Independence

Nafplio, Greece

A tidy town square - Nafplio & Akronafplia above it

We were somewhat “ruined-out”, so spent our last ½ day toffing it up with the Nafplio in-crowd.  Although Nafplio has a history as long as your arm, with twin forts crowning the city (Palamidhi & Akronafplia), its heyday, though brief, is more thoroughly modern.  Nafplio was chosen as the capital of an independent Greece (1829 to 1834).  Sadly, the first president was assassinated here (by not-so-neighbourly Maniots in 1831) and Bavarian Prince Otto (the first King of Greece) made the town his royal residence for at least a few years before moving on to Athens. 

Third Fort, Bourtzi (1473) of Venetian origin

Some of the more conservative Worry Beads on show

Those heady days are long gone, however old Nafplio retains a sense of the grand old lady with narrow cobbled streets, shady plazas and mix of Venetian, Greek & Turkish-style buildings, some quite well preserved.  Buzzing with tourists (Athenians mostly), trendy shops seem to be doing a grand trade.  Worry beads are the jewellery de rigeur, and several “bead” shops were worthy of more than a casual glance, though perhaps not quite within cruising budget range!  

Mycenaean Suit of Armour

The Archaeological Museum housed in a lovely Venetian mansion, was well worth our time, given the sites we had visited across the Peloponnese.  Highlights were a Mycenaean suit of armour (1400 BC) with leather helmet decorated with boar tusks (45 boars had to give up their lives for just one helmet) and terracotta face masks, used in Dionysus festivals, found in Tiryns. 

Nafplio is the kind of place you could happily wander all day, but time wasn’t on our side.  GS quickly slipped into an impressive Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation Museum with a fairly extensive collection of traditional costumes, embroideries and household items.  Sadly, Greece has a turbulent history and many family textile heirlooms were sold off in hard times. 

The Cap’n chose to visit the War Museum, dedicated, in part, to memorabilia from the War of Independence.  Lord Byron made quite the name for himself in support of Greece’s struggle for liberation from the Ottoman regime, although he organised his efforts (and spent his wealth) from Messolongi, a western centre of resistance. 

Then it was back to Korinthos, WJ3 & her fishing boat buddies, and time to make plans to move on again.  Somehow, the Panda survived……