Where to find epic historic sites on a Mediterranean cruise
Cruising the Mediterranean, you are sharing the waters with the epic ghosts of everyone from the Phoenicians and the Romans, through to the Venetians and the Ottomans.
Sailing with Fred Olsen* and its fleet of smaller ships* in the Mediterranean, you palpably feel how this sea of legend spreads its aquatic tentacles back through the millennia, connecting cities, historic sights and civilisations, through onboard lectures and talks coupled with curated excursions.
History is everywhere you venture on this deep blue aquatic highway. After all, to the mighty Romans, this was the "Mare Nostrum"; literally "Our Sea". The Phoenicians felt the same, but their legacy more shifts on the evening breezes than is set in the solid stone that the dominant Romans built to last.
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Set sail around the Mediterranean
It's impossible not to be awed by the Roman civilisation in the 'Eternal City' of Rome. Their capital grew on the banks of the Tiber around the legend of Romulus and Remus, and this is the mother lode.
It's easy to imagine the machinations of Roman life at the Colosseum and the neighbouring Forum. The imprint of the empire is everywhere, most impressive for me in the stout Pantheon, which dates back to 447 BCE and will surely outlive anything built this century.
Fred Olsen cruises not only let you explore the most alluring of the countries and cities around the Mediterranean, but also trace the complex lines of civilisations. We sail now alongside Roman galleons in search of the remarkable retirement palace in Split that Roman Emperor Diocletian fashioned on the waterfront.
Today, Croatia's second-largest city and busiest port is swathed around the palace. Split serves up living history, not just museums, really bringing the Romans to life.
Staying in Croatia, richly historic Zadar tempts, but Dubrovnik for me is a historic tractor beam. The old Republic of Ragusa was a city-state that somehow managed to keep its independence against the might of the Venetians and the Ottomans.
It's no wonder Game of Thrones centred its historic drama here in this most spectacular of cities, but the real thing is even more impressive when you hear the city's rector would only serve one month to avoid nepotism and concentration of power.
You learn more at the ornate Rector's Palace and walk streets in many ways unchanged since those days. It's a testament to what a single city can achieve.
Climate in the Mediterranean: visit our complete guide to the climate in the Mediterranean to see what conditions are like year-round at destinations throughout the region.
Meanwhile, Malta is Dubrovnik on an island-nation scale. All the great maritime civilisations coveted this archipelago betwixt Europe and Africa. The capital of Valletta is like one large living museum.
Walk its sweeping walls, imagining the Luftwaffe soaring above and then think of the mysterious Knights Hospitaller centuries before securing their power in the grand halls that still stand. Malta is an independent island nation, demonstrating what small countries can achieve with passion, heritage, and a distinct cultural identity.
If Ragusa and Malta make you think about how one small city and island nation can survive on their own in a world of powerful empires, Greece shows us independence, spirit and determination on a whole different level.
Indeed, it is to Greece that the Western world owes many of its beliefs, philosophies and ideas about civic life. There is just no overstating the influence the Ancient Greeks still retain today.
The epicentre of Greek culture was, of course, Athens, and the capital is one of my favourite cruise destinations. No one forgets their first visit to the Acropolis, the epicentre of Greek power where all those ideas were hatched, fermented and set free into the world.
This is history writ large in vaulting columns that scream to the world the importance of the culture that prospered here.
Athens, like so many cities on Fred Olsen Mediterranean cruises, doesn't just harbour the tangible remnants of one civilisation. Our old friends, the Romans, emerge strongly too.
The hulking Arch of Hadrian shows its grandeur, while the old Agora, a commercial hub, offers a window into its world. The Tower of the Winds intrigues as the world's oldest weather station.
We could write a weighty tome together, longer than any dusty historical novel, on the rich legacies of the Mediterranean* civilisations.
Researching onboard Fred Olsen cruises, we can delve into the once-mighty Ottoman Empire, the hotly contested islands of Sicily and Corsica, and the defiant independent island nation of Cyprus.
And how about digging deeper into Italy's Amalfi Coast, the Napoleonic city of Ajaccio in Corsica, the Greek Isles, or following more Roman ghosts of Kotor or Koper in the Adriatic?
To demonstrate the Mediterranean's strength in depth, we've not even touched on Venice, once the fulcrum of a vast maritime empire, here.
When most people think of the Mediterranean, they usually think straight away of Europe. But Fred Olsen also pioneers in countries like Egypt and Morocco. Taking in the Great Pyramids of Giza is much more than box ticking; it's a direct bolt into their world that will spin your head and heart back to your school days.
Further west in Morocco, the Mediterranean enjoys a dalliance with the Atlantic and historic cores breathe their stories through souks where little has changed in centuries.
One of the joys of cruising with Fred Olsen for me is the onboard cultural programming. Having expert lecturers in to share their knowledge really opens up the destinations.
It's one thing researching a place online; it's quite another savouring a lecture or talk with like-minded souls, hearing the passion and insider thoughts of someone who has devoted their life to the study of the worlds you are privileged to be passing through.
Mediterranean cruises may appeal for the life-affirming beaches, stellar food, world-class shopping, buzzing cities and a million other delights.
Underpinning them all is the tantalising, ever-engaging, and still-relevant bedrock of the history and colourful tales of the collage of great civilisations that once sailed the waters in your wake. Mediterranean cruises with Fred Olsen are delightfully different, life-affirming experiences that linger long after your last port of call.
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