Treasures with Bettany Hughes

-I'm traveling the world, exploring secrets and wonders.

An adventure of discovery to try to understand the story of humanity.

This is a treasure that needs decoding.

Today, Greece -- birthplace of an astonishing culture that helped change the way the world thinks, pioneering medicine, political ideologies, global innovations.

Greece is often hailed as a bedrock of civilization.

It is that and so much more.

I want to take you to the heart of this extraordinary place.

With special and unique access to treasures and discoveries.

Oh, my gosh!

Revealing secrets and surprises... My goodness, if these walls could talk.

...that capture the exceptional, enduring spirit... That is brilliant.

That is brilliant.

...of this ancient land.

What genius, this is genius.

So, this was 2,500 years ago.

Each one revealing something vital about the world and us.

I'm taking you to my hand-picked wonders.

Athens -- a jewel in the crown of ancient Greek civilization.

Wherever you are in Athens, it's pretty much impossible to miss this -- the Acropolis.

For over 3,500 years, it's borne witness to the incredible Greek civilization -- a civilization that still impacts our lives today.

On the Acropolis rock alone, there was a theater, a concert hall, and, of course, the great Temple of the goddess Athena, the Parthenon.

The Parthenon's come to embody what some describe as the Golden age of Athens in the 5th century BCE.

But actually, that Greek spirit of innovation and ambition, and the sheer creativity and energy and audacity that built the treasures on the Acropolis was actually at play in different times and different places right across Greece.

To get to the heart of this game-changing story, I'm exploring intriguing, inspiring wonders of Greece which reveal our deep debt to the past.

[ Birds chirping ] First, I'm heading to one of the most iconic ancient sites on the planet.

Home to a driving competitive spirit that made the Greeks special and that shaped our world -- Olympia, birthplace of the original Olympic Games.

I just love coming to Olympia because, obviously, it's thrilling to be somewhere that's famous as the birthplace of the Olympic Games, but this site has so much more to reveal.

For over 3,000 years, Olympia has been a sacred place -- the chief sanctuary of Zeus, the most powerful of all the Greek gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, god of success, god of the sky.

In ancient times, visitors would've entered this sacred space with a real sense of awe and wonder.

Knowing that with every step, they were drawing closer to the home of the almighty god.

And to be honest, coming here, it does still feel very spiritual.

Recent digs are revealing how every detail was chosen to enhance the sublime experience.

Because this has all only just been excavated, you can still see fantastic details on the stone, like the fact that it's made of a composite stone that's absolutely thick with millions-of-year-old seashells.

We know that this stone was chosen because it celebrated the raw power of the Earth.

Isn't that beautiful?

So, this is the Altis, the sanctuary of the gods, the pulsing center of divine power here and a celebration of the power of the creations of humanity.

And at its heart was the magnificent Temple of Zeus.

And within the temple, a huge statue of the god himself, decorated in gold and ivory, over 12 meters tall and so spectacular, it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Originally a statement of pure power, only ghostly remains have been left.

The temple was destroyed by an earthquake, the statue by fire.

But now, painstaking research and modern technology is raising the Olympian Zeus from the ashes.

Oh, this is fantastic.

Oh, it's amazing!

It had very famous decorations above the entrance on the pediment.

World-class, and they were painted these bright colors And then...there it is.

That's the world-famous statue of Zeus.

Look at him!

So, covered in gold and ivory.

This is brilliant!

And people who came here from the ancient world said it was so beautifully done, it was so inspiring, they felt as though they were in the presence of Zeus himself.

Wow, what a moment to be standing in the temple and looking at him.

Every four years, for over 1,000 years, a pretty intense festival that glorified achievement was held here in honor of Zeus, including a gory climax -- the ritual sacrifice of 100 bulls.

Their throats were cut, and then they were burnt as an offering to the gods, and the remains of that offering and the remains of the ash of the sacred flame, the Olympic flame which always burnt here, would be piled up in this kind of weird, greasy, ashy, bone monument altar to death and sacrifice, just there.

And so, when people came here, that was one of the sites.

So visceral as an experience, coming here.

Really, you know, this was a place and an experience that really, really mattered, and if you'd come, you would never have forgotten your visit.

