Mediaeval Mystras

Seven kilometres west of Sparta, the old Sparta Road took us past mediaeval Mystras. On the way, we pulled over for our first proper look at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, stepped up the conical hillside.

When Constantinople was sacked in 1204, much of the Byzantine Empire was divided into small fiefdoms under the control of Frankish or west-Germanic princes. One of these princes, William II of Villehardouin who was the ruler of the Frankish Principate of Achaea, built a strong fortress at Mystras in 1249. However, his rule from here was short because in 1259 the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologos recaptured the Peloponnese and in 1262 made Mystras its capital and seat of government. Many eminent Byzantine artists, architects, intellectuals and philosophers moved to the city and the hillside became covered in mansions, palaces, churches and monasteries. It was to be the last golden age of the Byzantine Empire before it fell under the invading Ottoman army in 1460.

Mystras declined under Turkish rule but thrived again when the Venetians recaptured it 1687. A silk industry was established and the population grew to 40,000. The Turks recaptured Mystras in 1715 but it was burned down 1770 by the Russians, burned down again by the Albanians in 1780 and finally destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha in 1825.

Our first impressions of the site were that there was a lot of ‘up’, and that there were a lot of churches.

The museum   

Entering at the Kato hora (lower town) we discovered that the site closed at 1500hrs and not 2000hrs as the website claimed; we had just 2¼hrs to yomp around the place. We left the kastro fortress on the summit until last because we were told by the lady at the ticket office that that stayed open longer.  The lady also recommended to us a short route that she felt we should be able to achieve before the site closed. The first recommended stop was the small museum.

View down over Sparta from the museum balcony   

The displays gave us a feel for the history of the place plus the wealth and grandeur of it in its Byzantine heyday. However, probably the best bit about the small museum was walking on its balcony and looking out across the wide valley towards modern and ancient Sparta.

The path led up the hillside towards the hora (upper town) past several Byzantine churches, the few buildings which remained largely intact. I think that the lady at the ticket office underestimated how quickly we’d get to this point because her advice had been to traverse to the Pantanassa church and then head down. That, however, would mean missing out on the whole of the higher hora area with several more churches and a palace complex.

In all we visited 7 Byzantine churches. Some were almost bare inside but the majority still had some of their frescos intact.

Palace of Despots   

The largest buildings in the upper area formed the palace complex. Built in several stages from the 13^th to the 15^th century it was from here that the province was ruled. Sadly, it is in the throes of a major refurbishment and so we were unable to look inside the palace buildings.

Looking down as we crossed to Pantanassa   

Having quartered the hora we got as far as the highest church of Agia Sophia by the upper gate and the path to the Kastro. With our eye on the clock we turned back and headed down towards the well preserved 14^th century Convent of Pantanassa.

Views from Pantanassa   

It is beautifully maintained by the nuns, now Mystra’s only inhabitants. It felt as though we were trespassing as we walked past their accommodation to enjoy the view over the plain of Lakonia.

Peribleptos Church   

Some rapid walking along some of the lesser used tracks, enabled us to get to the furthest west wall and the Peribleptos Church. This church was unusual for 2 reasons. Firstly, because its ‘compound’ perimeter was largely made up of the city wall, and secondly because the church was built onto a cave in the cliff.

The cave chapel part of the church was dark and not very photogenic but the main part was decorated with brilliantly coloured Byzantine frescos; probably the best ones we had seen all day.

Ruins of some of the large houses   

Our descent route out to the west and back also allowed us to see some of the ruins of the old mansions as we descended.

Final view of Mystras as we drove away:  the Kastro at the top,
the palace complex towards the lower left of the hill

We left the lower town at 1440hrs and drove up to the top gate from where we hoped to climb up to the Kastro to finish our visit. Sadly, this was when we discovered that there had been some ‘crossed wires’ during our initial discussions; the Kastro also closed at 1500 and with only about 10 minutes to go we were not allowed in. There is little to see other than the view but it would have been nice to climb to the summit. Instead, we enjoyed a picnic lunch looking at the castle before driving back to Kalamáta on the fabulous old Sparta Road.

Medieval Mystras, Greece