Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hike to the monasteries of
Lousios Gorge
(
Click here
)
and discover the delights
of charming mountain-top villages
Stemnitsa
(
Click here
)
,
Dimitsana
(
Click here
)
,
Karitena
(
Click here
)
and
Andritsena
(
Click here
)
Meander through the magical
Mystras
(
Click here
)
, a World Heritage-listed site
Explore the historic sites of
Ancient Mycenae
(
Click here
)
,
Ancient Nemea
(
Click
here
)
and
Epidavros
(
Click here
)
Meander up the dramatic
Vouraïkos Gorge
(
Click here
)
on the unique rack-and-
pinion train to the historic village of Kalavryta
History
Since ancient times the Peloponnese has played a major role in Greek history. When the
Minoan civilisation declined after 1450 BC, the focus of power in the ancient Aegean
world moved from Crete to the hill-fortress palaces of Mycenae and Tiryns in the Pelo-
ponnese. As elsewhere in Greece, the 400 years following the Dorian conquests in the
12th century BC are known as the Dark Ages. When the region emerged from darkness
in the 7th century BC, Athens' arch rival, Sparta, had surpassed Mycenae as the most
powerful city in the Peloponnese. The period of peace and prosperity under Roman rule
(146 BC to around AD 250) was shattered by a series of invasions by Goths, Avars and
Slavs.
The Byzantines were slow to make inroads into the Peloponnese, only becoming
firmly established during the 9th century. In 1204, after the fall of Constantinople to the
Crusaders, the Frankish Crusader chiefs William de Champlitte and Geoffrey de Ville-
hardouin divided the region into 12 fiefs, which they parcelled out to various barons of
France, Flanders and Burgundy. These fiefs were overseen by de Villehardouin, the self-
appointed Prince of the 'Morea', as the region was called in medieval times, perhaps be-
cause mulberry trees grow so well in the area (
mouria
means mulberry tree).
The Byzantines gradually won back the Morea and, although the empire as a whole
was now in terminal decline, a glorious renaissance took place in the area, centred on
Mystras, which became the region's seat of government.
The Morea fell to the Turks in 1460 and hundreds of years of power struggles between
the Turks and Venetians followed. The Venetians had long coveted the Morea and suc-
ceeded in establishing profitable trading ports at Methoni, Pylos, Koroni and Monem-
vasia.
