Words cannot describe a place that calms you down. The Sounion Temple is a battery charger.
It’s a place that makes you reminisce about the splendour of Ancient Greece!
Walk around the temple, find a spot on a rock, and renew your energy flows.
April-October, the tour departs daily from the heart of Athens at 15:00
November-March the departure is on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 14.30.
PRICE: 35.00 € per adult + applicable entrance fees.
ENTRANCE FEES – (must be added to the price).: E.U. juniors <25 and E.U. students, JANUARY – DECEMBER = free of charge.
Students from other countries and E.U. seniors over 65, JANUARY – DECEMBER, pay 4.00 €
Everybody else, NOV-MAR pays 4 €, while, from APR-OCT everybody pays 8 €.
The tour services include:
– transportation on modern air-conditioned buses
– Pick up/drop off from or near your hotel, and
– the services of a professional tour guide.
Description
Drive-by beautiful sandy beaches, and watch the beauty of the scenery, and the reflections of the sun on the waters!
The crowning feature of the tour is Cape SOUNION, dominated by the spectacular Temple of POSEIDON overlooking the Aegean Sea.
A temple on the sea! with views that magnetize! The vastness of the sea enchants.
Beautiful colours at sunset, and the temple of Poseidon at the top of the hill.
Upon arrival at Cape Sounion (1.30 hrs later) with your licensed guide, you enter the archaeological site for a detailed tour. Inhale views and history. Learn the Greek myth about the ship of King Menelaus who stopped briefly at Sounio on his way back from Troy and the myth of King Aegeas who drowned himself on that spot and since then the Aegean Sea got named after him; It’s the myth of the Cretan Minotaur, the Athenian hero Theseus, and his father Aegeas. Your tour guide will also talk about this area and about the source of wealth and power of ancient Athens, the silver mines of the nearby Lavrio. People built the temple to honour the god of the sea and safeguard the profits from the Lavrio silver mines.
Before building a temple, the ancient Greeks knew about the energetic properties of the land. You admire the beautiful temple, the location, and the setup. Take pictures of the Temple of Poseidon and capture magnificent photos with the sky dyed in deep yellow, orange, and red colors, creating a beautiful canvas!
Walk around the temple, find a spot on a rock, and renew all your body’s energy flows. Look closer at the engravings on the rocks to find famous names such as Lord Byron and many others. Those engravings were made back then when travelling was a privilege of very few and going places was a long journey so marking the spot was a must.
Leave from Sounion at +/- 17:30 and arrive in Athens at +/- 19:00
POPULAR TOURS: 1 day Argolis 59 € | 1 day Delphi 59 € | 2 days Delphi-Meteora 120 € | 4 day classical & Meteora | 1 day cruise
HOW TO BOOK A TOUR | BOOKING FORM | PAY ONLINE | CONTACT US
Private tour
Cape Sounion is a popular excursion from Athens for tourists.
A private trip including a refreshing swim at the beach by the foot of the temple of Poseidon or at one of the beaches of Legrena or Lavrio can be organized. Local tavernas serve fresh fish and seafood.
Depart from Sounion right after the sunset and arrive in Athens at +/- 21.30:
Transportation of 1-4 passengers = 160.00 €. 5-8 passengers the extra cost is 5.00 € per person.
In this private tour arrangement, the price covers transportation only. Entrance fees, dinner, snacks, and drinks are not included.
History
There is a reference to Sounion in Homer’s Odyssey. The poem mentions that as the Greek commanders sailed back from Troy, the helmsman of the ship of King Menelaus of Sparta died while rounding Sounion. Menelaus landed at Sounion to give his companion full funeral honours. Archaeological finds on the site date from as early as 700 BC. Herodotus mentions that in 6th c. BC, the Athenians celebrated a festival at Sounion, which involved Athens’ leaders sailing to the cape in a sacred boat.
Cape Sounion is well known for the Temple of Poseidon, one of the monuments of the Golden Age of Athens. Its remains are surrounded on three sides by the sea. The archaic temple was destroyed in 480 BC by Persian troops. The temple of Poseidon at Sounion was constructed in 444–440 BC by Pericles, who also rebuilt the Parthenon in Athens. It is located 60 m above the seawater. The design of the temple was rectangular, with a colonnade on all four sides. The total number of original columns was 36. Only 15 columns still stand today. The columns are Doric of 6.10 m high. They were made of locally quarried white marble.
On a lower hill about 300 m from the temple of Poseidon, there is the temple of Athena Sounias. It was built in 470 BC, replacing an older building of the 6th c. Its architecture was unusual as it had a colonnade on the southern and eastern, but not on the western or northern sides. A smaller Doric temple next to the temple of Athena is thought to have been dedicated either to the hero Phrontis or to Goddess Artemis. In 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War against the Spartans, the Athenians fortified the site of Cape Sounion with a wall and towers to prevent it from falling into Spartan hands. The Sounion fortress was soon later seized from the Athenians by a force of rebel slaves from the nearby silver mines of Lavrio. The fortress was maintained well during the Hellenistic period with repairs and additions to the fortress made during the Chremonidean War (266–261 BC).
The architect who built the temple of Poseidon decorated it with sculptures made of Parian marble depicting the labours of Theseus as well as battles of Centaurs and Giants. The remaining sculptures are in the Museum of Lavrio, while the impressive kouroi [male statues] that once stood in the temple yard are on display in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Testimonials
mwen92 Singapore
Great & Reliable Tour Agency in Greece
My email messages had been promptly handled in a professional and efficient manner.
The pickups from all points were prompt.
Kosta took care of our 4 days trip to Olympia, Delphi, Meteora, and Cape Sounion. His knowledge and giving us pre-tour instructions were extremely helpful in our understanding of the sites, the local culture, and the Greek way of life.
We would definitely recommend anyone planning a Greek holiday to do it through Astoria Travel in Athens.