Blogs from Sparta, Pelopennese, Greece, Europe

DAY 96 Waking up in Sparta. The town of about 60,000 people had been built pretty much on the old ruins. So the town appears to be realitively new. There are a few ruins exposed but not really that much to spend time searching out according to our guide. So we take a day trip to the ancient city of Mystras, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Mystras is the only surviving expamle of a Byzantine palace complex in all of Greece. The complex was the seat of the despot of Moreas. There are several monasteries and many churches in the palace complex. Many started in the 1300's with the fortress being built in the mid 1200's and sits at the top of the mountain. The last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI, was despot at Mystras ... read more

On to Monemvasia. A most unusual place. The name means "single entrance". It is an iceberg of an island, jutting almost straight up out of the sea, connected to the mainland town of Gefyra by way of a causeway. Founded in the 6th century, the town saw most of it's inhabitants leave during the Nazi occupation of WWII, and the Greek Civil War, which ended in 1949. The lower town of Monemvasia is perched on the seaward side, and cannot be seen from the mainland. Once you pass through the old fortified gate, you find yourself in the maze of extremely narrow passage ways. The 17th century buildings are undergoing careful restoration, since being "rediscovered" in the 70's. This was the first place we saw mules and horses used for transporting goods, such as building supplies. ... read more

We took the overnight ferry from Hania to Piraeus to start our transit to Sparta. We started out badly with a lot of confusion over who was rooming with whom but eventually got it sorted out and were escorted to our 'staterooms' by one of the ferry staff. The rooms had four bunkbeds, two on each side, a wardrobe, a nighttable and a bathroom with a shower, very compact, very functional. The whole boat was a maze of corridors and stairs that didn't seem to have a lot of rhyme or reason to them. There was a pool but it was out of order, a disco, and a mini-market with quite a variety of items from food and drink to clothes and sourvenirs. The ferry also had two dining rooms with table service for the 'distinguished ... read more

As my guidebook indicated, Sparta is not exactly overrun with great archaeological finds. We started the day at the Sanctuary of Amyklaios where there used to be a monument to Amyklaios whom Apollo slew with a misplaced discus blown into him by the North wind. This site was somewhat unique in having a pie-shaped portico labelled the 'throne of Apollo' of which nothing is still visible. The site is still being excavated and it was entertaining to view the beer and pop cans showing where the stakes are for the excavation of this 2500 year old site. The retaining wall around the Sanctuary is still retaining but there is not much else visible. We then went to the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthaia which is where the Spartan boys became men via a flogging so we used ... read more