Critically, here, men could become uber heroes, companions of the gods, by triumphing in ancient world's greatest sporting contest, the Olympic Games.

Only free Greek citizens could take part.

Heralds traveled right across the great world from Sicily to Georgia to invite aspiring athletes to compete.

This was the biggest meeting of Greeks from across the ancient world.

And the buzz of anticipation must have been extraordinary.

Close on 100,000 spectators flocked to Olympia.

These games weren't just sport, this competition was itself a religious experience.

The atmosphere must have been electric.

So, this is the stadium where the races were held, and the competitors would all have lined up here on the starting line, stark naked, to prove to Zeus how hard they trained for his festival.

And, actually, the Ancient Greek word for naked is "gymnos", which gives us our word "gymnastics".

And the stadium takes its name from the stadion, or stade, which was the measure of distance from one end to the other.

The victor of the stadium was crowned with wild olive leaves from a tree said to be planted by the hero Hercules, outside the Temple of Zeus.

Victory was such an honor the year was named after the winner forever.

And it wasn't just running -- Over time, other contests were added -- Wrestling, discus, javelin, pentathlon, and something called pankration -- a ferocious mix of wrestling and boxing.

Throughout the games, the rivalry was mega intense.

We know this from these incredible curse tablets that have been found in stadiums right across Greece.

They're little, thin strips of lead.

For example, one competitor says to another, "I want you to be struck deaf, dumb, and blind.

I want you to be mindless, heartless, headless, hopeless."

It gives you a real sense of how high the passions ran here.

And that rivalry was, of course, all about winning.

For the Greeks, winning was everything.

There was no such thing as an honorable loser, and competition was stitched through all aspects of Greek life.

So, politicians competed, but poets, playwrights, and even potters competed, too.

The Olympic Games provided the opportunity for days on end of sublime, ferocious contest.

Contest, struggle, was there to honor the best and to make people aspire to be better.

Success was a goal enshrined in Greek culture via the Games for over 1,000 years... a legacy and, some would argue, an ethos we've inherited.

The modern Games were revived in Greece in 1896 after being closed down by Christian emperors 1,600 years before.

The Olympic torch is now ritually lit here at Olympia... and is transported around the world.

Olympia is one of our wonders because, from the stupendous statue of Zeus to the raw rivalry of the Games, it encapsulates a Greek spirit of competition.

That constant restless struggle to innovate and create and be the best led the Greeks to make astonishing advances in the human story.

My next treasure is in an experiment in utopia, a city-state where women and men gave everything for the common good.

Sparta, in the south east Peloponnese.

When you come to visit Sparta, it can be hard to imagine that this was once one of the most influential, game-changing civilizations in the story of the world -- but there's good reason for that.

The Spartans didn't really believe in material wealth or monumental buildings.

What they were all about was the human experience and military muscle.

Sparta's male citizens were all full-time fighters -- men who shared everything.

The selection for this life as a military elite began at birth.

When babies were born, they were bathed in wine by the elders of the city to toughen them up.

And if they were still considered weak or disabled in any way, then they were thrown off the ridge of that mountain.

For those deemed fit, super strict training lay ahead.

From the age of seven, all boys were taken out of the city and put into the agoge, which was basically a kind of extreme boot camp.

They were taught music and dancing, but most importantly, survival and military skills because the idea was to turn these young men into the ultimate fighting machines.

Sparta's values were physically beaten into these young boys -- their education was brutal and bloody.

When they became teenagers, things got really hardcore.

The most promising trainees were selected to become part of the Crypteia, a secret society, and these boys were set the ultimate test.

They had to sneak back into the city of Sparta by night and murder a slave in cold blood in his or her bed.

Spartan men were not to be messed with.

From the age of 20, these men were only allowed to be full-time soldiers.

Someone had to do everything else to run Spartan society.

All non-military work in Sparta was carried out by a slave population, the Helots.

Now, of course, it's an uncomfortable truth about Greek society that this was a slave economy.

But it was a bit different in Sparta.

The Helots weren't outsiders, they were local Greeks who'd been conquered and subordinated by the Spartans.

