The Classics Department travelled to Athens and the Peloponnese with 36 pupils to explore the sites of Ancient Greece during the first week of the October half term. The first two days were spent exploring Athens: this started with a visit to the new (and impressive) Parthenon Museum, where pupils learned about the Parthenon sculptures, before walking up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon itself, the Erectheum and the impressive entrance to the complex, the Propylaea. Pupils stopped on the way up to see the Theatre of Dionysus and the Odeion of Herodes Atticus on the hillside. The Agora (market place) and the well-preserved Temple of Hephaestus were visited also.

The second day involved a brief visit to the National Archaeological Museum, to view some of the most well-known Greek artefacts, and then on to ancient Corinth. On the third day, the famous site of Olympia, home of the Olympic Games, was visited, and the pupils ran races against each other on the same track as the ancient Olympic athletes! The fourth day included visits to Epidavros, an ancient site of healing, which also includes one of the best preserved Greek theatres in the world. The afternoon was spent visiting the site of citadel of Mycenae, which was at its heyday around 1350BC.

The trip was an excellent opportunity for pupils studying GCSE and Classical Civilisation to see ‘in the flesh’ the objects they are studying, as well as being a fascinating tour of one of the most important civilisations to have ever existed.