Medieval Monemvasia
Written by Pieter Jan on Sep 25, 2019 — 2 min read
At: Monemvasia, Western Peloponnesos, Greece
Today, the weather was its usual Greek self again. Not a smidgen of thunderstorm in sight, only deep blue skies and a little breeze. We took the day off to visit Monemvasia, a fortified town on a big rock that is connected to the mainland by a bridge only.
Monemvasia was settled in the 6th century, and the castle-city became a port of extreme strategic importance and prominent trade hub in the Byzantine Empire. As such, it also became a coveted prize for conquerors and pirates. So everyone fortified the shit out of it.
They also built no less than 26 churches to make sure the various gods and saints would certainly be on their side. Some of those churches were converted into mosques after the Ottomans took over. Surely, there’s a comment about religion in there somewhere.
All this history gives Monemvasia very diverse and cosmopolitan architecture that we enjoyed very much climbing through.
Oh yes, if you need a tip for eating: Voltes near the entrance of the town is a delightful mezze bar.
