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Mystras is a very important site of Byzantine architecture. It has a beautiful location high on the hill above Sparta with panaoramic views in all directions. At one point over 20,000 people lived here.
Mystras was home to cultural and intellectual folk during it's peak of popularity in Byzantine times. The city surrended to the Turks in 1460.
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The nuns at the Convent of Pantanassa are the only occupants of Mystras, well that is if you don't count the kitty cats. They have beautiful flower gardens here. The nuns also sell embrodiered linens in a little shop.
Believe it or not, I had never seen a nun before. I have great respect for a person who can live their religious convictions to such a high level.
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The convent had many cute cats and kittens playing in the sun and shade. The flowers here were beautiful. These cats looked like they were well fed by the nuns.
Our guide, George said there are only a handful on nuns that live here. It was warm, but yet they dress cloaked in black from head to toe. I guess you would get used to dressing that way after awhile.
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Our local guide, George was a wealth of Byzantine knowledge and information.He must have been highly sought after because we saw him again in Epidravos. He was a nice guy who worked hard to answer any additional questions one might have.
The views were part of the majesty of Mystras.It seemed like you could see forever. |
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After we were done touring magical Mystras, Spiros drove us down the hill on our big purple bus to Sparta for lunch. David took us on a pleasant walk up to the Acropolis of Sparta. It was a stark difference to the Acropolis in Athens.
David told us about why the Acropolis of Sparta is so degraded. Sparta was abanadoned in the 13th century and there is basically nothing left of the temples that used to be here. Anything that was left of the buildings helped with construction in Mystras.
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This was a much cooler (in climate) Acropolis than the one in Athens. The one in Athens is amazing but crowded and very hot. In Athens , the Acropolis is basically a giant pile of beautifully carved and arranged rocks dedicated to the worship of the Gods. Rocks absorb heat so it was quite warm. Also, there were no trees left at the Athens Acropolis.
In Sparta, there were many beautiful old tall trees and lovely views of the surrounding Mountains. I guess they couldn't use the wood of these trees at Mystras. Or maybe these trees aren't as old as Mystras? I should have asked David. Regardless, it was a peaceful place.
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We saw this statue of King Leonidas as we walked back to our bus after an excellent lunch in Sparta. I had the lamb, which was very tasty.
King Leonidas is the one of the main characters in the movie " The 300 " . I mentioned him on the Delphi page. Leonidas consulted the Oracle at Delphi to see if he should go to war with the Persians. The oracle told him A Kings death will save Greece from the invaders.
The battle of Thermopylae is famous for the 300 Spartan soldiers who died fighting to the death to hold back the Persians. Historical records indicate it is more like 1200 soldiers who were from many different greek city states.
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