You could not pick a more picturesque place for a temple, especially for the one built for Poseidon, the god of the sea.
Ancient Greek history and mythologies have always interested and inspired me. Therefore, when we started planning our Greece itinerary, temple of Poseidon was picked to the must-see list straight away. It is well preserved and it presents the time of Golden Age of Athens (444-440 BC), when the state was flourishing both culturally and economically.
Poseidon’s Temple is located in Cape Sounion, approximately 70km South from Athens, by the Mediterranean Sea
I read before that the best time to visit is evening and stay for the sunset. We were staying in a close by village and had a rental car, so it was easy for us to arrange this. Day tours from Athens are organised but I do not know of their schedules.
The temple itself stands on a hill, surrounded by the Mediterranean sea. You can imagine how fitting is the location for worship of Poseidon, as the sea is so present – you can see it, hear it, feel the sea breeze on your skin and even taste the salt in your mouth.
There is no way denying it, the sunset was beautiful. But in my opinion it is as much worth it to go there on any hour. You can’t really enjoy the sunset fully, because they close the place immediately when the sun disappears behind the horizon. So we could not stay to watch the skies turning black and stars appearing.
If I would plan this all over, I would go on daytime and spend an hour or two truly getting known to the whole sight, then enjoy something from the restaurant, but watch the sunset from the opposite cliffs where you can see the temple and watch the full show in peace .
• Sounion, Greece
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