And it was these Helots that made the Spartan war machine possible.

But compared to other Greek city-states, like Athens, women here were almost liberated.

Spartan women pretty much had the run of the city.

They were taught to speak in public, they were allowed the same rations of men, which was really unusual in the ancient world.

They could drink wine, they could race in chariots.

And the women used to get together to commemorate Helen of Troy -- the powerful queen who was originally Helen of Sparta.

They would oil one another with olive oil and speak of ambrosial nights and limb-loosening desire.

Frankly, it all sounds pretty wonderful and pretty erotic.

Many of these "liberties" were there to ensure Spartan women were strong enough to birth robust baby boys -- spear fodder for the model army -- but they were freedoms nonetheless.

Of course, there was a very dark side to the Spartan system.

But what caught the imagination of contemporaries and many future generations was their absolute commitment to excellence and to courage.

Those qualities lay at the heart of the last stand of the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae, when 300 Spartan soldiers, hugely outnumbered by a Persian army, refused to retreat, knowing that by standing their ground, they faced certain death.

Today, people in Sparta, like local mayor Petros Doukas, remain deeply proud of their hardcore legacy.

What do you think is Sparta's gift to modern Greece?

-Sparta's gift is the concept of bravery, loving your country, being able to sacrifice for the laws and your country.

-So, in order to be a functioning state, you know, you had to do things for the state, but that also gave you privileges and meant that you could be part of a healthy society.

-And not only gave you privilege, but it was a self-policed system.

The peer pressure was there.

We have to do our duty -- Why?

Because that's the only way to retain our freedom.

-Sparta was an object of fascination to other Greeks.

And its extreme, "one for all and all for one" spirit has been replicated down history.

It's idiosyncratic glories inspired political movements, video games, films, and books.

Scores of sports teams take their name from the city, as do numerous towns, especially in North America.

-We got to connect your life -- -So this is a brilliantly random event because people were inspired by the idea of ancient Sparta, of this kind of utopia packed full of the ultra warrior heroes.

There are loads of other Sparta's.

So, Sparta in Greece is linking up with Spartas across the world.

[ Laughs ] -[ Man speaking in foreign language ] -So, he's -- he's getting all the crowds here in Sparta to shout out "This is Sparta", which is [Chuckles] a line from the "300" film that did really well.

[ Crowd shouting ] Sparta is one of my wonders, not because it was the ultimate military machine, but because it was a society based on an idea -- an idea that if we come together, anything is possible and that we should put our lives to the service of a cause greater than ourselves.

And love it or loathe it, it's a role model that continues to inspire after 2,500 years.

Now, I'm following in the footsteps of travellers from across the ancient world who urgently made this same journey as if their lives depended on it.

My destination -- Epidaurus... a wonder with a secret.

Somewhere that nourished body and soul.

And the story starts in one of the most spectacular buildings in the ancient world.

This vast auditorium is an architectural masterpiece.

55 tiers of marble benches can seat up to 15,000 people.

Ancient superstars, from the playwright Sophocles to the Emperor Hadrian, journeyed here to enjoy drama as a shared experience.

So what everybody does when they come here, and I have to say, I am no exception, is they stand in the centre because the acoustics of this place are totally amazing.

And this is -- this is how it was designed.

And you can hear from right at the top.

But I need somebody to listen to me, so I have roped in, kindly, Angelos.

Angelos.

[ Laughs ] -Hey.

-Is it okay if I stand there?

Can you -- Do you mind running up to the top?

-Sure.

Why not?

-And just -- But tell me, honestly, if you can hear me cos I'm not going to shout or anything.

-Okay, then.

-Is that alright?

-Yeah.

I'll start going, yes?

-Bye.

-Thank you.

So I'm standing down here, and I've just sent Angelos right up to the top to see if he can hear me.

I promise, I mean, you can hear me.

I'm not raising my voice at all.

He's up at the top now.

Hey, Angelos.

-[ Breathing heavily ] -Angelos, can you hear me?

-I can hear you.

-[ Gasps ] Okay, I'm going to give you a bit of a Greek tragedy.

