In November 2025 we embarked on a 14 day voyage around the Adriatic Sea on board MS Nieuw Statendam, with visits to Greece, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. With the cruise bookended by a week in Athens beforehand and another week in Rome at the end, we spent a month immersed in ancient history and antiquities, paired with spectacular scenery and encounters with welcoming people. Come along with us as we journey back to the time of the Ancients.

Athens, Greece

The week we were in Athens was dictated by the departure date of our cruise and, by good luck rather than good planning, our timing was excellent. When our taxi driver met us at the airport he said, “Lucky you weren’t here last week. It rained all day every day.” The week we were in Athens the weather was perfect. And, for just a few weeks from the end of September to mid-November, the western side of the Parthenon was free of scaffolding for the first time in 20 years. It was the ideal time to visit.

After spending the morning at the museum, we knew that the Parthenon wasn’t the only ancient building we would see at this World Heritage site. As we followed the path from the Dionysus Theatre Entrance around the southern slope of the Acropolis we came across some other fascinating historic structures.

The Theatre of Dionysus, built with marble and limestone in the 4th century BC, replaced an earlier wooden theatre dating from the 6th century BC. The “new” theatre seated audiences of up to 25,000, who enjoyed classical dramas by Greek playwrights including Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes. 

After 160 BC people who came to the theatre could gather in the Stoa of Eumenes, a covered arcade designed to provide shelter from the weather. 

Built in AD 161 by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife Regilla, the open air Odeon of Herodes Atticus was a major cultural centre in ancient Athens. Then it hosted theatre, music and poetry performances; today it is still a busy performance venue. Artists as varied as Maria Callas, Elton John and Andrea Bocelli have entertained audiences of up to 5,000 in the Odeon. 

At the gateway to the top of the Acropolis we saw on our left the Pedestal of Agrippa. Built in 178 BC, the pedestal originally commemorated the victory of Eumenes II of Pergamon in a chariot race at the Panathenaic Games. In 27 BC, the statue of Eumenes and his chariot was replaced by a new statue honouring Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law of Emperor Augustus. While the statue is no longer in place, the nine metre high pedestal remains intact.

Opposite the pedestal is the elegantly simple Temple of Athena Nike, Greek goddess of Victory, dating from the early 5th century BC.

A group of visitors gathered on the steps of the Propylaea, the grand entrance to the Acropolis, just as they would have 2,500 years ago. The Propylaea, designed by the architect Mnesicles and built between 437 and 432 BC, was both the ceremonial entrance to the sacred grounds of the Greek gods and a control point to ensure the security of the site. Unlike ancient Athenians, we’d already been through a security checkpoint at the start so we were free to walk up the stairs and through the imposing gates at our leisure.

The Erechtheion dates from around 406 BC and commemorates the Greek myth in which Athena and her uncle, Poseidon, competed to be the patron of Athens. Athena won and the city was named after her. The Erechtheion consists of two temples, one dedicated to Athena and a second dedicated to Poseidon, with the Porch of the Maidens supported by the replica Karyatids on the southern side.

From the Belvedere Viewpoint we had expansive views of Athens. A small plaque on the medieval tower commemorates the moment when, in 1941, two young students climbed the Acropolis and pulled down a Nazi flag put there by the occupying German army. This remarkable act of bravery inspired the Greek resistance movement.

And finally the most well-known building on the Acropolis, the Parthenon – completed in 438 BC, the building served many purposes. It was a temple dedicated to Athena, the city’s treasury and one of several locations for  the Panathenaic Festivals, which were held every four years. In later centuries the Parthenon was used as a Christian church, a mosque and an Ottoman munitions store. In 1687, during the sixth Ottoman-Venetian war much of the building was damaged when a Venetian bomb landed right on it. 

Conservation of the Parthenon has been ongoing since 1830. A major project of cleaning, repairing and managing the structure began in 1975 and will be completed in mid 2026. We spent a long time walking around the perimeter of the building, simply absorbing its grandeur and architectural significance.

With the scaffolding temporarily removed from the western façade, we  felt privileged to have some understanding of how the building must have appeared to the ancient Athenians who came here to worship and to celebrate. 

The current inhabitants of the Acropolis, some wild Greek tortoises and several of the famous cats of Athens, were out enjoying the sunshine on this beautiful afternoon, but they weren’t as thrilled by the lack of scaffolding as we were!

Joining Jo for Monday Walks and Jude with some ancient benches