Monemvasia, Greece
Monemvasia, a historic small town situated on a massive offshore
rock attached to the mainland by a causeway is considered a must for travelers
on the Peloponnese Peninsula, despite its remote location near the end of one of
the Peloponnese’s long south-pointing fingers. It out to be good since it
involves quite a trek to get there, well over four hours from the Nafplio area
even without stops.
We decided to take the scenic route south along the Argolic
Gulf to Leonidio, a route that twists and turns over the mountains with
frequent viewpoints over the sea. As an
approximate halfway point, the small town
of Leonidio made a good place to stop for lunch. The town is actually a
few miles inland from the Mediterranean and is better known as a tourist destination
for the rock-climbing opportunities in nearby Dafnon Gorge. Departing Leonidio
our route took us through that gorge and steeply up one of its sides to an
elevation of nearly 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) on a very narrow, rather scary
road. Then things leveled out somewhat at the higher elevation to the quaint mountain
village of Kosmas.
It was downhill from there and then through some hilly
country of the region known as Laconia, for which a town in New Hampshire is
named. What does it mean to be laconic? We had to look that vocabulary word up.
Laconic: characterized by use of few words.
As in, “Warren is so verbose. Why can’t he be more laconic?”
Founded in the sixth century, the walled town of Monemvasia
is one of the longest continually inhabited fortified settlements in Europe.
The towns walls, Byzantine churches, and maze of narrow alleyways are its main
attractions. Well, for many who visit, I
suspect the main attractions are the old town’s boutique hotels, restaurants,
and several spas. Indeed, although constructed to blend in harmoniously with
the historic structures, it quickly became apparent that many of the buildings
in the old lower town of Monemvasia are recent construction. And there continues to be significant new construction
going on, not just renovation of abandoned structures.
We went over onto the rock shortly after our arrival at our
hotel in Gefyra, the modern service town on the mainland.
There’s no real
parking lot on the island, so cars were parked along the access road, our spot
not far from the bridge so it would probably have made sense for us to have
walked all the way. Monemvasia’s walled town is on the eastern side of the
island, so most of our time there was in the shadow of the rock, pleasantly
cooler than in direct sun but not the best light for good pictures. Supposedly it’s possible to hike up a steep
trail to the abandoned upper town on top of the rock, something I considered
leaving until morning to do.
Despite Monemvasia’s long history, there aren’t many
attractions in town to show for it beyond walls, houses, and churches. We decided continue on our way in the morning
rather than return to what struck John and me as a very touristy place. What
probably clinched that decision was the cruise ship moored in the harbor in the
morning disgorging its passengers on smaller boats to visit the town.
2025-05-23