Man, what a day it was! Woke up stupidly early, dragged my stupidly heavy backpack and hopped on a bus heading to Paleopolis. Saw that hill everyone points at – yeah, that's where Temple Artemis Corfu sits, looking kinda lonely. Place was already baking hot, felt like walking into an oven just climbing the stupid slope.
First thing hits ya? It's quiet. Crazy quiet except for damn cicadas screaming in the pine trees. Paid my ticket (felt like too much for some rocks, honestly) and walked towards the fence. Honestly, my first thought was, "Seriously? This is IT?" Hardly anything left standing! Mostly just flat areas marked out where walls used to be, some rubble piles labeled 'later occupation'. Kinda underwhelming at first glance.
Took me a minute to switch my brain on, though. Stopped near the main temple platform – it's huge! Just looking at the size of the foundation stones, how level they still are after... what, 2500 years? That’s when I started feeling it. Like, people stood right here carving stone blocks with bronze tools. Wild.
Then I spotted the star of the show, kinda hidden under this metal shelter thing: massive chunks of sculpted sandstone. This is the famous Gorgon Pediment! Okay, it's broken, lying on its side, but you can totally see the figure. Big, scary Medusa head with those snake hair curls? Crazy detailed for stone that old. She's crouched down, looking like she’s about to leap off the damn block! And beside her? These two lion-looking creatures flanking her. They felt ancient, really ancient. Way more primitive than, like, the Parthenon stuff. Standing there shading my eyes from the glare, it clicked – this was originally painted bright colours! Imagine that staring down at you.
- Massive Limestone Pedestal: Over near where the entrance must have been, this huuuge rectangular stone block sits half-buried. Probably held a huge statue. Wonder who looked down from there?
- Foundations Everywhere: Followed the paths marked 'altar' and 'second temple'. Seriously, just low stone walls showing the shape. Had to really squint and imagine the columns rising up.
- Column Bits: Scattered around, lying on their sides like forgotten toys. Giant round marble drums that once stacked into columns. Ran my hand over one; stone was cool but rough.
- Broken Pottery: Everywhere in the dirt piles! Big chunks with patterns, rims of amphoras. Didn't touch anything, obviously, but damn, you see pieces just lying there poking out of the ground.
Honestly, the vibe hit me hardest near the altar foundations. Early morning sun was getting serious, sweat dripping down my neck. Place was deserted then. Standing in the dust, listening to the wind in those pines, the sheer age of it sunk in. Pre-dates Socrates, pre-dates basically everything famous in Athens. Built by people who barely understood geometry! Walked the perimeter slowly, tracing the outline of the temple with my boots. Ended up sitting on a broken piece of marble in the shade for ages, just trying to picture the colours, the noise, the smell of sacrifices back then. So many ghosts!
Got nudged out eventually by a busload of noisy tourists shuffling around taking selfies. Classic. Grabbed my water bottle feeling dehydrated but kinda buzzed. More goats than people on the hillside walking back down to the bus stop. Yeah, it's a ruin, a big stone ghost, but feeling that history… that’s the secret, wasn't expecting that punch. Forget the fancy reconstructions in museums – sweating your way up that hill and seeing the raw, broken stones where it all actually happened? That sticks with ya.