So, the wounds of somebody who loves you and the wounds of somebody who hates you are just the same, because a lover's love is incurable, whether it's good or bad.

-Whoa, that was great.

-What was I --?

Was I --?

I'm testing you.

What was I talking about?

-About the wounds of love.

-I was.

That is brilliant.

That is brilliant.

They are -- I mean, what genius.

This is genius.

So this was 2,500 years ago.

And, of course, the ancient Greeks, they were sharing these brilliant, beautiful, bold words, these kind of big ideas about what it is to be human, so what was said here really mattered.

But the theatre wasn't actually the reason that the ancients came here from far and wide.

They came because this earthly paradise was sacred to Asclepius, god of medicine, protector of human health and happiness, believed to have been born right here.

This was one of the first ever health centres, famed across the Greek and Roman world.

People came here as pilgrims and as patients.

Obviously, they honoured the gods, and right at the heart of the sanctuary, there was a massive temple to Asclepius housing a giant statue of him made out of gold and ivory.

But they also came desperate to be cured.

This is where the gods' healing was actually thought to take place.

It's called the Abaton, which means a sacred enclosure, and during the day, the sick and the wounded would lie out here, and then at night, they'd enter a dark chamber to undergo the sacred right of incubation.

So, the patients fell asleep, waiting for Asclepius to come to them in their dreams, believing he'd magically cure them or reveal what treatment they needed.

There's a brilliant bit of evidence from here that tells a story of a blind man who came and was cured, but then he didn't cough up enough of an offering to the sanctuary, so he immediately lost his sight again.

And he came back, and he was healed for the second time, and the priests here loved this fact, and then made much of it and publicised it, cos, basically, it was very convenient for them to say, "Listen, miracles do happen here, but only at the right price."

There were, however, some treatments that were free of charge.

This is just too perfect that there are dogs here in the sanctuary, because we know there were loads of dogs in ancient times, because dogs were actually sacred to Asclepius.

And I know that is a bit counterintuitive.

You might kind of wonder why that is, but recent research shows that there is definitely antibacterial properties in dog's saliva, so they can heal with their lick.

So they were kind of, like, the servants of healing in the ancient world.

And they're still here today, although...

I'm not sure I'd let these ones lick my wounds.

But treatment here went beyond dogs and miracles.

Archaeology has revealed why this place was a cradle of medicine.

There is something here I absolutely have got to show you.

So, in this lovely little cabinet, there are all these medical instruments that were found on the site, which are basically just the kind of precursor of our surgical instruments today.

So there are tweezers and spatulas and knives, obviously, and then little hooks to deal with veins.

And it's really interesting, this, because increasingly, we find, as well as the priests, you're getting people that we really think of as doctors operating here.

The ancient Greeks were massive pioneers in medicine, and, actually, our word pharmacy is basically an ancient Greek word, it comes from "pharmakeia", which means useful little things, sometimes drugs.

I'm thinking of the operations that would be done here with instruments like this.

You might be relieved to hear that they did use pain relief in the form of opiates.

Healing approaches pioneered here spread to over 200 odd Asclepius sanctuaries across Asia and Europe.

This sanatorium employed all kinds of practises -- physical and psychological, as brand-new archaeology suggests.

Okay, so, I know this might look a bit like a building site, but, actually, this is an incredibly exciting and important discovery.

So, it's an excavation that's obviously still going on, and what has been found down there is in underground chamber.

Now, we don't know yet exactly what it would've been used for.

It might have been a music ritual or even a snake pit, or some kind of dungeon where people imagined that they were dead so that they could be healed and reborn again.

But whatever it is, it's a vital, new piece in the jigsaw puzzle story of this place.

And this is a story that really matters, that has a lot to teach us, because 2,000 years ago, the women and men here had a holistic approach to life and health and happiness we're only re-embracing now.

So, remember this beautiful theatre?

Well, by the fourth century BCE, there wasn't just a theatre here, there was a stadium, a running track, a gymnasium, and an odeon, which is the ancient Greek word for a music hall.

And at first, you might think all of this was just provided as entertainment for all those visitors and pilgrims, but actually, the truth runs far, far deeper.

This was here as therapy because the ancient Greeks believed that you could not have a healthy body unless you had a healthy mind.

