10-11-13. Sparta, Greece
Even after it became capital of the Despotate of Morea (an appanage of the Byzantine state in the last century of its existence), Mystra was never a large city. But it was and is an impressive one. The citadel is perched on a mountain spur, hundreds of feet above the Laconian plain. Two turreted wall circuits descend the slope below. Amid weathered pines and mantling scrub, a few restored buildings stand out from a tangle of weathered ruins.
Since the despot’s palace is still under reconstruction, the highlights of a visit to Mystra are the half-dozen or so churches that have preserved their original frescoes. Built in a time of poverty and insecurity, none are particularly large, especially when compared to the grand monuments of Thessalonniki or Constantinople. Many were defaced during the Turkish occupation. What remains, however, is truly striking.
Lacking the splendor of Late Antique gilt mosaic (which the despots could no longer afford), the frescoes compensate with a surprising vitality. Unlike the static, iconic figures of earlier art, one has a sense here that the artists were working and thinking with living models. Genuine realism was not the goal; but the effect is something like Giotto’s Arena Chapel –of something new emerging gradually in a traditional mold. One wonders how this tradition would have developed had the Ottoman conquest not cut it short.
The most memorable part of my time in Mystra, however, was the half-hour or so I spent in the citadel.
Though not particularly impressive in itself, this castle commands superb views over the Laconian plain. I climbed to the highest point, and sat on the rampart for a few minutes to savor the green valley, ringed on all sides by tan peaks.The white buildings of Sparta clustered in the middle of the plain, surrounded by olive orchards. A small tree-covered hill marked the acropolis.
So much history had happened in this valley. I could see the whole heartland of ancient Sparta from where I sat; and just below me was the Metropolitan church in which Constantine XI, last emperor of Byzantium, is said to have been crowned.
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