Oracle Peloponnese Greece Tour: Sparta & Mystras
Greece Sights & Oracle Tours: Sparta & Mystras
The Peloponnese: 1 day Greece Tour from Athens, lasts 10-12 hours.
Sparta (Sparti) is the capital of the prefecture of Laconia and thanks to the new modern toll super highway, less than three hours drive from Athens through some of the most historic country side anywhere in the world.
We begin your tour in Sparti, a simple country town located with in the Evrotas river valley, and on essentially the same site as ancient Sparta. Sparta today suffers from no lack of fresh foods, fine traditional restaurants, local spring water and comfortable hotels. You'll discover that modern residents of Sparti are friendly, helpful and clean limbed even if, as Laconians, they speak little
The ancient Dorian Spartans eschewed monumental edifi and sneered at the mere idea of building walls to protect their capital city.
Trained from the cradle as warriors, the Spartans figured that protective city walls were for their soon to be conquered helots!
However, being deeply religious, ruins remain of the ancient acropolis, the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia (6th c. BC), the tomb of Leonidas (5th c. BC) and the Menelaion.
Sparti also contains a good museum (left) with finds from the area is housed in a neoclassical building in the Center of town.
The plain of Laconia spreads out around Sparta, green and cool.
A few kilometers distant is the ascent for Taigetos. Snowy peaks and precipitous
rock. Plateaus and ravines. Olive groves on the gentler slopes. Poplars,
willows and plane trees line the banks of the Evrotas. Gardens of every
shade of green. And the series of villages continues. Some drenched in
chestnut trees (Anavrito) or enormous plane trees (Karies) or perched
in precarious sports – real eagles’ nests (Georgitsi). Some
boasting castles and Byzantine churches (Geraki, Vresthena, Vrondamas)
and others simply bucolic. We will drive through this succession of villages where you'll want to
wander and explore.
BYZANTINE MYSTRAS occupies a steep foothill on the northern slopes of Mt. Taygetos,
6km. NW of Sparta. The castle on the top of the hill was founded in 1249
by the Frankish leader William II de Villeharduin. After 1262 it came
under Byzantine control, and at the middle of the 14th century became
the seat of the Despotate of Moreas. In 1448 the last emperor of Byzantium,
Constantine XI Palaeologos, was crowned at Mystras. In 1460 the hill was
captured by the Turks and in 1464 Sigismondo Malatesta of Rimini managed
to capture the city but not the castle. For a short period Mystras came
under the control of the Venetians (1687-1715) but was again taken over
by the Turks. It was one of the first castles of Greece to be liberated
in 1821. The foundation of modern Sparta by king Otto in 1834 marked the
end of the old town's life. Also see Mystras.
The most important monuments of the site are: The Castle.
a) The fortification. The Frankish castle with the battlements and towers
was founded by William II de Villeharduin and was later reinforced by
the Greeks and the Turks. b) The walls. The two strongly fortified circuit
walls were strengthened by tall, rectangular towers, dated to the Late
Byzantine period. The Cathedral of St. Demetrios. It belongs to a mixed
architectural type: it is a three-aisled basilica on the ground floor
with a narthex and a bell tower (dated to the second half of the 13th
century), and a cross-in-square church on the upper floor (added in the
first half of the 15th century). The interior is decorated with wall paintings
representing many different styles, dated to the period between 1270/80
and the first quarter of the 14th century. The wall paintings of the dome
date to the 15th century. Church of Saint Theodore. It was built between
1290 and 1295 by the monks Daniel and Pachomios. It is of the octagonal
type, with lateral chapels, and is decorated with wall paintings dating
from the end of the 13th century. Church of Our Lady Hodegetria (the Leader
of the Way). It was built in 1310 by abbot Pachomios. It belongs to the
mixed architectural type with a narthex and lateral chapels and is decorated
with excellent wall paintings, dated to 1312-1322, some of which are connected
to the Constantinopolitan art. Church of Aghia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). Domed,
cross-in-square, two-column church, built in the middle of the 14th century.
It has side chapels and a bell-tower.
Remarkable wall paintings are preserved
in the sanctuary and the chapels. Monastery of Our Lady Peribleptos. The
catholicon (main church) is a domed, two-column, cross-in-square church
with chapels. Beside it stands the Tower-Refectory. The church is decorated
with wall paintings of exceptional artistic quality, made by various artists
of the third quarter of the 14th century. Church of Our Lady Evangelistria
(of the Annunciation). Domed, cross-in-square, two-column church decorated
with wall paintings of the beginning of the 15th century. Monastery of
Our Lady Pantanassa (the Queen of all). The catholicon belongs to the
mixed architectural type and has exterior porticoes and a bell tower.
Fine wall paintings dated to ca. 1430 are preserved on the upper floor
and in the sanctuary, while the wall paintings on the ground floor date
from the 18th century. Palaces of the Mystras Despots (Kantakouzenoi and
Palaeologoi). Large building complex, L-shaped in plan. It contains many
buildings of different functions, erected in different phases between
the 13th and the 15th centuries.
Here are a few of the other Oracle Greece Taxi or Bus touring destinations you may choose from
Athens,
Cape Sounion, Ancient Corinth, Delphi & Ossios Lukas, Drama, Florina, Greneva, Chalkidiki, Imathia, Kastoria, Kavala, Kozani, Meteora, Mt. Athos, Mycenaea, Naufplion, Olympia, Pella and Vergina, Phillipi & Kavala, Dion & Mt Olympus, Sparta & Mystras, The Mani and Monemvasia,Thessaloniki,
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E-mail Paul for prices and availibility