Climbing to and around Mystras

Sunday, May 5

We bid a fond adieu to Adonia (Dimitris was singing with the choir at his father’s church this morning.), and headed on a costal route to our next temporary home in the Peloponnese, Mystras.  Though  it was a hazy morning, the scenery was still striking enough to justify our taking a longer, slower route than any crow would fly.  We wound our way up and down hillsides, through small villages, beach communities, endless groves of olive trees and frequent road signs pointing to the archeological sites that Greece has in abundance. 

Once we headed inland, we began to climb in earnest. We zigzagged up mountains, enjoying the dramatic views of the sea far below us.  When we stopped for lunch in a grove of olive trees, we noticed a system of irrigation we’d never seen before: hoses were hung limb to limb along rows of trees, with narrower tubing hanging down to water the roots of each tree – a variation on the drip irrigation we have at home.

After passing through Sparta, we reached neighboring Mystras, which will be our home base for three nights.  Before finding our digs, we visited the UNESCO-listed ancient site that was and is the town’s focal point.  The fortified city of Mystras was the foremost Byzantine site in Greece and its churches are the most notable examples of Byzantine architecture surviving in the country.  From the mid-13^th through the mid-15th centuries, before the city surrendered to the Ottoman Turks, Byzantine culture flourished here.  The site spreads up a steep mountainside above the modern town; (somewhat) conveniently, there are two entrances for visitors.  We began at the lower gate and still had quite a climb to the Orthodox cathedral with a lovely courtyard and small museum, and a couple of other churches, along with remnants of other buildings.  There’s one ecclesiastic institution still functioning on the mountain, a monastery and convent housing six nuns.  How the elderly women in residence get to and from their perch high above the rest of the lower site, we don’t know; perhaps they arrive as young girls and just never leave!  In any case, the climb was plenty challenging for us, but the peaceful complex and beautiful church, with many of the finest frescoes in Mystras, were worth it.  

By the time we left the monastery, we’d decided to take a break from further climbing, so we drove down the mountain and into town to check into our new digs.  We eventually taught our GPS were we actually needed to go and were able to unload our gear and get settled a bit.  Feeling renewed, we returned to attack the upper part of the ancient town.   

When we arrived at the Castle Gate entrance, we were a bit (OK, very) surprised to see that it was well below the castle itself.  Undaunted, we started climbing once again, determined to reach the top, helped by the fact that the late afternoon temperature was beginning to drop.  There were just a few others on that part of the mountain and when we reached the interior of the castle, we were the only ones there to enjoy the views of snow-capped mountains above, the other ruins below, and the towns and countryside for miles around.

By the time we returned from the castle, we decided to skip the rest of the sights on the upper mountain and head for a late dinner at our temporary home in Mystras.  We have lots of room in a house with three bedrooms, multiple balconies and patios, a courtyard car park and a backyard; it looks like we’ve lucked out again!