From the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Empire // Study Abroad

From the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Empire

By Allison H.

Aug. 25, 2023

Hello Mizzou! My name is Allison, and I am a senior majoring in Biochemistry. I have been studying Ancient Mediterranean Studies throughout my time at Mizzou, and I am going to be returning to complete this degree. Throughout May and June, I spent four weeks traveling around Greece as a student in AMS 4100: From the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Empire. During my time there, I visited numerous cities, toured several archeological sites and museums, and met many interesting people!

Alleyway with yellow wall and greenery — A street we passed in our walking tour of Chania, Crete

Greek buildings on a hill with sunset over the ocean in the background — The crowded village of Oia, Santorini at sunset

We started our journey by going to several different Greek Islands. Some of these islands included Crete, Mykonos, and Santorini. For this part of the program, we made a day trip to Delos, visited several archeological sites and did many walking tours of various cities and the islands that we stayed at. Some of my favorite activities on the islands included touring the city of Chania, spending a day on Delos, swimming in volcanic springs, touring the Palace of Knossos and stopping by the various beaches in our free time! After touring some of the most prominent archaeological locations in the Greek islands, we moved on to the mainland.

View from above of an ancient ampitheater with the cityscape behind — View of the Theater of Dionysus among modern Athens from the side of the Athenian Acropolis

Columnar structure of an ancient temple — Temple of Poseidon at Sounion

The next two weeks of the program were dedicated to traveling around mainland Greece. My favorite locations were Meteora, Thessaloniki, Delphi, and Athens! It was during this leg of the journey that we did some of my favorite activities, such as touring the Royal Tombs of Aigai, traveling to Aegina, seeing Eleusis (home of a Mystery Cult) and Olympia (birthplace of the Olympics), and going to the Krinides Mud Baths! We finished our trip by spending our last few days in Athens, where we toured the Athenian Acropolis and Agora, and the National Archeological Museum. Our goodbye dinner was very emotional, as we said goodbye to our mainland tour guide Maria. On this trip, I made some great friends, and gained several once-in-a-lifetime experiences! As I move forward with my studies, I can’t wait to apply the educational and cultural knowledge that I have learned!

Gold wreath hanging over an old burial chest in a display — Golden wreath and larnax of Phillip the II of Macedon from the Tombs of Aigai

Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: From the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Empire