Suspended on the side of Taigetos Mountain, 5 km on the West side of the town of Sparta, the dead city of Mystras casts a silent gaze over the waters of Evrotas river.
Once upon a time, it was the capital of Byzantine and Medieval Mystras. The entire region is protected by a powerful fort built at the top of the hill by William II of Villehardouin in 1249, which was built in the attempt of the Franks to establish their supremacy over the Peloponnese, and it is considered as the most beautiful castle of Peloponnese, as it is referred to characteristically in the Chronicle of Morias.
The beauty of the town remains unchanged. On the north part there are palaces and homes of the nobility and houses of the publicans and churches to the south. That was Pano Hora (the Highlands).
At the end of the 13th century houses were also built round the outer part of the city wall, called Kato or Mesohora (Low or Midlands). At Pano Hora you will marvel at the despot's (landlord's) stately palace and a church dedicated to Agia Sophia (1350).
You will also encounter the main chapel of the Monastery of Perivleptos (14th c) with its superb frescoes, built under a rock, which was painted during the reign of Miaouli Katakouzinos.
The most important monument you meet and the first to be built is the Cathedral of Agios Dimitrios. On the floor of the church is the two-headed eagle, symbol of the Palaiologos dynasty, carved into a plaque. According to the tradition this is where Konstantinos stepped when he was crowned King. Next to it stands the carved throne. The frescoes in the Cathedral show a shining sky painted by skilful hands. One wing of the church houses the museum.
In 1449, Konstantinos Palaiologos was crowned emperor of Byzantium and he left Mystras for Constantinople.
In 1453 the Turks captured Constantinople and a few years later in 1460 the same fate befell Mystras. Mystras, the brilliant capital of the Despotate of Moreas, was now reduced to an insignificant village.
You should also not miss visiting the monastery of Pantanassa, the Churches of Agia Sophia, Evangelistrias, Agion Theodoron and Othigitria.
The Byzantine Museum housed at the metropolis has a collection of sculpted exhibits, Byzantine icons and superb objects of micrography.
