Peloponessos

Hidden beauties of Greece

Peloponessus.

CORINTH: On your trip along the coast of Attica to the Corinthian canal, you will inspect the strait of the Saronic Gulf and the island of Salamis where the naval battle took place in 480 between Greece and Persia. This battle can be claimed to be one of the pivotal events in the progress of western civilization. Just before Corinth we stop at the Corinthian Isthmus, whose steep walls soar nearly 300 feet overhead. The site of Ancient Corinth was inhabited in the Neolithic period (5000-3000 B.C.). Its commanding position between two seas made the city a center of commercial intercourse between Europe and Asia. The peak period of the town, though, started in the 8th century B.C. and lasted until its destruction by the Roman general Mummius in 146 B.C. Representative of its wealth is the Doric temple of Apollo which was built in 550 B.C. The city was reinhabited in 44 B.C. and gradually developed again. In 51/52 A.D., St. Paul visited Corinth. The centre of the Roman city included shops, small shrines, fountains, baths and other public buildings. The invasion of the Herulians in A.D. 267 , initiated the decline of the city though it remained inhabited for many centuries through successive invasions and destructions, until it was liberated from the Turks in 1822.

KALAVRYTA, meaning in greek "good springs", is one of the most beautiful places in Greece, with a most tragic history from the second world war. The story of the massacre: The Nazis in retaliation for the execution of some German soldiers by the Greek resistance, executed on December 13th 1943, 1436 males over the age of 15 and then burned the entire village to the ground. This date will remain engraved in Greek memory for ever. Since 1962 the German Federal government has re-endowed Kalavritan schools. The hands of the clock at the Metropolitan church stand at 2.34pm. - the hour of the massacre of 1943. A large white cross on the top of the hill overlooking the town and massive stone monuments which list the names of the dead and their ages and tell the story of the massacre is the memorial where the villagers had been executed. The white stones at the bottom spell out the words "No More War" and "Peace". The Kalavtrytans know better than many others the meaning of these words. The great train ride and Mega Spileo

PYLOS, and the Palace of King Nestor at the nearby Hora. Nestor’s Palace is the best preserved of all the Mycenaean palaces. Its ruins indicate a vast building of many rooms, one of which, the throne room, contained a circular hearth surrounded by ornate columns.Pylos flourished during the Mycenaean era( 1600-1100 BC) the period famous for the Trojan War in which Pylos and King Nestor took part very prominently. Strategically Pylos is situated at a very important position overlooking the Ionian Sea. Hence the city became famous from the sea battle of Navarino.
SPARTA, as a city remained unwalled since the bravery of its soldiers was considered sufficient protection. Spartiates, whose number may never have exceeded 10,000 spent their whole life in military and public service subject to stern discipline. Sparta was Athens greatest competitor. Unlike the Athenians who built temples and massive walls, the men of Sparta were considered the walls and there are few ruins from classical times, but they include the remains of the ancient acropolis, the sanctuary of Artemis and the tomb of Leonidas, whose small band of 300 Spartan warriors held the Persian army at Thermopaleae. On the nearby Mount Taygetos there is the Keadas, the place where the Spartans exposed the weak or deployed children. Mystras, The nearby ruins of Mystras, a purely medieval town, are worth the trip. Churches, monasteries, palaces and houses line the narrow winding streets. Once the capital of Emperor Paleologus’s Byzantine empire, the city flourished even as the rest of the empire declined, until it fell into Turkish hands in 1460. A school of philosophy attracted intellectuals from throughout the Byzantine empire, and the breadth of creativity in art and architecture is in evidence throughout the town. Starting at the Kastro (walled fortress section of town), walk down the hill, observing the beautiful and elaborate frescoes and ornamented building facades. Some of the finest examples of 14-15C byzantine architecture in Greece are preserved within its walls.There are houses and mansions and many of the churches with impressive frescos. It was the central town of Peloponissos until the Turkish occupation in the fifteenth century. It was inhabited until it was abandoned in the 1820’s when the Turks re-took much of the Peloponessus after Ibriham Pasha’s invasion. The old city since 1950 is gradually restored and is topped by a Frankish castle. "The Pantanassa" is a convent inhabited by nuns, the only people living in the city of Mystras today. "The Perivlepto" is also a monastery built under a rock with impressive frescos. If you keep climbing through the ruins of the old city you will find yourself in the castle with a splendid view of the valley below.
MONEMVASIA. The island of Monemvasia, known as the “Gibraltar of Greece,” is a massive rock rising dramatically from the sea and connected to the mainland by a causeway. The medieval town of Monemvasia can be reached only through a tunnel dominated by a protective fortress; hence, its name, which comes from the words moni, meaning “single,” and emvasi, meaning “entry.” Explore the narrow, cobbled streets of this charming town, which was the commercial center of Byzantine Morea in the 13th century.

Useful links for Peloponissos