Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The Greek Diaries: Part III, Mystras


For me, Greek history and culture had always meant the classical period. I knew little about Byzantine Greece and was barely aware it existed. To my surprise, two of our most memorable experiences were visits to monuments of Byzantine culture.

My husband Rick, unknown to me before this trip, is something of an expert on Byzantine culture. Just as he did with the Parthenon, despite his severe arthritis, he managed to scale the heights of the remains of the medieval Byzantine city of Mystras. A fortified city on top of a steep hill, Mystras was a major center of Byzantine culture until the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Greece in the 15th century. It is amazingly well-preserved.

The steep steps Rick somehow managed to climb:


The incredibly beautiful hills surrounding Mystras:


The drive from Athens to Mystras is about three hours and we hired a driver from a company I highly recommend My Day Trip driving service.

However, there is a Byzantine monastery one hour's drive and therefore an easy day trip from Athens--Ossios Loukos. It doesn’t have scenery quite as spectacular as Mystras, but Ossios Loukos is much better preserved than the buildings in the Mystras complex.


If we ever get to Greece again, I would love to visit the clifftop monasteries of Meteora in central Greece:


It probably won't happen, but one can dream.