Rome to Istanbul – Day 6 (Sparta and Mystras)
Today we visited Gythion the major port city on the Peloponnese peninsula of the Greek mainland. It is home to about ~12,000 people but still strategically important. It was the major port of the region in Roman times and the port for the key city of Sparta.
While there is a lot of tourism and fishing, the region is primarily agriculture. The largest crop being olives with substantial additional presence of citrus and wine. This shot of olive groves is but a tiny snapshot of the breadth of the olive business.
We ventured beyond Gythion through the modern city of Sparta (built mainly on the ruins of ancient Sparta) and finally to the medieval town of Mystras which overlooked ancient Sparta. The Monastery, the castle, churches and grounds are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
