Mystras rises above the green valley of the Eurotas like a smaller echo of Taygetos itself. Frankish knights built watchtowers on the hill in the middle of the thirteenth century, meaning to control the mountain villages below. They did not hold it for long.
What survives
After 1261 the site became Byzantine, and for the next two centuries it was one of the great centres of Byzantine culture. What is left is a whole hillside of churches, palaces, mansions and ordinary houses, which is rare. Most sites give you one building and a lot of imagination.
The frescoes
The painting is the reason to go. The Metropolis holds early fresco work from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Aphendiko some of the most important pieces of the fourteenth, and the Peribleptos a set of unusual quality. At the Pantanassa what stays with you is the range of colour the painters were working with.
Practical notes
The site is steep and largely unshaded, so take water and proper shoes and go early. It is a longer day trip from the studios than the caves, and the drive north through the mountains is a good part of it.
