The Peloponnese Greek island offers lots of wonderful historical sites and some spectacular scenery. In one of the last days of our visit to Greece we made our way to Mystras, a UNESCO heritage site of a Byzantine mountain city dating back to the 12th century. No longer would you have to visualize ancient times like in Greek sites from BC, this looks and feels like a city, walking through the streets, you can sense what life might have been like back in the days. It’s fairly well preserved, and surprisingly in grandeur and scale. There is the fort, surrounding a palace, churches, and monasteries, and the panoramic views overlooking the valley below are breath-taking.
There are two entrances, one at the bottom and one on the top. We arrived quite late, and didn’t know of the top entrance, so entered from the bottom, and with the limited time and difficult hike up, we didn’t have enough time or energy to see much but as we came out the lady informed us of the other entrance, and since we were spending the night nearby she invited us to come back early the next day and use the same ticket to enter from the other entrance. We did, and it was wonderful.
From Mystras we drove to Nafplion, a coastal picturesque town with a lovely old town, where we walked around a bit and had a big lunch.
The whole region is a gem, people are friendly and welcoming, and can generally be summarized as a tourist delight.
Let’s hike up the Mystras site…
Location:
Nafplion
Location: