Crusaders & Castles

Mystras

First views of Mystras through an olive grove

After our successful itinerary the previous day, we decided that, as distances weren’t too great and the National Highway very convenient, it was time to head further afield and make for Mystras, fortified remains of the Byzantine era. Then, after a quick search of modern streets to find the once ancient city-state of Sparta, home of famous warriors, we turned our Panda shoebox east to take a wild ride to the coast via a precipitous roadway shared with flocks of goats and big trucks. Safely back to sea-level, we found the remains (under cover & off limits) of ancient Lerna, site of a Neolithic civilization (5500 BC – incredible!) in an orange grove and finally, admired hefty Tiryns, an easily accessible (less visited) Mycenaean site. 

Perivleptos Monastery, Lower Town

Mystras is a vast fortress town cascading down the side of a steep mountain, a mere foothill of the impressive Taiyetos range.  Originally constructed in 1249, along with Monemvasia & Passava (Mani) by a Frankish prince to consolidate his provinces, it wasn’t until Byzantine occupation and under the Paleologans that Mystras flourished to become an important trade and cultural centre with close (& familial) ties to Constantinople.  At its peak it housed some 20,000 with many more living on the outskirts of the walls. Somehow, as Greece began to fall to Ottoman occupiers, Mystras remained a Byzantine stronghold.  Culturally, it is credited with being a forerunner to the Italian Renaissance.

Vrondohion Monastery (Lower) & Despots Palace (Upper)
Castle still higher

Mystras’ steep site is divided into three distinct areas; the citadel (or castle), the upper town with its medieval palace and housing for aristocratic families and the lower town festooned with churches, monasteries and chapels.  This area is now in effect, an outdoor museum with leafy pathways, winding cobbled streets, massive gates, medieval housing, abandoned marketplaces and fresco-covered church walls.  We allowed ourselves 2 hours (2 days would have been far better) during which we managed to only see a few lower town churches. Still, that in itself was most rewarding and some of the frescoes quite stunning. 

 

Cliff hanger road between Tripoli & Lerna (on the coast)

Always a surprise around every corner.  Their bells were so musical...