Treasures of Marathon

Herodius Atticus.  A wealthy benefactor to Athens and Marathon. He was born in Marathon. His bust is in Marathon museum.

We had an interesting day today. We knew there were sites and museums to see but were reluctant to

hire a car. So we hired Costas and his shiny yellow taxi.  He has lived in Marathon all his life and drove us around.

We saw the battlefield where 1000 Athenians held off 'the hords of Persian barbarians '     and the tomb where 192 Athenians were buried. (Above)

We went to the ancient Helladic tombs 4500 to 5000 years old. Only discovered in 1970s. A lot of artifacts were found and preserved in the Archeological Museum. The items are jars, pots, frying pans etc. Plus they have statues etc from the battle site.

The Archeological Museum also had other finds from the immediate area. It was a small but beautiful museum.




As part of our tour Costas pointed out his house which backs on to the starting point of the yearly Marathon. 50,000 people pay €50 to take part and run to Athens. He says all the money goes to the government not Marathon! We enjoy talking to taxi drivers
You always learn a lot...even if some of it is biased/inaccurate etc!

Start of Athens marathon. 

There is also the 'Run' museum which documents marathons around the world. It is quite new but I think they need advice on paper conservation! They have a great video but overall its probably more interesting to runners.



Costas gave us a running commentary in broken English. He told us about his family. He despairs of his daughter who has a degree and is 26. She has no interest in getting married! He was horrified when we told him how old you were when you got married Lucy! He said 8 more years living with his daughter!!!!


Finally we were dropped off at Marathon Beach about a mile up the coast from our resort. We had lunch overlooking this beautiful beach and bay with the mountains in the background.