With its dazzling mosaics, Daphni is literally a gold mine for lovers of Byzantine Architecture. For all others, the UNESCO site in a laurel grove on the outskirts of Athens, is certainly worth a visit. From the city center, it is a definite schlep. But we drove to it from Corinth along the main highway, which traces the ancient Sacred Way to the Parthenon. Easy access, lots of parking. There are few visitors most of the year, so when you return home, you can claim bragging rights to an overlooked treasure. Entrance is free.
Plan at least an hour for your visit. When we arrived, we were dismayed to find the gates locked and no one about. However, my wife then found a call button, which quickly got us buzzed in. At the bottom of the stairs a very friendly docent met us, gave a quick orientation to the site and invited us to explore at our pace. For us that meant the Catholicon, the word for the main church.
The beautiful pale stone with orange brickwork outlines, so typical of the style, deserves close reflection. But the gold mosaics of the interior are breathtaking and themselves justify the visit. However, for buffs like me, the place also echoes with historic romance as it changed hands from priests of Apollo to Byzantine monks, Frankish knights and Cistercians and a 19th century garrison of Greek revolutionaries. Essentially a fortified sanctuary, the crenelated battlements that once surrounded it are under reconstruction already providing much for the imagination. The front porch or “exonarthex” was added by the Franks in 1207 using columns from the original Temple of Apollo. Their value is proved in that some were part of Lord Elgin’s haul, now replaced with white reproductions. The pointed arches of Gothic Europe underline the effect.