Modern Practicalities
Along the old road from Corinth to Argos, at 31
km, a road branches to the right. The new national highway from Corinth
to Tripolis also passes nearby and the signs should divert you towards
Nemea. The modern town of Nemea (also known as Agios Georgios) lies
9 km down this road, but the archaeological site of Nemea is found after
only a couple of kilometers.
The small village near the site is officially known
as Archaia Nemea (and if you are taking a bus to Nemea and would like to
stop at the site, this is what you should tell the driver). It is
also referred to as Herakleion. It is home to about 450 residents
and it has a couple of stores, a gas station, and a few other commercial
businesses. Restaurant service is only occassional. The larger
town of Nemea (or Nea Nemea) is home to over 5,000 people and serves as
a supply center for the region. I cannot recommend restaurants or
hotels there since we began the day in Corinth and ended it in Nauplio.
The museum is kept up quite impressively and is
surrounded by a well watered lawn and shade trees. There is a guide
book that is highly recommended which gives a very good history of
the site, excavations, and everything else having to do with Nemea (I relied
upon it heavily for this summary and the black and white plans here were
scanned from it). It was written by the excavator, who has published
extensively on the site since 1975, and it was developed for both the educated
tourist and classical scholars. It is available in the states also
if you would like to read up on it before you go. See the linked
bibliography below.
At the time of our arrival at the site, the whole
of Greece was going through a remarkable heat wave. We heard some
long time residents and locals complaining that they had never seen the
temperature rise so high, but every so often Southern Greece goes through
this kind of thing. It was July 3 and we did not get to the site
until about 1 pm. This was extremely unfortunate since after the
short museum tour, we spent an hour and a half in the sun in what I found
out later was 117 F heat (that isn't heat factor either, it is degrees).
If you ever wanted to hear some whiney American college students, you should
have been there. The hard wind exaggerated the temperature, kicking
up grains of sand, and I imagine that the experience was probably the closest
thing to a blast furnace I will ever feel.
I would like to thank the excavator Steve Miller
for his presentation and tour of the museum and site, especially given
the conditions that he presented it in.
Continue on to Nemea, Part 3
(Part 3: Early visitors to the site and their impressions)
Bacchielli, L. 1982. “L’adyton del Tempio di Zeus
a Nemea,” RendLinc ser. 8, v. 37: 219-37.
Blegen, C.W. 1925. “The American Excavation at Nemea,
Season of 1924,” Art and Archaeology 19: 175-84.
--. 1925. Excavations in Greece: Report on the
campaign of 1924 carried on at Nemea. Cincinnati.
--. 1926. “The December Excavations at Nemea,”
Art and Archaeology 22: 127-34, 139.
--. 1927. “Excavations at Nemea, 1926,” AJA 31:
421-40.
--. 1975. “Neolithic Remains at Nemea,” Hesperia
44: 251-79.
Clemmensen, M. and R. Vallois. 1925. “Le Temple de Zeus
à Némée,” BCH 49: 1-20.
Cooper, F.A., Stella G. Miller, Stephen G. Miller, and
C. Smith. 1983. The Temple of Zeus at Nemea: Perspectives and Prospects.
Athens.
Harland, J.P. 1928. “The Excavations of Tsoungiza, the
Prehistoric Site of Nemea,” AJA 32: 63.
Hill,
B.H. 1966. The Temple of Zeus at Nemea. Princeton.
Mallwitz, A. 1961. “Walmdach und Tempel,” BonnJbb 161:
125-40.
--. 1981. “Kritisches zur Architektur Griechenlands
im 8. und 7. Jahrhundert,” AA: 599-642.
Miller, Stella. 1982. “A Miniature Athena Promachos,”
Hesperia, Suppl. 20: 93-99.
--. 1983. “Excavations at Nemea, 1982,” Hesperia
52: 70-95.
--. 1984. “Excavations at Nemea, 1983,” Hesperia
53: 171-92.
--. 1986. “Archaic Relief Wares from the Nemea
Area,” FILIA EPH II (Fetsch. Mylonas): 266-84. Athens.
--. 1988. “Excavations at the Panhellenic Site
of Nemea: Cults, Politics, and Games,” The
Archaeology of the Olympics: 141-151. Madison.
Miller, Stephen G. 1975. “Excavations at Nemea, 1973-1974,”
Hesperia 44: 143-72.
--. 1975. “The Pentathalon for Boys at Nemea,”
CSCA 8: 199-201.
--. 1976. “New Problems at Nemea,” Neue Forchungen
in griechischen Heiligtümern: 63-75. Tübingen.
--. 1976. “Excavations at Nemea, 1975,” Hesperia
45: 174-202.
--. 1977. “Excavations at Nemea, 1976,” Hesperia
46: 1-26.
--. 1978. “Excavations at Nemea, 1977,” Hesperia
47: 58-88.
--. 1979. “Excavations at Nemea, 1978,” Hesperia
48: 73-103.
--. 1980. “Excavations at Nemea, 1979,” Hesperia
49: 178-205.
--. 1980. “Tunnel Vision: The Nemean Games,” Archaeology
33: 54-56.
--. 1981. “Excavations at Nemea, 1980,” Hesperia
50: 45-67.
--. 1982. “Excavations at Nemea, 1981,” Hesperia
51: 19-40.
--. 1982. “Kleonai, the Nemean Games, and the
Lamian War,” Hesperia, Suppl. 20: 100-108.
--. 1984. Nemea: May 1984, A Preliminary Guide.
Athens.
--. 1986. “Poseidon at Nemea,” FILIA EPH I (Fetsch.
Mylonas): 261-71. Athens.
--. 1988. “Excavations at Nemea, 1984-1986,” Hesperia
57: 1-20.
--. 1988. “The Theorodokoi of the Nemean Games,”
Hesperia 57: 147-63.
--.
1990. Nemea: A Guide to the Site and Museum. Berkeley.
--. 1993. The Ancient Stadium of Nemea: A Self-Guided
Tour. Berkeley.
Miller,
Stephen G., D.E. Birge, and L.H. Kraynak. 1992. Excavations at Nemea
: Topographical and Architectural Studies : The Sacred Square, the Xenon,
and the Bath. Berkeley.
Müller, St.G. 1990. “The Bath of Nemea and its place
in the development of Hellenistic Building Types,” in Akten des XIII: 253-258.
Rhodes, R.F. 1982. “The Temple of Zeus at Nemea Reconstruction
Project: 1980-1981,” AJA 86: 282.
Romano, D.G. 1977. “The Early Stadium at Nemea,” Hesperia
46: 27-31.
Williams, C.K. 1965. “Nemea,” Arc. Delt. 20 Cron. 154-56.
Wright, J.C. 1982. “Excavations at Tsoungiza (Archaic
Nemea), 1981,” Hesperia 51: 375-97.
Links: