The moment I walked through the dark cobblestone fortified entrance to Monemvasia an immediate sense of delight filled me, as if I was a child stepping into a fairytale.
It’s rare these days to visit a new place and not already know what to expect. The information available to us is amazing, but often the visual impact is diluted when you arrive and think “yep, it looks just like the pictures I saw online”.
Prior to arriving in Monemvasia the only detail we had was a brief paragraph in our Lonely Planet guide, so we had no preconceptions.
Monemvasia means single entrance “moni emvasi”. The only access to the town is a small causeway that connects it with the mainland and cars cannot go beyond the main gate. As you walk through the entrance it feels like you are stepping through a portal to medieval Greece and you are greeted by a labyrinth of narrow cobblestone lanes which are shiny and polished from hundreds of years of use.
Although there is some belief that Monemvasia was founded in the 6th century by the Ancient Spartans, architectural evidence of Byzantine churches, Venetian mansions and Ottoman fountains indicate that Monemvasia was founded in the 12th century.
There is a lot of history surrounding Monemvasia and it’s possible to read endlessly of Empires and Ages, but for me the pleasure of the place was simply to wander aimlessly around both the lower town with its bougainvillea clad houses and lanes and the abandoned upper town located on the plateau of the hill with stone ruins and sweeping views across the sea.
There is tourism here. As with many places, there are more properties being used for boutique hotels and holiday rentals than full time residencies. The main street is a narrow thoroughfare that runs the length of the town and is filled with cafes, restaurants and tourist shops, but step into any one of the many lanes leading off of the main street and you instantly find yourself alone to explore.
We first visited Monemvasia in August 2024 when the daytime temperatures were a scorching 35°C/95°F. We explored early and late in the day to avoid the worst of the heat but even then walking the ruins of the upper town was brutal. We vowed to return in the Spring when the sun scorched grasses would be replaced by wildflowers.
And so, last week we found ourselves back in Monemvasia and as I stepped back through the portal I was filled with delight once again.
As we’d anticipated, Monemvasia was carpeted in wildflowers throughout the upper and lower town and was a feast for the eyes and the nose. Now I have hopes of returning in the autumn…
