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Mystras

Description: Mystras occupies a steep foothill on the northern slopes of Mt. Taygetos, 6km. NW of Sparta. The castle on the top of ... more

Mystras ... the hill was founded in 1249 by the Frankish leader William II de Villeharduin. After 1262 it came under Byzantine control, and at the middle of the 14th century became the seat of the Despotate of Moreas. In 1448 the last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI Palaeologos, was crowned at Mystras. In 1460 the hill was captured by the Turks and in 1464 Sigismondo Malatesta of Rimini managed to capture the city but not the castle. For a short period Mystras came under the control of the Venetians (1687-1715) but was again taken over by the Turks. It was one of the first castles of Greece to be liberated in 1821. The foundation of modern Sparta by king Otto in 1834 marked the end of the old town's life.

Newest Review: ... of giving us dates and names and facts (or maybe wanted us to buy a guide?). Mystras is a strange, beautiful and incredibly atmospheric place: large in area and full of half-standing walls, recessed doorways strangely bricked up, arches opening into a ravine; with bushes and trees growing from among the stones in what was living or eating chambers. Twisting alleyways (they had no wheeled ... more

... transport here, all was done on foot or on donkeys’ backs and the rich were carried in sedan chairs) and steps half-worn by hundreds of years of usage lead us higher and higher; it’s hard to believe that people actually chose to live at such an incl...more

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Mystras: Ghost city in the mountainous Greek heartland (1551 words)
by - written on 21/10/05 (Very useful, 228 readings)
Rating:

Modern Sparti lies just where its ancient predecessor did, on the Laconian plain in the Southern part of the Peloponessus. The ancient Spartans did not leave much behind and this time it’s not the ancient remains that bring the visitors but something almost 2 millennia newer but somehow, culturally, maybe even more distant. In the foothills of snow-topped Mt Taiyetos rise many smaller hills and on one of them a whole ruined city can be found: Mystras, a capital of the Byzantine despotate of Morea which in the early centuries of the last millennium ruled large parts of the peninsula. It’s places like this which make me realise the Easterness of ... Read the complete review

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