Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
enchanting 17th- and 18th-century
arhontika
(mansions once owned by
arhons,
wealthy
bourgeoisie merchants).
Several Byzantine monastic sites have made it to the Unesco World Heritage register,
including the
katholikon
(main churches) of Osios Loukas, significant for their late-Byz-
antine multidomed style, and the 11th-century Moni Dafniou, which stands on the site of
an ancient Sanctuary of Apollo.
TOP FIVE PROVINCIAL ORIGINALS
PyrrgiiSee the medieval, labyrinthine, vaulted island village of Pyrgi in Chios, for its
unique Genoese designs of intricate, geometric, grey-and-white facades.
ZagorroohorriiaGaze at the slate mansions of the Zagorohoria: schist-slab roofs,
stone-slab walls and fortified courtyards.
VatthiiaWatch out for the lovely Vathia in Mani, for its startling meercat-esque stone
tower houses with round turrets as sentry posts.
OiiaSquint at the volcanic rock-hewn clifftop village of Oia in Santorini, with its
dazzlingly whitewashed island streetscapes and homes.
Leffkada T
da TownDiscover the strangely attractive wooden-framed houses of Lefkada
Town; the lower floors are panelled in wood; the upper floors are lined in painted
sheet metal or corrugated iron.
Frankish Keeps & Venetian Strongholds
After the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, much of Greece became the
fiefdoms of Western aristocrats. The Villehardouin family punctuated the Peloponnesian
landscape with Frankish castles, such as at Kalamata and at Mystras, where they also
built a palace that ended up a court of the Byzantine imperial family for two centuries.
When the Venetians dropped by to seize a few coastal enclaves, they built the impenet-
rable 16th-century Koules fortress in Iraklio, the very sturdy fortress at Methoni, and the
imposing 18th-century Palamidi fortress at Nafplio. The rambling defence at Acrocorinth
is studded with imposing gateways, and the rock-nest protecting the enchanting Byzanti-
ne village at Monemvasia commands spectacular ocean views.
Ottoman Offerings
Interestingly, remarkably few monuments are left to catalogue after four centuries of Ot-
toman Turkish rule (16th to 19th centuries). Though many mosques and their minarets
have sadly crumbled or are in serious disrepair, some terrific Ottoman-Turkish examples
