"Nafplio" a Nafplio Travel Page by Joseph69

Nafplio is a beautiful town south of Athens in the eastern side of the Peloponnese. It's main focus is the old town with an abundance of restaurants, bars and cafes... and the old Fortress perched high up on the hill beside the old town.

If you don't want to take the 999 steps up to the Fortress, you may take a taxi or drive to the top.

The castle (fortress) of Palamidi sits on a high hill about 216m high to the east of Acronauplia (pronounced A-kro-nafplia) which was first fortified by the Venetians during the second Venetian occupation of the area (1686-1715) due to the second occupation of the Ottomans. It is a typical baroque fortress, based on the plans of the engineers Giaxich and Lasalle. In 1715 it was captured by the Turks (Ottomans) and remained under their control until 1822, when it was liberated by the Greeks.

During the Greek War of Independence, Nafplion was a major Ottoman stronghold and was besieged for a whole year by Theodoros Kolokotronis.

After its capture, and due to its strong walls and fortifications, it became the seat of the provisional governments of Greece. Kapodistrias made it the official capital of Greece in 1829. After his assasination there in 1831 a period of anarchy followed (a bit of chaos), until the arrival of King Otto and the establishment of the new Kingdom of Greece. Nafplion remained the capital of the kingdom until 1834 (Nafplio was also the first capital of modern Greece), when King Otto decided to move the capital to Athens.

Anyway, it's really worth a visit.

Tours from Athens can take you to Nafplio. If you prefer to drive, it's about 150kms southwest of Athens and the roads are mostly dual-carriageway making them quite excellent to travel on.

There are plenty of nice cafes and restaurants to have a nice Greek meal in the old town of Nafplio. Sit outside, enjoy and watch the World go by.