Monemvasía (Part 1)

Looking south from our anchorage at Órmos Palaio we could see the imposing rocky island of Monemvasía a couple of miles away. Just visible on the top was the church of Agia Sofia and some of the ruins of the citadel, the highest part of the fortified Byzantine town.

We wanted to get closer to get a proper look and so at 1030 we raised our anchor and headed around the eastern end of the island.

As we got closer the rock seemed to get higher and higher but the real magic moment was when we turned onto the southern side and got our first glimpse of the lower walled town.

The enclosing walls are still intact and the mix of stone walled houses, tiled roofs and trees made for a lovely view.

Worryingly though, there seemed to be a really steep set of steps climbing up to the upper ruined village on top of the rock. I was starting to get suspicious that Nicky was just picking locations to visit with higher and higher ascents to march me up!

Before we could explore, however, we had to find a mooring. Fortunately, by staying overnight at Órmos Palaio we had both missed the windy weather which can gust very strongly around the rock and also positioned ourselves nicely to bag a spot in the harbour when anyone left. The plan worked beautifully and a couple of yachts departed as we approached so there was space on the quay. By 1300 we were nicely settled in our space, with solar panels out and everything in ‘harbour order’. By then, however, we judged it to be too hot to go climbing and so decided to leave exploring the rock until 1800 when it is cooler. Instead the afternoon turned into a clothes washing session; sadly no laundrette could be found.

One bonus of hanging out the washing was that Nicky spotted a turtle swimming in the harbour. The turtle rose gracefully from the depths of the harbour and then, in a comic moment, banged its head on our neighbour’s anchor chain, which startled the poor thing more than somewhat.

At 1800 we set off around the harbour to get to the causeway across to the island.

Walking along the beach we both commented how much we were reminded of Gibraltar. It is a fair stroll from the yacht harbour to the gates of the lower old town but it was lovely walk and we enjoyed looking at the clear water and watching the locals swimming from various concrete platforms (there is no beach at the base of the rock, just rocks and swimming platforms).

Once we had walked through the lower gate in the defensive walls we were faced with a rabbit warren of narrow streets. It was lovely. Clearly lots of restoration has taken place and we saw several nice looking hotels, shops and holiday lets.

Distinctive chimneys and bevelled corners of buildings   

This lower part of Monemvasía was the commercial centre with workshops and the houses of the fishermen and tradesmen. Like now, shops lined the narrow streets and the pressure to move pack animals and other trading goods had influenced the architecture. At ground level many of the buildings have bevelled corners to maximise living space in the buildings whilst easing the passage of people and transport animals. Above the height of an average human (or laden animal) the corners have been retained. The other distinctive architectural feature of the town is the design of the chimneys: the semi-circular chimneys in Monemvasía are quite different from the square cross-section chimneys normally seen both in the Byzantine era and now.

Above us the upper town beckoned to be explored. However, despite being ready for the climb we discovered that the upper town is only open in the mornings from 0730-1430.

That meant a return to BV for dinner and a change of plan. Instead of sailing away in the morning, we would get up early and yomp up to the top of the hill to explore the upper town. That was all well and good but somehow after dinner, a bottle of wine and writing some e-mails it was gone midnight. The early start looked set to be painful but by staying up, at least we were able to enjoy the night time floodlit views of Monemvasía.

Monemvasía, Greece