There are historic towns, and then there are places where the past seems to have settled quietly into the landscape. Maldon, in the heart of Victoria’s central goldfields, is one of those places. Its broad streets pass beneath old verandahs and between nineteenth-century shopfronts, stone buildings, churches, and weatherboard cottages. Corrugated roofs catch the sun,…
Birthplace of the Olympic Games and one of the most revered sanctuaries of the ancient Greek world Set within a peaceful green valley in the western Peloponnese, Ancient Olympia is one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Greece. The sanctuary lies beneath wooded Mount Kronios, near the meeting point of the Alpheios and Kladeos…
On the southern coast of Sicily, where a long ridge rises above fertile countryside and looks towards the Mediterranean, stands one of the great surviving landscapes of the ancient Greek world. Below the modern city of Agrigento, which sits on the hills beyond, lies the vast archaeological area of ancient Akragas, now more famously known…
Bulla Regia is one of the most remarkable archaeological sites in Tunisia, an ancient city whose greatest treasures are found not only among ruined temples, baths and streets, but beneath them. Situated in the fertile Medjerda Valley of northwestern Tunisia, around 10 kilometres from the modern city of Jendouba, Bulla Regia occupied an important position…
Built across a succession of terraces on a steep mountainside, Arykanda occupies one of the most splendid settings of any ancient city in Lycia. The ruins rise above a deep valley in the mountains of present-day Antalya Province in southern Turkey, around 25 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean coast. Forested slopes surround the site, while…
Ancient Messene lies in a broad and fertile valley beneath the imposing slopes of Mount Ithome in the southwestern Peloponnese. Above the archaeological site, the stone houses of the traditional village of Mavrommati cling to the hillside, while below, olive groves and cultivated fields spread across the Messenian landscape. It is a beautiful setting for…
Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli, Italy, exemplifies the ambitious architectural vision of Emperor Hadrian, incorporating diverse Mediterranean influences. The expansive estate features elaborate gardens, pools, and buildings reflecting Hadrian’s extensive travels and cultural appreciation, highlighting the intersection of beauty and practicality in ancient imperial life.
Around 30 kilometres east of Rome, the historic hill town of Tivoli rises above the countryside of Lazio, surrounded by wooded slopes, olive groves and the deep valley carved by the River Aniene. Known to the Romans as Tibur, the town had been celebrated for its landscape and waters long before the Renaissance. Roman emperors,…
Few ancient cities could have had a more extraordinary setting than Palmyra. Surrounded by the vast Syrian desert, its columns, temples, and tombs once rose from an oasis of palms and gardens, appearing almost like a vision against the emptiness of the landscape. Even before entering the ruins, there was something improbable about the place….
Temples, myths, philosophers, and the mystery of silphium in the green highlands of ancient Libya Cyrene occupies one of the most unexpected settings of the ancient Mediterranean. Rather than standing beside the sea, it lies high in the fertile uplands of the Jebel Akhdar, Libya’s Green Mountain, approximately 13 kilometres inland and around 600 metres…