"Monemvasia" a Monemvasia Travel Page by leffe3

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The Gibralter of the eastern Mediterranean, an impregnable 'island rock', Monemvasia was the medieval seaport and commercial centre of the Byzantine Peloponnese.

The name speaks for itself - a derivation of 'Moni Emvasis' - single entrance, a reference to the single causeway/bridge that connected it to the mainland.

Founded in the 6th century, the town/island remained in the hands of the Byzantines for almost 700 years, falling to the Turks in 1540. It this time it had become extremely wealthy, but Turkish rule precipitated a steady decline in importance, wealth and therefore population.

Other than a brief prosperous interlude in the 17th century, Monemvasia's more recent historical signficance was in 1821 when it became the first Turkish garrison to fall in the War of Independence.

Nowadays its little more than a monument to the past - with only some 10 families in permanent residence (at its peak it is estimated that some 60,000 people lived here).