And the philosopher Aristotle said that when people came together in a theatre like this to listen to drama, it was catharsis -- it was a purge and a balm for society's soul.

That idea of treating the person as a whole, rather than just focusing on an isolated problem, of using art to heal, might seem super modern, but the Greeks got there 2,500 years ago.

Epidaurus is a wonder for all kinds of reasons, but I really love it because it reminds us to respect history and that we shouldn't just learn about the people of the past -- we should learn from them.

My next wonder, in the heart of northern Greece, opens a page in the playbook of ambition.

Aigai, a capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedon, boasts the biggest palace of all classical antiquity and one of the most spectacular archaeological treasure troves ever discovered.

I've come here in search of gold and the true story of two of the most iconic and dynamic kings from the ancient world -- Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great.

These men were determined to take over the whole of Greece and beyond.

Philip's political and military ambition was matched by his cultural and philosophical vision.

And, as he was conquering Greece, he was also building a massive new headquarters for himself right here.

The centrepiece was this palace.

Two storeys high, spanning 12,500 square metres, with ceremonial rooms enclosing a splendid courtyard that could host 3,000 people.

The first of its kind, this cutting edge design was a model for the future.

Lead archaeologist Dr. Angeliki Kottaridi has given me exclusive access to the excavations.

So, how long have you been doing these excavations here?

-We started 2007 with the works.

That was a huge excavation and is still running, as you see.

-Yes.

-We have, even today, found -- -Today?

-...unbelievable -- Yes, that part here, this ionic capital here.

-Oh, my gosh.

How lucky am I to get to see this?

-Yes, you brought us luck.

So it's a capital.

So this is for the top of a column?

-Yes, this is off the top of the column.

It's a special capital, a very important one.

-Look at the decoration on it.

That's beautiful.

You see, isn't it brilliant?

Because can we imagine Philip being shown the plans for this and saying, "What do you think of our design?"

I'm sure -- I'm sure he would've had an opinion on these details.

-Of course, they had discuss everything.

He was a genius.

This is an amazing building because it has no predecessors.

-No.

-For the first time, the ancient Greeks have seen something [Gasps] so big.

You can put three Parthenon's here, actually.

It was the biggest building of classical Greece, and it dominates all the area of central Macedonia here.

-Yes.

And you really get that sense up here that you're not just king of the world, you're top of the world here.

The palace was designed to impress all comers as a potent centre of power.

Philip hosted hundreds at a time right here in lavish drinking parties, where ideas and plans were shared, a kind of cross between Camp David in the USA or state banquets in Buckingham Palace in the UK.

So this is incredible space.

-Quite high.

-So this is the real entrance here, yeah?

-Yes.

The door.

-Fantastic.

-Big one -- 6 metre high.

-Wow!

Wow!

So that would be quite a spectacular entrance.

And what a beautiful mosaic.

Look at that.

-A carpet for the eternity... made by stone.

-A carpet for eternity.

That -- What a lovely idea.

So what would this room have been used for?

-Banqueting room.

-Okay.

-You have the couches around.

-Yes.

-Ivory couches.

-Beautiful.

-Imagine, here we have Philip, Aristotle, Alexander, Athenians, people from other Greek cities as well.

All the guys which we know from history sitting around, drinking wine with water and discussing philosophy, politics, the new world which they want to create.

-I mean, that is just mind-blowingly brilliant.

And I can imagine thinking of those conversations that have happened, as you said, with the wine and the kind of candlelight.

It would give you the ambition to think, "I'm going to go and change the world."

And in Alexander's case, "I'm going to go and conquer the world."

-The history is so thick for 20 years, almost.

Now, everything happens here.

-Amazing.

-This is the absolute heart, not just of Macedonia, of Greece and of the world, actually.

-Yeah.

-All the developments happens here.

Here, yes.

It is the womb who give birth to everything.

-Incredible.

In October, 336 BCE, at the height of his power, Philip invited the leading VIPs of the day here, to Aigai, to celebrate the lavish wedding of his daughter, Alexander's sister, Cleopatra of Macedon.

As part of the show of festivities, the king hosted games in the theatre.

