Mystras

Sparta Municipality, Greece

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Mystras is a fortified Byzantine town perched in the Taygetus range above ancient Sparta in Laconia, Peloponnese. Serving as the capital of the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea during the 14th and 15th centuries, it flourished as a center of the Palaeologan Renaissance, drawing prominent figures including the philosopher Gemistos Plethon. The site witnessed the early career of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, who served as despot there before ascending to Constantinople's throne. Positioned below a Frankish castle, Mystras remained inhabited through the Ottoman period, when European travelers mistakenly identified it with classical Sparta, until its abandonment in the 1830s following the establishment of the modern city of Sparta eight kilometers away. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989, Mystras stands as an exceptionally preserved example of a Byzantine city and a crucial testament to the development of Late Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art.