The church of Pantanassa monastery in the medieval, byzantine "castletown" of Mystras, close to Sparta, Peloponnese, Greece.
The medieval, byzantine "castletown" of Mystras, close to Sparta (or "Sparti") town, Lakonia, Peloponnese, Greece. Here you can see the church of the still "active" monastery of Pantanassa. . In its interior you can see some impressive frescoes. In 1261, the Latins ceded Mystras and other forts in the southeastern Peloponnese as ransom for Villehardouin, who had been captured in Pelagonia, and Michael VIII Palaeologus made the city the seat of the new Despotate of the Morea. It remained the capital of the despotate, ruled by relatives of the Byzantine emperor, although the Venetians still controlled the coast and the islands. Mystras and the rest of Morea became relatively prosperous after 1261, compared to the rest of the empire. Under the despot Theodore it became the second most important city in the empire after Constantinople, and Villehardouin' s palace became the second residence of the was also the last centre of Byzantine scholarship; the Neoplatonist philosopher George Gemistos Plethon lived there until his death in 1452. He and other scholars based in Mystras influenced the Italian Renaissance, especially after he accompanied the emperor John VIII Palaeologus to Florence in 1439.
Size: 5616px × 3754px
Location: Mystras, Lakonia prefecture, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe
Photo credit: © Hercules Milas / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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