Monemvasia, Greece - April 2006

May 1 is a holiday in Greece, as in most European countries, and we were given a half day off because we worked the Greek Easter weekend for the Secretary of State’s visit to Athens, so Rita and I decided at the last minute to take a trip.  Unfortunately the weather didn’t look as if it would cooperate according to all weather forecasts, but Greek weather forecasters aren’t much better than anywhere else so we decided to take our chances. 



We have wanted to visit Monemvasia ever since we came to Greece but hadn’t done it yet.  Since most Greeks took vacation from Easter weekend to May Day (their labor day) we had difficulty getting hotel reservations anywhere near Monemvasia.  We almost decided to make the trip some other time.  We finally found a room due to a last minute cancellation Thursday night at the Xifoupolis Hotel about 3 miles out of town.  Friday morning we woke to darkening skies which turned to sprinkles by noon.  We headed west then south on the Peloponnese peninsular with more rain each hour.  We drove through Tripoli and Sparta and arrived in Monemvasia about 5 hours after we left Athens.  We checked into our room and drove back to the old walled city for a quick walk around before dark.



The word Monemvasia means “the only entrance” and it is the name given to the rock connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway.  The isolated rock, about 1000 feet high, was separated from the mainland by an earthquake in AD 375 and the old town was founded when the first road was built to it in the sixth century.  It is called the Gibraltar of Greece and reached its heights in the 15^th century when it was a busy Byzantine city of about 50,000 people.  Later it was occupied by Franks, Venetians and Turks.  Today there are less than a hundred full-time residents in this beautiful walled city.  There are actually two towns, the lower town is called the Kastro and there is an upper town that is reached by a steep, zigzag trail.  The upper town is mostly in ruins today with only the Agia Sofia church remaining.  Ruins of a citadel are at the highest point.



Friday night we walked around the lower town and there was a cruise ship anchored a little ways off.  The town was full of German tourists we presumed came from the cruise ship.  We ate dinner at one of the few restaurants in town, the Kanoni, which is recommended by most guide books.  The food was good in a pleasant upstairs dining room with ocean views.



Saturday morning we had breakfast in our hotel and got an early start as parking on the rock near town is very limited.  We arrived about 9:00 am and did a thorough walk around the lower town stopping for coffee about mid-morning.  After that we walked the steep zigzag trail up to the upper town which is mostly in ruins.  When we started the skies were hazy and cloudy but by mid-morning the sun came out for a pleasant day.  The air had enough coolness in it to help us in our steep climb. 



The views from the upper town are spectacular and we continued higher to one of the remaining buildings, the Agia Sofia church.  This church was built on the edge of a steep cliff, which gave us vertigo looking straight down.  While Rita rested I climbed a little higher for views of the citadel but did not hike the distant trail as someone told me it wasn’t worth it.  We hiked along the upper ramparts with great views of the lower town below and found the large cisterns used in times of siege.  Monemvasia was never conquered in battle but the Greeks did lay siege to the then-Turkish occupied city in 1821 during their war of independence.  The Turks were not prepared and nearly starved before surrendering. 



Finally we hiked back to the lower town and had a couple of large Mythos beers at the Matoula Taverna, the first and oldest taverna in Monemvasia.  We sat on an outdoor patio with pleasant views once more and had a nice lunch.  We left about mid-afternoon and decided to drive to the town of Neapoli near the tip end of this part of the Peloponnese.  We took a primitive back road over the mountains and arrived in Neapoli about 3:30 pm.  We had a drink at an outdoor café on the waterfront with views of the islands of Kythira and Elafonisos.  Neapoli is not especially charming but the setting of the town is nice.  We drove back to Monemvasia via a different, coastal route and stopped to see the ruins of Epidavros Limira which we know nothing about as there were no signs and nothing in our guide books on it.  We had dinner at a taverna next door to our hotel and went to sleep with tired legs from our hiking.



Sunday morning we woke to thunder and lightning and more rain than we hoped for.  We had planned to drive back mountain roads to Geraki and Leonidio but they will have to wait for another, sunny day.  We didn’t feel like risking the drive on curvy mountain roads in heavy rain.  So we packed up early and drove back home a day early the same way we drove down.  We were so fortunate to have the one decent sunny day to explore Monemvasia which is a definite “find”.  As The National Geographic Traveler says, “It is astonishing that the name of Monemvasia is hardly known outside Greece, because it is one of the most extraordinary towns in the whole country.  The result is that it remains delightfully unspoiled.  Those who venture here can regard it as a special place that few other visitors see.”