Athens to Thessaloniki - Part 2 Great Continental Railway Journeys

I'm embarking on a railway adventure that will take me

to the cradle of European civilisation.

I'll be using this,

my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, dated 1913,

which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel

for the British tourist.

It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to navigate

the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the Continent.

Now, a century later,

I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,

where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.

I want to rediscover that lost Europe that in 1913 couldn't know

that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.

I'm continuing my Greek odyssey -

I arrived at the port of Piraeus,

from where it was a short ride

to the Greek capital, Athens, and the Acropolis.

I headed west, in order

to pass through the Corinth canal,

a challenge of engineering that confounded man

for 2,500 years,

before striking north to Levadia.

Now I'll make an excursion to Delphi,

home of the famous Oracle.

I'll continue north to the port of Volos

and on to the mountain village of Milies.

I'll finish my journey in the city of Thessaloniki.

Along the way, like the ancients before me, I'll explore

the secret of the Oracle.

The world, the Mediterranean, came and met here in Delphi.

I'll ab-Zorba the Greek nightlife in Volos.

And show strength that would rival Hercules.

THEY SHOUT

Done!

HORN TOOTS

Today, I've left the railway behind,

to follow a Bradshaw's recommended excursion to Delphi,

newly rediscovered at the time of my guidebook.

I'm meeting Christina Stolis

to find out more about the home of the Oracle.

Christina, my first time in Delphi and what a stunning place!

Very special indeed!

Bradshaw's says, "On the site of Delphi stood the village of Kastri,

"which was removed to another spot

"in order that the necessary excavations could be made".

-So a whole village was taken away?

-Completely moved.

A whole village as of 1892 was relocated to round the corner,

a new modern village was built and the site is excavated.

And how did the villagers feel about it at the time?

-Not very happy to start with.

-SHE LAUGHS

Can you imagine, people who essentially were goatherds,

who lived and died and were born in these houses,

not quite having the necessary education as well

to understand what it meant to live on top of Delphi.

'Once the modern village of Kastri had been moved, works could begin.

'Train tracks were laid crisscrossing the site

'to take away thousands of wagonloads of earth.'

I'm trying to think, what would it have been like

for the 1913 traveller coming to Delphi, do you think?

Just imagine, Delphi's only been open to the public for ten years,

it's a brand-new site,

and all the scholars would be

willing to travel in the wilderness on mules

to get up here to see what they've

spent a lifetime, essentially, learning about.

'One intrepid British lady did exactly that.'

Agnes Conway visited Delphi in 1913,

which would be the same year that your book was written of course.

-It was indeed.

-She's a British archaeologist.

'Agnes Conway came to study Greece's ancient sites

'and travelled widely throughout the Balkans,

'keeping an account of her experiences.'

She describes Delphi.

"At Delphi Greek history becomes intensely alive."

And her own description of the days in Delphi is - "pure bliss".

It is true that it makes the history come intensely alive.

Of course, travellers like Agnes here to experience that history.

The Oracle of Delphi is essentially the whole site.

And at the centre of this site, the sanctuary, the Temple of Apollo.

And inside the temple once a month, a local woman, the Pythia,

would go into the basement to inhale the spirit of the god,

which came out the ground in the form of vapours,

and in doing so she would become enthusiastic.

Divinely inspired, basically.

The Pythia possessed by a god,

or enthous in Greek,

would then answer people's questions.

Was there any scientific basis for this?

Well, nowadays geologists and geochemists will talk about

how fault lines intersect under the Temple of Apollo.

And gases seeped out the ground. Methane, ethane,

ethylene is what they've identified.

And that for the ancient Greeks would be divine manifestations

and so the Oracle was built.

-And so a really very, very special place.

-Very special.

The world, the Mediterranean came and met here in Delphi.

I'm making my way back to Livadia station

to catch my next train along the Athens-Thessaloniki line,

bound for the port of Volos.

-Ah! A lovely, cool train.

-Yes.

-Thank goodness!

Joining me for the journey is Panagiotis Kakavas

from the Friends of the Greek Railway Association.

Panagiotis, the railways came quite late to Greece.

Tell me about the early developments in Greece.

We discover railway in...after 1885.

And from that year until 1916

there was a...railway explosion,

a railway revolution.

In every single part of Greece there was a line.

What was driving that railway revolution?

Greece was...wanted to be a modern country like the West,

so only with railways this can be done.

Kharilaos Trikoupis, the Prime Minister at that time,

said, "We need railways."

Trikoupis began a far-reaching modernisation programme

to prepare the way for the absorption of the Greeks who

remained under Ottoman rule.

During this time, the Greek railway network

expanded from seven to around 700 miles of track.

Tell me about this railway,

the main railway from Athens to the north of Greece,

a spectacular railway, when was this built?

This line we're on now, 1890-1916.

Now that's a very important period politically speaking,

because, of course, the cities to the north

that this train is travelling to

-were not part of Greece until 1912, 1913.

-Yes, yes.

Greece was getting bigger and bigger.

-And so the railways followed those borders.

-Yes, exactly.

The Ottomans had always refused to

allow a rail connection between Athens and their empire.

