Ancient stones

This was not the most rugged place we've been to this trip. The walk among these ancient stones was so refreshing and lovely. The new town lies to the bottom of the hill. The major town is Sparta, just 3 miles away. Mystra is no longer inhabited. There are regular buses between Sparta and Mystra. Sparta? Remember 'Spartans?' The ancient Spartans are from here and they are one tough group of people. Basically the ancient inhabitants of the Peloponnese are really tough people, there are the Spartans, the Manoits from the Mani, the Mani is the furthest Western part of the Peloponnese and lastly the Monemvasiots from Monemvasia. The Sparta valley is probably the gentlest part of the peninsula, the Mani and Monemvasia are wild and rugged areas, even till today and you've got to know that the people who lived here are tough.
Today the modern town of Sparta is very rural but towards the outskirts lies the ruins of ancient Sparta. There's not much left.

St Theodore, Mystra

I wonder what's it like during the other months. Sometimes a place could be so magnificent in the winter, all covered with snow. But it being spring, it was so magnificent. The grass is allowed to grow tall, cutting it would be such an arduous task in those hills. The wild flowers just grow all over among the tall green grass. I've yet to see a more beautiful place. The whole hillside is just covered with old ruins and some free standing churches of relative restored state. St Theodore being one of them and we shall go in to see what remained of the frescoes. St Theodore was built around 1295 and was restored in 1932.

The frescoes

 The dome in the Kariye musesi in Istanbul is done in a very similar way. See my posting on 'church of our saviour in chora.' I don't have 'linkin', maybe I should. I don't have time to improve on this blog, I'm working all the time when I'm not traveling and half the time I'm flat out too tired.

 The upper floor, this is a double storey church.

 The beautiful and very ornate templon. It is so beautiful. It sends chills down my spine.

The church is small and I didn't have much room to maneuver to take a complete picture of Jesus Christ Pantocrator. As in their architecture, the frescoes and mosaics follow a set pattern, one set down by the Orthodox church. Besides these frescoes are not for decoration, they are for the instruction of their adherents. The church is ministering to an uneducated populace. Today we call it Byzantine art but they don't think of it as art. The style and color reminds me of the ones in Kariye musesi in Istanbul. The conjecture is that the artists/painters left Constantinople after its fall and went to work in Trabzon (my next trip in June will be to Trabzon, Turkey) then to Mystra in the Peloponnese. Hence the similarity. It was very exciting to see Byzantine frescoes again. After those in Cappadocia, Turkey, it is now my quest to search out in every corner of the world, Byzantine churches and frescoes. I may as well convert to the Orthodox church.

Byzantine museum

 The double eagle, a symbol of the mighty Byzantine empire.

The first building we arrived at had a church and a refectory. The refectory was converted into a museum but there wasn't much in it. The architecture was solely Byzantine and I love the curved tiled roofs. We saw them all over Greece. There are old little churches all over Athens which they have preserved. These are usually dark and only lit by candle light. They are supposed to have mosiacs which gives light. The frescoes and mosaics, while is a form of art but their purpose is not art but instruction. The congregants are mostly uneducated and the only way to teach them is through pictures. I get so excited at seeing these cute little churches but I think the modern Orthodox people prefer their new churches and buildings.

A relaxing vacation? Not!

So what's your idea of a relaxing vacation? This is my idea, relaxing, well, just doing a different activity and being in a different place is relaxing. Mind you, its not for everyone. We live out of a suitcase and I know most Americans can't do that. We do our laundry in the sink and hang them all over the furniture though in some hostels in Rome, this is forbidden. We do it discreetly. We take buses and in this trip because of language barrier we weren't told of changing buses and almost miss our destinations. We get lost and have to ask people sometimes many times before we get some information we can use. This does not happen on cruises where all you need to know is where is the dining room or the shops. Nor does it happen on a catered tour.
This way we've gone to some of the world's most fascinating places that the cruise ships can't reach or the tour buses. We've hiked the Cinque Terre though when I told that to a friend, he asked if there was a port nearby or if any of the cruise lines go there. The Cinque Terre is another incredible experience. If you have a chance to go there, take it! It's a 7 hour hike between 5 fishing villages on the Ligurian coast of Italy.

Pantanassa

We didn't have time to see Pantanassa which is still a working monastery where nuns live. It's setting in the middle of the hillside and in the best condition compared with the others makes it so magnificent. We were heading up to it when they rang the alarm announcing closing time.

Anemones 2

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them or I can do it for you. This photo is so spectacular if I may say so.

Anemones

 I saw red and I thought, 'oh goody, the red poppies are in season. But on closer examination, found out these are red anemones. Wow, how delughtful, it's even better. Wild red anemones, how can you top that? They were everywhere among the others, white, blue, pink, yellow.....

 Someone had picked a bouquet of these anemones and when I took this picture, she lifted it up and posed.

 I wish she can see this picture.

The presence of surprises like this just adds to the charm and delight of our visit. It's absolutely amazing. I'll never forget this place and I do want to come back, in spring, definitely in spring!