The spectators crowded in.

It all began with a procession of glory here at dawn.

Statues of the 12 Olympian gods were processed in, followed by a statue of the king himself, making a point that he, too, had divine power.

Philip had actually dismissed his personal bodyguard to prove that he was protected by the goodwill of the Greeks.

Philip walked in alone, dressed in a beautiful white cloak.

But suddenly, an assassin sprang forward, somebody who'd been loyal to him before, and stabbed him under the ribs.

In front of the horrified crowd, the king fell dead to the ground.

And now, there was a new king in charge -- Alexander the Great.

Alexander buried his father right here at Aigai in a vast burial mound, in a ceremony of unparalleled glory.

17 months later, he set off at the head of his army on a relentless 11-year campaign, conquering territories from Egypt to modern-day Afghanistan and India, exporting Greek culture to Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Across the centuries, 90% of the royal tombs at Aigai were looted.

But then -- a miraculous discovery.

Deep in this mound, undisturbed burials, including that of the great king -- Philip the II.

Hailed as the find of the century, the treasures in the tombs are breathtaking.

Philip the II's shield of ivory and gold... his gilded armour... his gold oak crown -- the heaviest and most impressive from Greek antiquity.

Nearby, an exquisite ivory of Dionysus dancing.

And perhaps most spine-tingling of all, a pure gold chest containing the bones of the king.

The miraculous discovery of the tombs and their treasures give us a unique window into the lives of two of the world's most powerful and influential men.

This is just the most remarkable place because history is being physically brought back to life.

And Aigai is one of my wonders, not just because it tells us about the power and ambition of Macedonian kings, but because it reveals a very human story, from Philip the II's grand designs here, to his brutal death, to Alexander's filial piety, reflected in all that beautiful gold.

This is somewhere where you can really feel the emotional currents of the past and where you get to meet personalities who went on to shape the story of the world.

My next destination holds the stories of heroes -- women and men prepared to die for what they believe in -- somewhere that's witnessed the grand sweep of Greece's history from ancient to modern -- Nafplion -- first capital of the modern Greek state.

A treasure where geography makes history.

This is a naturally protected harbor and it sits right on the crossroads of Asia and Europe.

So, that means that this place is always been a really important trading center, dating back probably 4,000 years or so, but the issue with jewels is that they attract thieves, and throughout its history, there've been hostile takeover bids from Byzantines and Franks and Venetians and Ottomans, who've all left their mark on this town because they wanted control of the sea.

But Nafplion's own maritime story starts long before foreign armies came.

According to legend, the town was founded by Nauplius, the son of the sea god, Poseidon.

Nauplius's own son, Palamedes, was a real player in Greek mythology.

He's said to have invented dice, lighthouses, and even several letters of the Greek alphabet, and he played a key part in the story of the Trojan War.

We're told that Palamedes was sent out across these waters to try to persuade the hero Odysseus to join the fight.

Now, Odysseus had no intention whatsoever of being conscripted, so he pretended he was mad.

He yoked up two oxen to a plough and went out into the fields, singing wildly.

Palamedes just knew he was faking it, and actually, very cleverly, he grabbed Odysseus's young baby boy, Telemachus, and laid him down in front of the oxen's hooves, knowing he would stop.

Odysseus did, proving he was sane, and he never forgave Palamedes for this.

So, during the Trojan War, he actually had him framed for theft and treachery, and then stoned him to death.

It's a really gruesome tale, and that, obviously, is just a legend, but there's an incredible discovery just a few miles from here that links those stories of the Trojan War to real historical heroic warriors.

This find is now housed in the Archaeological Museum in Nafplion.

I first came here years ago when I was researching a book on Helen of Troy, and I remember being very excited then, so it is fantastic to be back.

The treasure I've come to see is a unique survival from the Bronze Age, 3,500 years ago, the time when the story of the Trojan War is set.

Oh, my goodness.

This never disappoints.

Because what you've got to remember that you're looking at here is armour that is close on 3,500 years old.

This would have belonged to a warrior, and it's made of bronze, but really, really fine bronze, so those sheets are only about a millimeter thick, which means that it provided protection, but would have been very light to wear, and then the top, you've got this fabulous helmet decorated with boars' tusks.

