View looking northwest at the mountains on the west side of the Thermopylae Pass. In ancient times the coastline was very close to the foot of these mountains—actually, the spot from which this picture was take was part of the Aegean Sea.
It was in this narrow "pass" area that Leonidas and his 300 Spartans along with 700 Thespians(!) made their stand against the invading Persians.
For a map and brief descriptive comments on the battle of Thermopylae Click Here.