📷 Tiluria · Pixabay

Where in the world

Greece

Mystras

Byzantine · Greece

Field notes

civilizations: Byzantine
types: City · Fortress
occupied: 1,249 CE — 1,460 CE
visitors: 145,939 / year
country: Greece

The site

Mystras is a fortified Byzantine town in Laconia, Greece, rising through the Taygetus range below a Frankish castle above ancient Sparta. As capital of the Despotate of the Morea in the 14th and 15th centuries, it flowered during the Palaeologan Renaissance, drawing artists, architects, and thinkers such as Gemistos Plethon. Exceptionally well preserved, this UNESCO World Heritage city testifies to late Byzantine art and culture.

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