Now, wild boar were, and still are, really ferocious.

So, this whole thing is designed to impress, to intimidate.

This is physically the stuff that legends are made of.

And what's significant is that in the most famous account of the Trojan War, we hear descriptions of tunics and gleaming helmets exactly like this.

So, I think it proves that all these fabulous stories about fantastic warrior heroes like Palamedes have their roots in hard historical facts.

So powerful was Palamedes' presence in Nafplion, he gave his name to the hill that towers over the city and the formidable fortress constructed on it.

The Palamidi was built in the early 18th century, when the whole of the Peloponnese was under the control of Venice, and Nafplion was its capital.

Work started on the fortress in 1711.

Constructing this fortress was the most incredible feat of engineering, 'cause you can see how difficult the terrain is, and then the Venetians made it even more complex for themselves because they built eight separate bastions, and the idea was it provided strength in depth.

So, if one bastion fell, then the soldiers could move up and occupy the one above.

It was completed just in time, because in 1715, the Ottomans from Turkey attacked.

There were only 2,000 Venetian soldiers up here, and the reports were that when they looked out, there were between 70 and 100,000 Ottoman troops all massed in boats in the harbor, were actually attacking this fortress itself.

Venetians didn't even bother to test their ingenious bastion system.

They abandoned the fortress, fled to the lower town, and now the Ottomans were in charge.

Ottoman rule continued for a little over 100 years, until in 1821, the Greeks launched a revolt in a bid for independence.

A year later, in 1822, on the night of November the 29th, under the cover of darkness, a band of Greek freedom fighters broke in here and successfully managed to take the garrison from the Turks.

So, this became one of the first places in Greece to regain its independence.

As the war continued, Greek fighters were joined by a small army of foreigners.

These volunteers were inspired by the belief that Western civilisation owed a profound debt to the ancient -- and therefore to the modern -- Greece.

The most famous foreigner to join the cause was the British poet and adventurer Lord Byron.

His memory is still very much alive in Nafplion today.

Oh, hi.

So, we're doing something about the history of Greece, and obviously, we're talking about Byron.

So, I stayed here 10 years ago.

-Oh.

-Yeah.

-Yes, I know.

It's... -Yeah.

With my family.

-I remember you.

I remember.

-Do you?

-I remember you.

-Do you?

I had two little -- I had a blonde girl and a little girl with red hair.

So, tell me one thing.

We're talking about Byron and the freedom fighters of Greece.

So, you called your hotel Byron Hotel.

-This Romantic, yes.

With Byron -- [ Chuckles ] Well, Byron -- Byron is -- He was like a hero for us in Greece.

He wrote a lot of poetry to help the Greek revolution.

Yes, he was very important, so we said we will have this name because Byron is like a hero.

-Okay.

Yassas.

Okay, bye.

Overall, nearly 300 foreigners died in the War of Independence.

There is something very moving about people willing to give up their lives and die for somebody else's liberty, and that is what was happening here.

They were dying for liberty, and they were dying for the idea that is Greece.

They were heroes who believed in something bigger than themselves.

Finally, after seven years of conflict, the war was won.

Greece was free, and Nafplion was made the first official capital city.

In 1833, the new king of Greece -- in fact, a young Bavarian prince called Otto, chosen by committee in London -- landed here, and for the first time in its history, Greece was a nation-state with its own name.

Greece is a tapestry, a place rich from its encounters with many parts of the world, and Nafplion bears witness to that.

This is a city that embodies the compelling, complicated history of Greece, a story that spans East and West, ancient and modern, and that's inspired heroes, whether they're legendary or real, across thousands of years, and that is why Nafplion is a wonder.

My wonders of Greece have taken me across this glorious land.

I've felt the passion of the ancient Olympics, been dazzled by the gold of Macedon, and visited the first health spa in western civilisation.

This journey to explore the wonders and treasures of Greece has been epic and a joy.

It's shown me that ambition and determination and inspiration and sheer curiosity is what builds a civilisation, and it's reminded me that the gifts of the Greeks are still enjoyed across the world today.