Travels through History : The Peloponnese – Mystras

This is an excerpt from my forthcoming book called Travels through History : The Peloponnese.

Mystras comes a very close second to Messini in my list of favourite spots on The Peloponnese. This is a large site with lots to see and you could easily spend a whole day here. If it’s going to be a hot day, take plenty of water with you, and start early. I’d also recommend taking a taxi to the high point of the road, entering the site, and walking up to the castle at the start and heading downhill gradually during the day. You’ll need stout walking shoes and maybe even a walking stick or hiking pole, as there are one or two uneven sections. Try to obtain a map of the site or buy a good guidebook that covers the Kastro or castle, the Upper Town, and the Lower Town. 

The site has an exceptional position on Mount Taygetos, overlooking Sparta and the Evrotas Valley. It’s an exposed spot and there’s not much shade when the sun is high in the sky. The man who built the citadel at Monemvasia, William de Villehardouin, built the fortress in 1249. Ten years later, Byzantine forces captured de Villehardouin and to obtain his freedom, he had to cede control of both Mystras and Monemvasia to the Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos of Byzantium.

Mystras became the capital of a province of the Empire, covering almost the whole of The Peloponnese. The heir to the throne, known as the despot, ruled over this province, known as the Despotate of Morea. For this reason, Mystras became an important cultural and political centre where significant people both lived and visited. Most of these people had come from Constantinople, fearing the demise of this capital city. They built large churches and palaces, most of the stones coming from nearby Spartan ruins. However, this serene time wouldn’t last. Mystras was handed over to the Ottoman Empire in 1460. After the Venetians took over, a slow decline began. The inhabitants of the town abandoned it in the 19th Century in favour of the nearby town of Sparta. Sparta flourished on a site next to their old ruins whose stones had been used to build Mystras. 

There are parking places for cars, close to the entrance for the Upper Town and the Kastro, sometimes referred to as the Upper Car Park. Once inside, the path splits almost straight away. To the left is the path down to the Upper Town and to the right is the path up to the Kastro. Visitors to the Kastro come down the same path as they go up, as there doesn’t appear to be another path to the rest of the site directly from the Kastro. The path up to the Kastro has some steps and is a little steep in places, but visitors can probably complete the round trip in about 40 minutes. At the Kastro itself, there are many towers and baileys to explore. The best views are probably from the northernmost tower looking north across the slopes of Mount Taygetos and the view north-eastwards across the Upper Town and the Lower Town.