”In a country where antiquity is king, the fascinating tumbledown complex of churches and monasteries of the fortified UNESCO-listed mountain retreat of Mystras, last foothold anywhere for the once-mighty Byzantium Empire, feels like something of an upstart; it is only, at most, 800 years old.”
Image || The Church of the Virgin Hodegetria, Mystras, Peloponnese, Greece. May 8, 2017.
Mystras, Peloponnese, Greece
In a country where antiquity is king, the fascinating tumbledown complex of churches and monasteries of the fortified UNESCO-listed mountain retreat of Mystras, last foothold anywhere for the once-mighty Byzantium Empire, feels like something of an upstart; it is only, at most, 800 years old.
dMb Country Overview - Greece
Region – Southeastern Europe/The Balkans (dMb tag: The Balkans). Capital – Athens. Population – 10.8 million. Official Language – Greek. Currency – Euro (€) GDP (nominal) per capita – US$21,000 Political System – Unitary parliamentary republic. EU Member? – Yes (10th member joined January 1981). UN Member? – Yes (founding member joined October 1945). G20 Member? – No. Size – 132,000 km² (Europe’s 15th largest country is approximately half the size of Ecuador, twice the size of Sri Lanka, and roughly the same size as the US southern states of Alabama and Louisiana. Topography – A mountainous interior (80% of Greece is mountainous), a long and convoluted coastline, and hundreds of offshore islands. Independence – 1830 from the Ottoman Empire following 1821 to 1830 Greek War of Independence. Brief History – From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as poleis (singular polis), which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, from the eastern Mediterranean to India. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire, which adopted the Greek language and culture. The Greek Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World. After falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830 following a war of independence. UNESCO World Heritage sites – 18. Tourism Catchphrase/Slogan – All Time Classic. Famous For – Endless coastline and beaches; shipping; democracy (born here); a classical and hallowed past; ouzo; sun-drenched islands; Alexander the Great; the Olympics; being the cradle of Western civilisation; food (tzatziki, feta, souvlaki, moussakas, yogurt, grapes, olives and olive oil); economic collapse & austerity.
Highlights – Cyclades island-hopping and the remnants of all that ancient history (Greece boasts four millennia of sun-bleached ruins, artefacts, and architecture). Greece Titbits – At nearly 14,000 km (8,500 miles), Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world; Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, Western drama, and the Olympic Games (the country’s rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as of 2017); the Greek economy is the largest in the region with an economy larger than all other Balkan countries combined, this despite its well-documented economic battering and subsequent austerity measures.
Visits – 2 (May 2008 and April/May 2017). Where I Went/What I Saw – Thessaloniki; The Cyclades (Santoríni, Paros, Mykonos, Delos, Tinos); Zakynthos/Zante; Olympia; Sparta; Mystras; Athens.
The settlement of Mystras developed downward from a Frankish fortress built in 1249 at the top of a 620-metre-high spur of Taygetos Mountain overlooking the Evrotas River Valley and the town of Sparta. It fell into Byzantine hands in 1262 and was the residence of the Despotate of the Morea (or Despotate of Mystras), a province of the Byzantine Empire and its very last foothold, between 1348 until its surrender to the Ottoman Turks in May 1460, seven years after the fall of Constantinople. This century-plus of rule was a golden period of artistic renaissance with Mystras, the principal cultural and intellectual centre of the Byzantine world, attracting the best artists and architects of the day – indeed, it is said that the scholars based in Mystras at its artistic height influenced the 14th to 17th century Italian Renaissance. Aside from a brief occupation by the Venetians (from 1687 to 1715), Mystras stayed in Turkish hands and remained inhabited for the duration of Ottoman rule, and up until the formation of modern Greece as a result of the 1821-1830 Greek War of Independence. The site was finally abandoned for nearby modern Sparta in the 1830s, although the very last inhabitants were not relocated until 1953 as a result of restoration work that had begun shortly after the 1922 declaration of Mystras as an archaeological site (the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949 cut initial restoration efforts short). The site’s overall design and preservation, specifically with regard to the architecture of its Frankish castle, it palace, houses and fresco-infused churches, make Mystras an invaluable source for the study of the medieval culture of Byzantium, and Europe in general. For this, the site was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1989.
– UNESCO commenting on the Archaeological Site of Mystras
It doesn’t take long to do a loop of the Mystras site; it can be done in an afternoon at a leisurely pace, or a full day at a crawl. Either way, most start at the Main Gate in the Lower City and amble up through the Upper City to reach the crowning glory of the Citadel/Castle for sweeping views down over the site (and the Evrotas River Valley). The first port of call on most explorations of Mystras is the Metropolis of Mystras, Church of Hagios Demetrios, the the earliest of the surviving churches of Mystras.
Signing Off | The Complete Mystras Gallery