Katakolo is something of a place I have always longed to visit, even though I have never been there before… Here is the long bay that served as a landing place for participants and visitors to the Olympic Games for hundreds of years, from the 11th century BC to the 6th century AD!
Today’s Katakolo is a somewhat deserted settlement with an old harbour, next to which is a new, somewhat empty-looking modern harbour (where I moor, but where large cruise ships also occasionally dock), merging into the sandy bay, which is over 10 km long, where I can imagine hundreds of ships landing – pulled ashore and surrounded by tents, all serving as temporary housing, work and living space for athletes, artists, coaches and relatives, as well as guests. This is where wealthy citizens and slave labourers from all over the Hellenic world came together, exchanged ideas, laughed and probably also argued with each other. This gathering was made possible every four years because a temporary peace was declared before, during and after the Olympic Games, which was observed throughout the Mediterranean region! Unthinkable in this day and age… Athletes were also fighters, fighters were also athletes: when the games called, the athletes left the battlefields to compete against each other… only to shortly afterwards bash each other’s heads in as warriors.
The modern harbour is looked after by a harbour master who speaks no language other than Greek – but he has a girlfriend who is happy to step in and almost steals the show from her beloved (unfortunately, I can’t decipher their names because the writing is blurred). They give me tips on how to get to Olympia (by train), where to buy food and where to fill up with petrol. And of course, I make two pilgrimages to Olympia myself, where, as so often before and with ever-renewed enthusiasm, I “recharge my batteries” in the ruins, museums and secluded surroundings.