Katakolo is the Port of Olympia, where the cruise ships dock, vomiting hordes of tourists. The village as you can imagine is a collection of tourist shops, tourist taverns, tourist cafes … In short, not really exciting! But can it be a strategic stopover and more it houses two very specific museums, which may even make you change your mind about the origins of modern technology!
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This small village sees thousands of tourists go, the majority of which will stop for a few hours to visit the archaeological site of Olympia and then go back on board. Museums, shops, trains, mini funfair everything works and depends on the arrival and departure of cruise ships.
The train is an alternative way to get to Olympia. For 10 € per person, in 45 minutes will reach the archaeological site and then come back after about 3 hours. As mentioned above, the hours are flexible and depend on cruises.
In the free parking lot between the station and the port you can stay comfortably for the night …
But for only 5 € / 24h, you can park in the marina, guarded, with electricity, wi-fi, loading, unloading tanks (in the bathrooms), hot water showers and washing machine! Great idea, I wish all the marinas started doing this.[N 37.649535, E 21.318309]
For more information and booking call Leo Flamburis 6945895900.
Now we get to the museums. There are two of them, close to the little park at the port. The first one is devoted to ancient musical instruments and the second to the technological discoveries of ancient Greece. Admission is by donation, suggested 2 € each. The hours are a bit complex, for more information better see their site. For sure they are open when the ships come in!
The museum of musical instruments can be interesting for music lovers, but the real gem is the museum of technology. With working models based on drawings and descriptions of ancient sources, it ‘proves’ how ahead was technology in ancient Greece. Practically they had already invented everything from robot to the laptop! 🙂
Putting aside the enthusiasm, a bit ‘naive, of the founder of the museum, you can actually see some ingenious ideas and the staff can make practical demonstrations to better show how they operated.
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