Mystras – once a Byzantine medieval town with several ten thousand inhabitants – was not only an interesting historic sight but also a hike up the mountains.
From Sparta we had already seen Mystras in the distance, situated on a hill in front of the Taígettos mountains.
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| At the Acropolis of Sparta |
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| Fortress of Mystras on top of that mountain overthere |
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| Same point of view in 1982 made by our friend Peter |
The history of the mountain fortress Mystras begins with the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) after which the crusaders conquered the Peloponnese and the French Villehardouin became Prince of Achaia, which was a very powerful principality. In 1249 the capital was moved to Mystras, near ancient Sparta.
In 1259 Prince William II was taken prisoner by troops of the Byzantine Emperor and was only able to buy his freedom by issuing Mystras and other castles. The Greek inhabitants of Sparta, who were tired of the foreign rule of the crusaders, now settled in Mystras. Below the castle was a flourishing city, which eventually numbered several tens of thousands. Mystras became the cultural centre of the region.
In 1460 Mystras had to be handed over to the Ottomans. In 1770, during a Russian-Turkish war, the city’s splendour began to diminish. When it was raided, Mystra’s heyday was finally over. During the Greek struggle for freedom, the city was so destroyed that it wasn’t reconstructed afterwards. Instead Sparta, which had been abandoned centuries before, was rebuilt again.
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| The palace from above |
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| Sunset near Kalamata |
