This page is the first stop on your journey through ancient Greece. Here you will get a better idea about the geography of Greece by reading the questions and traveling long ago and far away to ancient Greece to answer them.

Where on Earth is Greece?

photo courtesy of Pat Taylor

Greece is located on a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea. As you can see in the map above, Greece is almost completely surrounded by water. Many islands can be found around the peninsula. The large island at the bottom of the map is Crete.

What does the land in Greece look like?

photo courtesy of the Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Saul S. Weinberg Collection

Much of Greece was rocky and barren and bad for agriculture. Most Greeks lived along the coast where the soil was good for farming. There were many mountains and valleys. The climate was hot and dry, and rainfall was limited to the winter months. With a shortage of land for farming, the Greeks came to rely upon trade with other countries for food, building supplies, and other goods.

How would I get from place to place in Greece?

Since there weren't many roads in ancient Greece, most people walked when they needed to go somewhere. However, some people had horses and carts, and the richest Greeks rode on horseback.