So at the time of my Bradshaw's,

travelling all the way to the newly reconquered Thessaloniki by train

would not have been possible.

So when did a train first run between Thessaloniki and Athens?

The first train was the famous Simplon-Orient Express in 1920.

One and a half years after the connection.

The connection was completed in...1919.

And one year later, we had the first train.

In 1922, a new route for the Orient Express

was opened via the Simplon Tunnel

through the Alps between Switzerland and Italy.

Now Greece was connected physically,

as well as culturally and politically, to Western Europe.

How did Greece afford all these railways?

Actually, we didn't afford it,

we had our first bankruptcy...caused by the railway.

-The country actually went bust?

-Yes.

All the companies building the railway ran out of money.

The Greek government had no money, so bankrupt.

-It sounds a bit like a modern story of Greece.

-Yes.

The history...repeats itself.

'It soon becomes clear why building this railway proved so costly.'

Ah!

That is extraordinary! That is extraordinary!

This is the Gorgopotamos Viaduct.

At over 100m, it's one of the highest railway bridges in Greece.

After a change at Larissa,

I continue on the branch line east to Volos.

I've arrived in Volos,

which Bradshaw's tells me is the chief seaport of Thessaly,

with a thriving population.

This is one of the loveliest railway stations I've come across in Greece.

After this province became part of Greece in 1881,

it was a playground for foreign railway builders.

And here the Germans laid the tracks

and so they constructed a Bavarian-style railway station.

And what I find a bit of a joke

is that here we have a kind of alpine chalet

with palm trees outside it.

Modern Volos is built on the site of three ancient cities,

including the homeland of the mythological hero Jason

and his band of Argonauts.

And luckily for me, I've arrived at dinner time.

The little harbour here is full of fishing boats,

so I'm very willing to believe

that this lovely seafood is entirely fresh.

So...let's try a little squid.

Ooh! Look at that, all those little tentacles.

Delicious.

TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC

And Volos has another traditional treat in store for me.

-Bravo!

-Thank you, guys. APPLAUSE

As you may have noticed, I don't find it easy to ab-Zorba the Greek.

Today, my journey continues 16 miles south-east of Volos

at the station of Lehonia.

I want to visit the mountaintop village of Milies.

And according to Bradshaw's, there's a train from Volos.

But no, the line has been discontinued,

so I've come to the station of the Lehonia.

And in 1913 the journey time was one hour and 15 minutes.

But judging by the age of this wonderful vintage rolling stock,

I think I'll be lucky to do it in that time today.

This line is only one foot, 11 and 5/8 of an inch wide,

making it one of the narrowest gauges in the world.

It was extended to my destination, Milies, in 1903.

I don't want to say that this train is slow, but a lame dog is faster.

Although it looks old, this locomotive is a disguised diesel,

installed after the coal-fired locomotives

caused numerous fires along the track.

It's called Moudzouris, which means "smudger" in Greek,

a reference to the smoky engines of the past.

Our little narrow-gauge train has been winding through olive groves

and the passengers have been leaning out and seizing the fruit.

We've been passing streams and valleys, over bridges and viaducts.

This is the wonderful Kalorema viaduct.

We have fantastic views of the sea

and now we're winding up into the mountains.

Our little train has climbed a long way towards Mount Pelion.

This was the summer residence

of the 12 gods of Olympus in Greek mythology.

This was also the playground of the centaurs,

those mythological beasts that were half man and half horse.

We've arrived at Milies station,

but my ride isn't quite over yet.

MEN SHOUT IN GREEK

A single track means that everyone

must help to turn the engine around for its descent.

MEN SHOUT IN GREEK

MAN SHOUTS IN GREEK

Done!

HORN TOOTS

Hello.

TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC PLAYS

THEY TOAST IN GREEK

Have you lived here all your life?

I live all my life here.

HE LAUGHS

The church is a big part of your life?

And Michalis is not alone.

Modern Greece's national identity

was defined by the Orthodox Church.

Today, about 97% of Greece's population

are still practising Orthodox Christians.

Your church is extraordinarily beautiful. It's wonderful.

Beautiful and very interesting.

In the time of the building of the church 400 years ago,

the Greek state live under the Turkish state.

So they made the church very, very secret from outside.

Not look like church from outside.

First without windows down, no windows down,

only small and high, nobody can see easy inside.

-Second without bang-bang.

-Bell?

Bell and cross on the roof of the church. Nothing.

When constructing this clandestine church,

its builders were able to create another special thing,

a unique acoustic.

SOFT THUDDING

That's extraordinary!

Because there is not echo inside of the church.

If sing five person, hearing five different voices.

Oh, beautiful!

MICHALIS SINGS IN GREEK

-I am not singer.

-MICHALIS LAUGHS

Bravo!

I do...I do only for the church.

MICHALIS LAUGHS

Thank you. Bye-bye.

I join the railway line back at Volos,

to continue my journey north to the city of Thessaloniki.

I can't help noticing that I'm the only person on this train

over the age of 25 and not carrying a rucksack.

And I'm just wondering what is going on.

