The beautiful view from the fortress of Monemvasia

Hello there! 

So, if you haven't read my previous posts, my mum and I visited Sparta a couple of days ago, for the long weekend. On the first day, we visited Mistras, and on the second day, we decided to relax a bit and take a stroll in the city and visit the museums and galleries. Finally, on our third day, on our way back we stopped at the city of Monemvasia.

It is a town and a municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The island is linked to the mainland by a short causeway 200m in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 metres above sea level, up to 300 m wide and 1 km long, the site of a powerful medieval fortress. The town walls and many Byzantine churches remain from the medieval period. The seat of the municipality is the town Molaoi.

The town's name derives from two Greek words, mone and emvasia, meaning "single entrance". Its Italian form, Malvasia, gave its name to Malmsey wine. Monemvasia's nickname is the Gibraltar of the East or The Rock.

The island of Monemvasia was separated from the mainland by an earthquake in 375 AD. The majority of the island's area is a plateau about 100 metres above sea level, and the town of the same name is built on the slope to the south-east of the rock, overlooking Palaia Monemvasia bay. Many of the streets are narrow and fit only for pedestrian and donkey traffic. A small hamlet of about 10 houses lies to the northwest.

The view and the food were amazing and in the evening we started on our way back home. I am so happy that we did this little trip since it feels like we've seen so many things in a short period of time and I definitely felt ready to go back to the office the following day.