Monemvasia

Monemvasia is the nearest big day trip from Elafonisos: a whole medieval town built in the shadow of a 200-metre rock, joined to the mainland only by a causeway. It takes its name from that “moni emvasi”, the single entrance.

A little history

The area was inhabited in prehistoric times. The town on the rock was built in the early Byzantine years, when people from the surrounding area took refuge there for safety. Fortified and almost impregnable, it stayed free for more than 40 years after the Crusaders took Constantinople in 1204, until the Franks captured it in 1248 after a three-year siege. Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans followed; the Ottomans called it the “Castle of flowers”. Its wine, malvasia, became famous across Europe.

What you will see

Through the gate, on the left, is the house where the poet Yannis Ritsos was born. The main street, with its Byzantine cobbles and shops, leads to the square with the cannon and the church of Christ Elkomenos. The old mosque on the square houses the Archaeological Collection.

Climb to the Upper Town, the “Goulas”: between walls and ruined towers you reach Agia Sofia, built on the edge of the cliff, with a view over the whole bay.

Good to know

Monemvasia is about 50 kilometres away, roughly an hour by car. No cars enter the old town: park on the road before the gate or in the new town. The climb to the Upper Town is steep and shadeless: go in the morning or late afternoon, with good shoes and water.