Cape Sounion Travel

Cape Sounion
One of the most romantic spots in Greece can be found south of Athens at Cape Sounion. The ruins of an ancient temple built on a cliff-top offer spectacular views of the Aegean Sea and a picture perfect sunset. The temple (dating back to the 5th century BC) was dedicated to Poseidon, god of the sea. It can be reached in an hour from Athens, by following a scenic route along the Apollo Coast. There are excellent beaches along the road to Sounion, so don’t forget to pack your bathing suit.
Cape Sounion, about 43 miles (69km) east of Athens, is a popular seaside resort used by locals and visitors alike. On the cliffs above the town is the 5th-century BC Temple of Poseidon, where, according to legend, King Aegeus waited for his son, Theseus, to return from Crete after slaying the Minotaur. Sounion is easily accessible by bus from the city.
It is also known as Cape Colonna, Cape Kolones, Cape Sounion, and Sunium. At the southernmost tip of Attica, the site is a highly frequented stop on the bus tour circuit, and that is for a good reason. Sounion is listed as “the first-choice day trip� from Athens in Frommer’s Budget Travel Guide . The temple is still stunning and the view is superb. Though you can no longer walk inside the temple (surprisingly tourists could do so up until just a few years ago), you can still go anywhere else inside the sanctuary.
From Athens, it costs a little more to get to Sounion than to other places around Attica and you have to go to a certain bus station in north-central Athens (the KTEL buses leave from odos Mavromateon 14, at Areos Park every hour from 6am to 6pm) to catch the bus. I recommend getting there very early, but the site doesn’t open until 9am. You can wait and enjoy the view, getting a few good pictures before the tourist hordes arrive. Once you get in the site, the slight hassle was worth it. Pack something to eat and spend a couple hours just sitting out on the cliffs, looking back at the Saronic Gulf, into the Aegean, and up at the temple.
There is a large tourist pavilion with a restaurant and a couple of gift shops (rest rooms included), but the prices are expectedly high. I missed my bus back to Athens (they run fairly often though), and had to hang around a while, but I thoroughly enjoyed the wait. The water’s edge crashing up against the rocks is quite a sight ( picture ), but you can see the smog looming towards you from Athens on certain days. Check out the Metis Tour of Sounion with panoramic displays. You will need the Quicktime plug-in but believe me, if you have not seen these views yet, you will thank me when you do. And if you have seen them, it sure can bring back memories.
The sanctuary at Sounion is one of the most important sanctuaries in Attica.
Sporadic finds point to the conclusion that the site was inhabited in the prehistoric period but there is no evidence of religious practice in such an early date. “Sounion Hiron� (sanctuary of Sounion) is first mentioned in the Odyssey, as the place where Menelaos stopped during his return from Troy to bury his helmsman, Phrontes Onetorides.
The finds of the 7th century B.C. are numerous and proove the existence of organized cult on two points of the promontory: at the southern edge where the temenos of Poseidon was situated, and about 500 m. to the NE of it, where the sanctuary of Athena was established.
Important votive offerings were dedicated during the 6th century B.C., but the architectural form of both sanctuaries remained unpretentious until the beginning of the 5th century B.C., when the Athenians initiated the construction of an imposing poros temple in the temenos of Poseidon. The building was never completed, though, as both the temple and the offerings were destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C. In the following decades, Sounion, like the rest of Attica, flourished, and an important building project was undertaken at both sanctuaries. At the end of the 5th century and during the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians fortified Sounion cape. From the 1st century B.C. onwards, the sanctuaries gradually declined and Pausanias, who sailed along the coast of the promontory in the mid-2nd century A.D., wrongly considered the prominent temple on the top of the hill as the temple of Athena.
Visit ElixirSpa and choose from natural therapies based on Greek herbs and flowers. Relax in the hydrotonic AquaElixir® pool or enjoy the benefits of full body massage and aromatherapy. The Elixir gym is equipped with the latest electronic cardio-fitness apparatus.
Whether you choose a villa or a bungalow with view to the temple of Poseidon and the sea or a bungalow with garden view, you can be sure that your stay will be memorable. Live in absolute luxury choosing a villa or a “Sounio Villa� or a bungalow with a private pool. All 154 bungalows, suites and villas are designed in an amphitheatre on the hillside. 118 of them have breathtaking views over the Temple of Poseidon and the aquamarine Aegean Sea or over the Sounio National Park.
Sounion can be reached by bus from Athens, or by organized day tours. A bus trip can take up to two hours on the local services. Sunset is the most popular time to visit Sounion, though the tour buses are there almost non-stop.