Excuse me. May I ask you, there are a lot of young people on this train,

a lot of young people with rucksacks. Why?

Where are you coming from or where are you going to?

We are coming from a festival

and we're returning back to our home city, Thessaloniki.

-So did you all have a good time?

-Yes!

-Amazing time, yes.

Is that a Bible?

No, this is not a Bible,

this is a 1913 guidebook.

-Original?

-Absolutely original. Look.

We have all the timetables of the trains of 100 years ago.

And here we have all the hotels of 100 years ago.

And in the middle we have all the text

about the different countries of Europe, including Greece,

but there's no mention of any festivals.

Oh.

-There's also a lot of dust in there.

-There is.

MICHAEL LAUGHS

I don't envy the editor of Bradshaw's Guide 1913.

There was war in the Balkans

and international frontiers were changing fast.

Of the city of Thessaloniki, listed here under Turkey,

Bradshaw's says that it's been

captured by the Greeks since November 9th, 1912.

But in the year of publication, the Turks were mounting

an effective counterattack and seizing back territory in Europe.

Where would the border between Christendom

and the Islamic world end up?

'I shall find out tomorrow, after a night's rest in Thessaloniki.'

Thessaloniki, or Salonika in Bradshaw's,

is now Greece's second city.

But in 1913, fewer than a third of its inhabitants were Greek.

In fact, my guidebook notes - "About half the population are Jews,

"descendants of those driven out of Spain."

Bulgarians, Serbs, Albanians and Turks also lived here,

making turn-of-the-century Thessaloniki

a most extraordinarily diverse society.

But back in 1913, things weren't so agreeable.

I'm meeting local historian Anastasia Gaitanou,

better to understand the city's history.

Anastasia, at the time of my guidebook there are wars going on.

What are they about?

Well, this war, er, wars, are the so-called Balkan Wars.

They took place on the Balkan Peninsula.

This is where we are.

We are the south tip of the Balkan Peninsula.

And they were wars led mainly by the new countries that were being

established and formed on the Balkan Peninsula,

trying to get as much as they could from the decaying Ottoman Empire...

that was referred to as the "sick man of Europe".

Of course, they were trying to get access to the Aegean Sea,

trying to get as many of the ports as they could,

as much territory as they could, but also establish national states.

And was Thessaloniki an important strategic objective?

Absolutely.

It was considered, already in the Ottoman Empire,

the third most

important port after Constantinople, Istanbul today, and Izmir.

It is in the south tip of the Balkan Peninsula,

connecting, practically, Europe to Asia, to Africa.

At the outbreak of the First Balkan War, Greece pushed north.

In an unexpectedly rapid campaign, on the 26th October, 1912,

under the heir to the throne, Prince Constantine, the Greek army

rode into Thessaloniki claiming this all-important city for Greece.

Did the king manage to visit the city after it was liberated?

He came to Thessaloniki three days after it was liberated,

to show royal presence and to make it clear to everybody that this is

a Greek city now, because everybody wanted to have it and it was a huge

competition with the Bulgarians, who arrived only a few hours later.

He loved the city.

He loved the promenade of Thessaloniki and the seafront,

and he would walk many times along this promenade.

And usually he would walk without really that many escorts,

or bodyguards, just one or two which, of course,

at the end proved to be quite fatal.

Less than six months after the annexation of this city,

a horrific event would unexpectedly throw Greece into turmoil.

On these streets,

the reign of the beloved King George I of the Hellas

came to a tragic end.

Well, this is the very spot where he was assassinated in March of 1913.

He was shot through the heart by a teacher who was

jobless at the time, who was called a socialist and an anarchist,

and it was not a good thing to be called that in 1913.

And it was said that he had asked for financial support

by the king. It was not given to him, so he wanted revenge.

What were the political consequences of the assassination?

Well, the worst thing that happened afterwards

was the so-called National Schism.

Greece divided. Half of the population were supporting the ideas

of George I, who was a supporter of Russia, England and France.

He had ties to the British royal house,

his sister, Alexandra, was the wife of King Edward VII.

While his son and successor, King Constantine I,

was a supporter of Austria-Hungary and Germany.

His wife was the sister of Kaiser Wilhelm at the time.

So, two completely different approaches

and two completely different ideas that really tore Greece in two.

After nearly of century of nation-building under

the influence of the European powers, it was the breakdown

in their relationships that would ultimately divide Greek society.

A division that would have repercussions for Greek politics

up to the Second World War and beyond.

Greek history is steeped in blood.

Assassinations and numerous battles to gain

independence from the Ottoman Empire.

And after my Bradshaw's Guide, two world wars and civil war.

Modern Greece has suffered from inflated expectations.

For example, some British Romantics hoped for a reincarnation

of Classical Greek virtues and perfection.

No nation could live up to such an inflated ideal.

On my next journey, I'll hear how Black Forest fairytales

unified the Germans.

The forests came to stand for German-ness,

so they were really, really important in building up

this common heritage.

CLOCK CUCKOOS

'And I'll try for a place amongst Germany's master carvers.'

Oops, not quite as clean as yours, but...'

But not too bad for the first one.