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We set off from Mystras early and drove the coastline across to the Mani Peninsula. This part of the Peloponnese is known for its history of marauders and pirates.
Greg had told me it was a pirate hangout – but actually Monemvasia is a small islet connected to the mainline in low tide by a landbridge. Originally an ancient Byzantine city that is slowly being reoccupied by tourism at it’s base and famous in Greece for ‘romance’! (nudge nudge wink wink!).
We arrived midday in the scorching June heat and decided to explore the tiny lower town with its whitewashed church, buildings and cobbled laneways. A network of tiny lanes led down towards the harbour and the glistening aquamarine waters. Being a Byzantine town it was fortified by an immense wall extending out and upwards to the top of the island.
What we did….
Check out the tiny museums, and the church we got some lunch at a tiny greek taverna overlooking the sea. The old greek women getting lunch next to us were hilarious in their gossiping and yelling hellos to all the locals.
Get a massage
You can get Massages in Monemvasia in a tiny stone cottage built in 13th Century.
Try Malvasia or Malmsey wine
We tried this wine which made the area famous – Malvasia wine. Slightly sweet and tangy, it wasn’t quite to my taste! Not as sweet as a dessert wine it is recently come back into vogue with the wine conniseurs. Famous in Shakespeare’s time – known as Malmsey wine which was how George Plantagenet was allegedly drowned in a bathtub full!
As in Richard III, the Murderer says to George “I”ll drown you in the Malmsey butt within!”
Have a gelato
June is hot here, you need to cool off : )
Explore the ancient city
Once we were cool and sugared up, we decided to climb to the ancient ruins of the upper town.
Its a hot, sweaty affair, but you are rewarded with fantastic views and amazing ruins to explore!!!
No guard rails, just crumbling Byzantine buildings left as is for you to see and imagine how the ancient city would have been. I could conjure up images of ladies in bright dresses, donkeys laden with bags (this is still something you can see in the tourist town below), merchants offering you free samples of Malmsey wine.
The site is great, but if you could easily fall into the cisterns and off the cliffs – I felt like Indiana Jones! I even found several pieces of ancient pottery – I wonder if they had been amphoras or wine, or kylix’s or even plates….
We had a wonderful dinner at a taverna overlooking sunset on the ocean, truly spectacular eating freshly caught grilled fish and moussaka…
Where to stay
There are numerous places on Monemvasia you can stay at but we decided to splash out and stay at the wonderful Hotel Kinsterna
Absolutely gorgeous white washed Byzantine farmhouse in the hills overlooking Monemvasia, the sea and beyond. I spent the afternoon drinking Cafe Freddo by the infinity pool!
