16 March
2025 – Mystra
Miles
driven today = 62
Total Miles
to date = 2,036
This
morning we retraced ours steps of yesterday all the way back to Skala. Amusement was provided by a couple of scooter
riders. One of whom was nonchalantly
riding along whilst slurping away on a takeaway coffee and the other was crossing
himself furiously. We weren’t sure if he
was just late for Church or he had perhaps just run over a black cat. We also broke our lowest price diesel record
for the trip at just €1.45 a litre.
After Skala
we took a rather more Northward trajectory towards Sparti and then on to the
Byzantine ruins of Mystra.
Much like what
we saw at Monemvasia yesterday, the town was predominantly built in the 13
th
and 14
th Centuries, but this was on a much grander scale and it is
thought that the population at one stage reached as many as 20,000 people.
It seems
the Byzantines loved building their labyrinthine towns on steep hillsides.
We saw this yesterday with Monemvasia being
on 2 different levels.
Here there are 3 with
a lower town, an upper town, which included the palace seen here half way up
the hill on the right and the Kastro or Castle at the very top of the hill.
We started
at the bottom with the Mitropolis, which is the oldest of Mystra’s churches
built between 1270 and 1292.
Inside the
church are some well preserved frescoes depicting assorted Saints.
There is
also this marble carving of the Byzantium double headed eagle set into the
floor, which commemorated the coronation of Constantine XI, the last Eastern
Emperor in 1453.
The Mitropolis
also houses a small museum which included artifacts such as this depiction of Alexander
The Great driving a chariot pulled by winged griffins.
Also some
illustrated manuscripts like this one dated 1652.
Even at the
lower levels there are astounding views out across the surrounding plains.
The next
renovated building on the list was the Evangelistria but it was firmly locked
and bolted.
And the
same was the case at the Church of St Theodore.
So we
continued on to the Hodegetria Monastery, which was built on the outskirts of
the town so that the monks would not be subjected to the temptations that lay
within.
Impressive
architecture inside looking up into the Cupola.
More amazingly
well preserved frescoes.
One of the
side chapels.
Having seen
most of the important buildings in the lower town a lot of people go back to
their cars and drive to a second entrance for the upper town.
But we weren’t convinced there would be
enough room for us to park the van up there, so we continued on foot.
It was 27
degrees by this time and a proper slog up the stone steps to the Palace.
So we were more than a little disappointed to
find that it was shut for renovation works when we got there.
So we had a
quick look around nearby St Nikolas’ Church and decided that was enough
clambering upwards for one day. As a result we didn’t get to see St Sophia’s or
the archeological museum and we certainly had no intention of busting a gut
getting all the way up to the Castle.
But we did
call in at the Pantanassa Convent on the way back down again.
A handful
of Nuns still live here to this day.
They have been the only permanent residents in Mystra since the last 30
or so families were booted out of here and moved to the modern town of Mystra
at the bottom of the hill in 1952.
A lot of
the frescoes in here date from the 17
th Century when Mystra was held
by the Venetians.
There were
a couple more churches and some restored houses which we thought we were
heading in the right direction for only to find our path blocked, so we ended
up detouring back to the exit and deciding that we had probably seen enough of
Mystra given the heat.
So we turned
our attention to going in search of somewhere to stay for tonight.
Castle Camping in new Mystra doesn’t open
until April so we are in the next town of Paleologio, just to the West of
Sparti.
The site here is rather
overgrown and unloved and the showers feel like prison cells but they still
charge €26.50 (€25 for cash) including hook up, which seems a little cheeky.
So we’re only staying the one night.
Sparta conjures up romantic images of the 300
but the modern town of Sparti has been largely built on top of it with little evidence
of the ancient settlement remaining.
So
we are thinking we will probably head back towards the coast again tomorrow,
especially as we are only forecast to have one more decent day before
temperatures are expected to plummet on Tuesday.
One thing is for certain.
Neither of us have any intention of climbing
around any more ancient ruins for a few days.
We did
manage to give our Cadac Barbecue its first run out of the trip this
evening.
We picked up some pork skewers
in Lidl yesterday and grilled up half of them with some veg and rice while the
other half went in the freezer for another day.
Always worth the effort even if it does make washing up and putting
everything away afterwards a little more long winded than usual.
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