Mystras

Mystras was Byzantium's brilliant last act: a fortified city spilling down a spur of Mount Taygetos where, as the empire shrank, its art and philosophy burned brightest - emperors were crowned here, the last one among them, and its schools helped carry Greek learning to Renaissance Italy. Abandoned in the nineteenth century for modern Sparti on the plain below, it survives as a complete medieval city without inhabitants: palaces, mansions and lanes climbing between churches whose domes still hold some of the finest late Byzantine frescoes in existence, saints and angels glowing in half-lit interiors, while one convent of nuns keeps the site's original life quietly going.

What you actually see

• The frescoed churches - Perivleptos, Pantanassa and the Hodegetria's painted heavens.
• The Palace of the Despots - the restored great hall of the city's rulers.
• The upper castle - the Frankish fortress crown with Taygetos views over the whole site.
• The Pantanassa convent - the living remnant, nuns, cats and offered sweets included.

When to go

Spring is glorious - wildflowers among the ruins and snow lingering on Taygetos above; autumn matches it. Summer afternoons are brutal on the exposed hillside, so start at the top gate at opening. The churches' interiors stay cool and rewarding at any hour.

Honest expectations

Mystras is steep - the visit is a mountainside descent (or worse, ascent) on cobbles polished by centuries, and good shoes are the difference between wonder and misery. Modest cover is expected in the churches and required at the convent. It absorbs far more time than its ghost-town label suggests; rushing it in ninety minutes wastes the trip. Sparti nearby is pleasant but ordinary - Mystras is the reason you came.

Nearby

Sparti and its museum, the Taygetos villages and, over the dramatic Langada pass, Kalamata and the Mani peninsula.