Monemvasía (Part 2)

Monemvasía has the typical tripartite structure of a Byzantine castle-town with a citadel on the highest point and 2 fortified enclosures lower down (So says the blurb). We had already had a look at the still populated lower town but wanted to also see the ruins of the upper town and the citadel. With plans to move on the afternoon and the upper town opening at 0730, the alarm clock was set for an early start on 14 July.

View down onto the lower town from the upper town gate   

By 0915 we had already climbed the zigzag path up to the gates of the upper town and paused briefly to admire the view.

Upper town walls   

Once inside there was another good vantage point which allowed us to look in either direction at the upper town walls built right on the edge of the vertical cliffs.

Upper town ruins   

Behind and above us were the larger ruins of the upper town and we could see that extensive work has been done to restore and stabilise them. The upper town had been the administrative centre and where the wealthier inhabitants had lived.

Hagia Sophia just visible above the ruins   

Today the only building which is pretty much fully intact and still used is the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia. First we explored the immediate area of ruins which included several houses and the gate complex, all of which have had, and are still undergoing, restoration.

That brought us neatly to the Hagia Sophia church.

The ruins of the citadel and views down onto the modern town   

Looking up from Hagia Sophia (top right picture) we could see the ruins of the citadel on the highest ground along with several other non-restored ruins lower down. A rough path took us up to the citadel, past the ruins of some churches and once up at the citadel we were rewarded with great views down onto the harbour and the modern town.

Domed Turkish mausoleum and one of the large public cisterns   

From the citadel another path took us back towards the upper town walls. It passed a large water collection area and associated cistern, a small domed Turkish mausoleum and the ruins of a Turkish bathhouse.

Once back at the town walls we had another great view down onto the lower town and the zigzag path we’d climbed. There were an amazing 26 churches crammed into this small lower town, most of which are now in ruins. The agora stood out clearly and we also tried to pick out the old Bishop’s residence, the mosque and the Turkish bathhouse.

Part way up the cliff we also spotted a white outlined cave entrance and so, having ticked off visiting the upper town, we made our way back down to look at this cave. It is now a small chapel but it is believed that it was once a hermitage. It was worth the climb up to get a different view of the lower town.

View over the lower town from the hermitage cave   

With the upper town and citadel done, we walked back through the narrow streets of the lower town to get onto the causeway and back to the port area. There was a little shopping to do first but essentially it was time to move on to the next anchorage.

Monemvasía, Greece