Church in Mystra
 
 

General View
 
 

The Panagia Hodegetria Fresque

For more photos 
please visit
Mystra's 
Photo Galerry

The deserted medieval city of Mistra, now Greece's most pitoresque ghost town, sprawls down a distinctive conical hill on Taygetos's lower slopes. So much remains of Mistra and so little of ancient Sparta that it's not surprising that the early travelers here identified Mistras as ancient Sparta, lovingly describing the 13th century A.D. Palace of the Despots, as Menelau's Mycenaean palace - a cautionary tale for all travelers trying to make sense of Greek ruins. 

A LOOK AT THE PAST:

The Castle of Mistra was built in 1249 by Guillaume II de Villhardouin, but in 1263, having been taken prisoner by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII, he was compelled to yield it up to the emperor, together with the castle of Maina and Monemvasia. Until the Turkish conquest in 1460, Mistra was ruled by Bizantine princes, who from 1347 bore the title of despot, the second highest rank in the Empire. Below the Frankish castle on the summit of the hill there grew up first the upper and then the lower town.
The Despot's palace became the centre of a splendid court and an active intellectual life. This combined with the mariageof one of the Despots to a Malatesta princess, was the motive which led Sigismondo Malatesta in 1464 to thrust down throught Turkish-occupied teritory to Mistra in order to bring back Plethon's remains to Rimini. After the Turkish conquest in 1460  the town declined and after the liberation of Greece, the population moved in 1834 to the newly founded town of Sparta, Mistra shrank to a samll village below the town walls. 

WHAT TO SEE & DO:

The Archaeological Site
If you start your tour site from de Villehardouin's Castle, you'll begin to pass down Mistra's churches, most of which have elaborate brickwork decoration, a multiplicity of domes, and superb frescoes: the Saint Sophia, the Pantannasa, the Panagia Hodegetria, the Peribleptos, and the Cathedral. You'll be able to pick out vivid scenes, such as the Raising of Lazarus, the Marriage of Cana, and the Birth of Christ in Peribleptos Monastery. There are the remains at least 75 churches and more than 2000 houses an the slopes.

GETTING THERE:

123 km. from Tolo, 256 km from Athena
Altitude: 380-620m; Population 2.000
By Bus
There are frequent busses from Sparta to Mistra
By Car
From Athens - Corinth - Sparta, or Athens - Tripoli - Sparta, or Patras - Sparta.