Concordia CMLL Study Tour

Byzantine settlement of Mystra

The day started slower than usual as we were given the morning off. Some students hiked up a large mountain in Nafplio, others went to the beach to get one last swim in before we got the day started.

Later in the morning we met at the hotel lobby to hop on the bus to Sparta. The drive was hilly but passed quickly because of the beautiful scenery we were driving through. At the end of the drive we were dropped off at the hotel in Sparta and were given about 45 minutes to get lunch. Almost all of us ended up at the same Gyro spot. There was mention about this possibly being the best gyro of the whole trip so far and I would have to agree. It was delicious. We then walked over to the Archaeological Museum of Sparta for a very quick visit. The museum itself was in a beautiful courtyard and was a small museum made up of two rooms. Inside we saw Roman mosaic pieces along with some other Spartan artifacts. 

We got back in the bus and drove to the Spartan archaeological site. We got a lecture from Dr. Buell who put into perspective just how different the Spartans were from many of the other Greek poleis. The main difference was the Spartans focus on their military. This would in turn be one of the main reasons for the decline of the spartan population.

Our last stop of the day was at the Byzantine settlement of Mystras. It was absolutely beautiful to drive up to, seriously one of the most stunning things I have ever seen. At the top, Alison gave a very detailed and great presentation about its history. 

Scaling up a large mountain in the Peloponnese this beautiful site is one of the most well preserved Byzantine sites in Greece. The architecture from this site is difficult to define because it is such a mix of different things like functionality, ritual and social context. Its location was chosen for a defensive reason, being on such high ground was means for protection. It was believed that the higher up a person resided, the more elite a person was. This fortress was first established in 1249 AD, then the byzantines took over in  1262 AD until the ottomans gained control in 1460. 

To be able to walk through this site was such a great experience. It was so impressive to see how well maintained this site was, and so cool to almost picture the society that was once here.

I am so excited to see what else we’ll be fortunate enough to see on the rest of this trip, but this was definitely one of my most favourite things yet.