Post by benziger on Aug 9, 2021 21:37:25 GMT
15 August 1867: A passenger steamer enters the old port of Piraeus. On board some seventy Americans on a grand voyage: an educational and pleasure trip from New York via the Azores to Europe and on to the holy sites of Palestine. The binoculars of the passengers on deck are pointed in joyful anticipation at the Parthenon, which crowns the Acropolis of Athens.
But to the passengers' immense disappointment, the commander of Piraeus denies them permission to land. They would have the choice of either staying on board the ship in strict quarantine for eleven days before going ashore, or continuing their journey. They agree to anchor for one night to take new supplies on board and then continue on to Constantinople.
Four of the passengers, however, agree to secretly climb up to the Acropolis, despite the strict quarantine laws and the threat of imprisonment if they violate them. Around eleven o'clock at night, when most are asleep, they row inconspicuously ashore in a small boat and - pursued by barking dogs - make their way across thistle-covered stone hills, freshly ploughed fields and vine-covered fields to the ancient castle town.
In the light of the moon emerging from the clouds, the brightly lit temples of Minerva and Hercules rise before them, and then the majestic columns of the Parthenon emerge. White statues, some without arms, others without legs, stare at the nocturnal visitors with their stone eyes and point the way to the citadel's breast defence with arms without hands. Below them on the plain lies Athens, awash with the "softest light ever reflected from the moon, like a living being wrapped in peaceful sleep".
One of the four daring men was Mark Twain. He reported on the adventurous trip to the Acropolis in the 18th of the 58 travel letters he wrote on behalf of the San Francisco newspaper "The Daily Alta California" about a five-month ship voyage by US Americans.
But to the passengers' immense disappointment, the commander of Piraeus denies them permission to land. They would have the choice of either staying on board the ship in strict quarantine for eleven days before going ashore, or continuing their journey. They agree to anchor for one night to take new supplies on board and then continue on to Constantinople.
Four of the passengers, however, agree to secretly climb up to the Acropolis, despite the strict quarantine laws and the threat of imprisonment if they violate them. Around eleven o'clock at night, when most are asleep, they row inconspicuously ashore in a small boat and - pursued by barking dogs - make their way across thistle-covered stone hills, freshly ploughed fields and vine-covered fields to the ancient castle town.
In the light of the moon emerging from the clouds, the brightly lit temples of Minerva and Hercules rise before them, and then the majestic columns of the Parthenon emerge. White statues, some without arms, others without legs, stare at the nocturnal visitors with their stone eyes and point the way to the citadel's breast defence with arms without hands. Below them on the plain lies Athens, awash with the "softest light ever reflected from the moon, like a living being wrapped in peaceful sleep".
One of the four daring men was Mark Twain. He reported on the adventurous trip to the Acropolis in the 18th of the 58 travel letters he wrote on behalf of the San Francisco newspaper "The Daily Alta California" about a five-month ship voyage by US Americans.
