Mystras is a fine example of a Frankish and then late Byzantine town. Frankish you may wonder? Yes, Frankish. As you probably know, the glorious 4th Crusade ventured off path. Instead of attacking the Arabs and defending/liberating the Holy Land, they went off to capture Constantinople. For a while Frankish kings governed the Latin Empire and Frankish dukes and barons set up all over Greece, one of them in Lakonia, the area around ancient Sparta. Around 1250, the Frankish prince built a strong castle for the province at Mystras and a town grew around it.

Eventually, the Byzantine recaptured their capital and Lakonia, but the Byzantine Empire never recuperated from the damage done by the 4th Crusade. The Byzantine Empire was on it's deathbed. In the final years of the Byzantine Empire Mystras was the capital of the Despotate of the Morea. In 1460, Mystras surrendered to the Ottomans. Mystras itself remained an important city in the Ottoman Empire. It was only during the Greek War of Independence that the historic city was turned into ruin. A true pity.

What you get nowadays is a late medieval city in ruins that you can explore. You get a good feeling for the town plan and from the castle ruin great views of the area. Some of the monasteries remain and can be visited. If this hadn't been destroyed, it would be a truly great site.

Getting There

Main transport hub near Mystras is Sparti (Sparta). KTEL is KTEL Lakonias. From Sparti, there are multiple busses each day to Tripoli, Corinth/Isthmus and Athens. In Tripoli, you have connections to Nafplio (once per day, Mycene & Epidauros), Kalamata (Ancient Messene (T)), Megalopolis (Amphitheatre (T)), Andritsena (Bassae) or Pyrgos (Olympia). Initially, I had wanted to cross the mountains to Kalamata directly from Sparti but there are only two busses each week (Fri, Sun).

Unfortunately, it's a one hour walk from the bus station to Mystras, so I would recommend taking a cab (< 10 EUR). The hotels are all at the bottom of the hill in the new part of town and it's a 15min walk to get to the Lower Gate.

While You Are There

"Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by..." If you pass through Sparta, you should visit it. The archeological site is near town and access is free of charge. It provides some context for the changes that took place between antiquity and medieval times. The acropolis of Sparti is a small hill in the middle of the agricultural plain and that was enough at the time to defend the town. Mystras is a way stronger defensive position with the castle way up high on a rocky hilltop and the town built into the hill slope.

As an aside, every German student will know the phrase as "Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa" from a central Heinrich Böll short story.