Mystras

Mystras is a fortified medieval town on a spur of Mount Taygetos, near modern Sparta in Laconia, in the southern Peloponnese. The Frankish prince William II of Villehardouin built the fortress on the summit in 1249, but the Byzantines recovered the area in 1262 and developed Mystras as the seat of the Despotate of the Morea. For two centuries, until the Ottoman capture in 1460, it was a cultural and intellectual centre, and some of the last Byzantine emperors, including Constantine XI Palaiologos, who was crowned here in 1449, were linked to the town. The ruins form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The settlement spreads over three levels. The upper town is dominated by the hilltop castle, while the middle contains the Palace of the Despots, a complex of halls built in several phases during the 13th to 15th centuries, with a Gothic-influenced Great Hall. The lower town contains the principal churches and monasteries. The Metropolis, or Cathedral of Agios Dimitrios, dates from about 1291 and has a Byzantine marble double-headed eagle in its floor. The Church of Agia Sophia, built in the 14th century as the court church, the Brontochion monastery with the Church of Hodegetria (Afendiko), and the Peribleptos, with its richly painted interior, form part of the main group. The Pantanassa, a nunnery church of 1428, shows the final flowering of Byzantine architecture, combining Byzantine and Western features, and still has a working community of nuns.

The frescoes are the highlight, as the Palaiologan painting at Mystras is among the finest in the Byzantine world and shows a refined naturalism. After the Ottoman conquest and a Venetian period, the town declined and was abandoned in the 19th century, when the modern settlement of Nea Mystras was founded near Sparta. The Greek Archaeological Service and the Ministry of Culture have carried out restoration since the early 20th century, with ongoing conservation of the frescoes and the Palace. The archaeological site is large, steep and shaded in places, with bilingual signage. Allow three to four hours for a full visit, using the two entrances to avoid retracing steps.