Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Brief history
Commanding the Lakonian plain and fertile Evrótas valley from a series of low hills
just west of the river,
ancient Sparta
was at the height of its power from the eighth to
the fourth century BC, a period when its society was structured according to extremely
harsh laws (see box opposite). The ancient “capital” occupied more or less the site of
today's town, though it was in fact less a city than a grouping of villages.
Lykurgos
,
architect of the warlike Spartan constitution and society, declared that “it is men not
walls that make a city”.
The Spartans famously defeated Athens in the
Peloponnesian War
between 431 and
421 BC and later established colonies around the Greek world. They eventually lost
hegemony through defeat to Thebes. A second period of prosperity came under the
Romans - for whom this was an outpost in the south of Greece, with the Máni never
properly subdued. However, from the third century AD, Sparta declined, as nearby
Mystra became the focus of Byzantine interest.
The annual September
Spartathlon
, a 246km run from Athens to Spárti,
commemorates the messenger Pheidippides who ran the same route in 490 BC: the
current course record is 20 hours and 25 minutes.
2
Ancient sites
Daily 8.30am-3pm • Free
There are a few ruins to be seen to the north of the city. From the bold
Statue of
Leonidas
,
hero of Thermopylae, at the top of Paleológou, follow the track around and
behind the modern stadium towards the old
Acropolis
, tallest of the Spartan hills. An
immense
theatre
here, built into the side of the hill, can be quite clearly traced, even
though today most of its masonry has gone - hurriedly adapted for fortification when
the Spartans' power declined and, later still, recycled for the building of Byzantine
Mystra. Above the theatre a sign marks a fragment of the
Temple of Athina Halkiakou
,
while at the top of the acropolis sit the knee-high ruins of the tenth-century Byzantine
church and monastery of
Ósios Níkon
.
Out on the Trípoli road (Odhós-ton-118, just past the junction with Orthias
Artémidhos), a track leads to the remains of the
sanctuary of Artemis Orthia
. This was
where Spartan boys underwent gruelling tests by flogging. The Roman geographer and
travel writer
Pausanias
records that young men often perished under the lash, adding
that the altar had to be splashed with blood before the goddess was satisfied. Being
addicts of morbid blood sports, the Romans revived the custom here - the main ruins
are of the spectators' grandstand they built.
The archeological museum
Mon-Sat 8.30am-3pm, Sun 9.30am-2.30pm • €2
All moveable artefacts and mosaics have been transferred to the town's small
archeological
museum
on Áyios Níkonos. Among its more interesting exhibits are a number of votive
offerings found on the sanctuary site - sickles set in stone that were presented as prizes to
the Spartan youths and solemnly rededicated to the goddess - and a fifth-century BC
marble bust of a running Spartan hoplite, found on the acropolis and said to be Leonidas.
There is a dramatic late sixth-century BC stele, with relief carvings on both sides, possibly
of Menelaos with Helen and Agamemnon with Klytemnestra; the ends have carved
snakes. There are fragments of Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, and numerous small lead
figurines, clay masks and bronze idols from the Artemis Orthia site.
The Museum of the Olive
Wed-Mon: summer 10am-6pm; winter 10am-5pm • €3 •
W
piop.gr
At the southwest corner of town is the
Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil
, at
Óthonos & Amalías 129, worth a visit for its informative displays covering the
primordial history, uses and production technology of the olive.
