Monemvasia Favorite Tips by Lilasel Top 5 Page for this destination

Shadows

Favorite thing: The town of shadows, ghosts.... It is one of the most unforgettable places I saw in Greece!

Go to travelogue: "Being a ghost..."

Modern Monemvasia

Favorite thing: Most of Monemvasia's residents live in the port, which is a modern town on the Greek mainland about 2 km from the Rock of Monemvasia.This port or Yefira is a modern town with a supermarket, travel agency, bus connections and other services.

From the port, the Rock is about a 20-minute walk or a few minutes by car.

Ruins

Favorite thing: These building ruins show the type of stone construction used in Monemvasia's old town.

Narrow streets

Favorite thing: Just be lost in this town! Narrow streets will lead you somewhere to open a new Monemvasia's secret...

Go to travelogue: "Magical place - Monemvasia"

Main Square

Favorite thing: Monemvasia's main square of Platia Dsami is in the center of the old town. The Italian-style campanile at left belongs to the Church of Christos Elkomenos (Christ in Bonds). On the right is a building that has been a church, a mosque, a prison and an early 20th Century coffeehouse.

Upper Town

Favorite thing: Church of Aghia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) at the Upper Town. Octagonal, domed, cross-in-square church, identified by some scholars as the Monastery of Our Lady Hodegetria, dated to 1150.

Upper Town

Favorite thing: The upper town or citadel, which you can reach by climbing a steep path from the old town. The ruins high on the rock include the old fortress or Acropolis and the Agia Sofia church.

Lower Town

Favorite thing: The area is inhabited today and many of the ruined buildings have been restored by the 5th Ephorate. The settlement is surrounded by a U-shaped fortification wall with two gates, one on the east and one on the west side, and a small exit to the sea.

Monemvasia

Favorite thing: The settlement which is divided into two sections, built at different levels, each with a separate fortification. Remains of numerous Byzantine and post-Byzantine buildings are preserved in the area of the Upper Town which is not inhabited today.

Monemvasia

Favorite thing: A causeway links mainland Greece with the Rock of Monemvasia. This mysterious Rock was separated from the mainland by an earthquake in 337 AD.
The Rock is about 2 km from the port. Cars aren't allowed inside the walls of old town so you can park it outside the fortifications.