Athens and Its Immediate Environs Author:Karl Baedeker (Firm) Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Excursions. A drive from the Piraeus to the Keratdpyrgot, the rocky peninsula projecting into the Strait of Salamis and commanding the best view of the scene ... more »of the Battlb Of Salamis (p. 9), takes about 2 hrs. (carr. 5-6 dr.). The Persian fleet, consisting of about 600 vessels, penetrated the Strait of Salamia along both sides of the islet of Psyttaleia, which was occupied by the pick of the Persian troops. The narrow space, however, prevented it from deploying. The Greek fleet consisted of 300 vessels. When the victory had declared itself on the side of the Greeks, they crossed to the island and destroyed the Persian troops before they could embark. The hill in front of Mi, jEyaleos (Skarmanga) has long borne the name of the Throne of Xerxes, from its identification with the 'rocky brow' on which the Persian monarch sat in his silver-footed chair to watch the battle. As ancient writers, however, emphasize his propinquity to bis ships, it is, perhaps, more probable that he took up his position on the promontory of Kerat6pyrgos. Eledsis is reached by the Peloponnesian Railway in about 1 hr. (return- fare 5 dr. 40, 4 dr. 15 l.) but is more pleasantly visited by Carriage (ca. 2'/hrs.i fare 20 dr.). The carriage follows the 'Sacred Way' (p. 75) and about halfway passes the Convent of Daphnl, first mentioned in 1263, and fallen into decay since the War of Liberation. — Eleusia (Bail. Restaurant, fair), now a poor village, was formerly celebrated for its cult of Demeter, which lasted till towards the close of the 4th century of the present era. The railway-station, where the visitor is met by the guardian of the ruins (1 fr. for the round), is V4 M. from the Propylaea, which are an imitation of the central part of the Propylaea of Athens. Passing a large cutting in the rock, with ...« less