Mystras

Mistra

Five miles west of Sparta, in the foothills of Mount Taygetus, is the romantic town of Mistra. Today it is an abandoned city, and has been made into a World Heritage Site, and for the tourist, there is far more to see in Mistra than in Sparta itself.

Mistra was founded in 1249 by William de Villehardouin a Frenchman from Champagne, one of Frenchmen who were trying to carve out empires in the eastern Mediterranean in the aftermath of the ignominious Fourth Crusade. William did not hold it for long, for only 10 years later in 1259 at the battle of Pelagonia, he was defeated by the Byzantines and captured and was forced to give up Mistra as part of his ransom.