Imagine an amazingly intact Byzantine city, stuck against a steep hillside, with winding alleys, monumental gates and arches, medieval houses, palaces and churches, and you have a picture of Mystrás. Wander through Mystrás and you enter into a different age.
In its heyday this Byzantine city had a population of more than 40,000 people. Mystrás was originally founded by the Franks in 1249, but they didn’t last much more than a decade and were eventually driven out by the Byzantines, who made it the cultural and intellectual centre of their world.
Today Mystrás is an enormous open-air museum of medieval architecture and art. A number of churches house some of the most beautiful frescoes that you will ever lay your eyes upon.