing, snorkeling and underwater pictures.

Once we reach the seabed, we will give you masks to swim among the ancient ruins, take photos, observe the unique colorful fish and experience for yourselves the aura and unique healing energy of Epidaurus (Epidaurus: the place where the aura works).

When we’ll manage to convince you to move on, our next destination is the Little Theatre of Epidaurus. The Little Theatre of Epidaurus is placed in an area called Nisi, near the port of Palea Epidaurus. It used to be the theatre of the ancient city-state and apart from drama performances, it also hosted religious and political celebrations. This theatre was discovered in the early 1970s, under a field of olive trees and its restoration process continues till today.

Its construction started in the 4th century B.C. and was originally built to cover the needs of this small city-state, so its size was not big. It had 9 tiers and 18 rows of seats and could host about 2,000 spectators. Some seats have inscriptions which show that the theatre was dedicated to god Dionysus and was built in sections.

This theatre was totally reformed in the Roman times: the orchestra became semi-circular and the seats were reordered. However, it is believed that the small theatre of Epidaurus was in function for only seven centuries since its construction, because the historian Pausanias, who visited the area in the middle of the 2nd century BC, didn’t mention anything about it.

After several excavations and much restoration work performed over the last decades, the Epidaurus Little Theatre hosts today the annual Greek Festival, celebrated in summer with music, dance and theatre performances. There are seats for 800 spectators and work is done to restore more of them. The performances are mostly held in modern or ancient Greek.

At the end of our journey, we will continue through gastronomy, by visiting “Athina EcoFarm”. There, we will relax, rest and enjoy an amazing meal made of local organic products, all cultivated in the area according to the ancient way.

Having learned about ancient Greek heritage in cooking, cultivating and harvesting, we will return to our starting point, after an unforgettable journey among history, taste and culture.

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From our starting point at the port of Tolo (as Venetians used to call it Port-Aulon, Port of all), we will be heading eastward to the island of Aphrodite, also known as “Romvi”, “Daskalio” and “Koronisi”. Romvi is an uninhabited island in the Argolic gulf, opposite of Tolo beach. There are two versions regarding the origin of its name. According to the first one, the name “Romvi” is of Slavic origin, meaning island, while the second version contends that the name originates from the ancient Greek word “orovion”, a variety of a plant.
After 20 minutes of rowing, we will enter the Bay of Aphrodite and will be amazed by its beauty. The second island, hidden behind the island of Romvi, called “Daskalio” is located in the gulf of Aphrodite and from the top we can see the entire eastern foot of the Peloponnese. It is said that during the period of the Turkish rule, there was a “secret school” – “kryfo scholeio” on the island. In that “secret school”, priests tried to teach children, in secret their language and their history in order to maintain Greek heritage. Today Daskalio remains untouched by humans, despite the many visitors who undertake a pilgrimage to the chapel, or just go to the island for a swim. It is a protected place for the plants and birds that are there. From there, we will tour around the island and head north to the third small island, “Koronissi” and the chapel Agioi Apostoloi” (Holy Apostles), where weddings and baptisms are carried out for the romantic ones.

Living the last of the three small islands of the bay behind us, we will arrive at a beach with crystal blue-green waters in order to relax, swim and taste some of the homemade organic products we had brought along, just to make your experience more memorable.
From there we will head back to our starting point.

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We will start from Karathona beach, favorite of locals. A beach that has the ability to turn you off from the stress of everyday life and make you part of an image, almost exotic, in few minutes. It stretches behind the Rock of Palamidi for about three kilometers, with palm trees, eucalyptus and a small island which is a place where seagulls give birth to their young ones. Passing near it, we might have a chance of watching how they teach them to swim and catch fish on their own.

In the background we can see the majestic Palamidi, the fortification build by the Venetians called Akronafplia, even the fortress of Argos in the distance. Akronafplia is the imposing rocky peninsula that once was the Acropolis of Nafplio. The Turks used to call it “Its-Kale” that means “inside the fortress”.

We will continue paddling under the shadow of the great fortress, following the magnificent coastline through picturesque beaches only accessible by sea. We will arrive at “Bourtzi” and the fortifications that protected Nafplio from pirates.

“Castello dello Soglio” was the first name of the Venetian castle, which along with Palamidi, is considered one of the landmarks of Nafplio. Nevertheless, the name that finally prevailed is Bourtzi, which in Turkish means “Island – Fort”. It was built on the islet of St. Theodoroi in1473 by the Italian engineer Gabelo and that is why its first name is Italian, meaning “castle of the throne”. Moreover, if you have heard people refer to Nafplio as “the chain harbor” (Porto Cadena), this is because there was, indeed, a moveable chain which connected Akronafplia with Bourtzi and whose purpose was to protect the harbor and the city from sea invaders.

Leaving Bourtzi behind, we will arrive at a beautiful beach to rest and relax, have some lunch, swim a bit and return to where we started.

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