Sparta and Mystras
SPARTA, Classical Sparta was the largest state in Greece and most of the mistress of the Peloponnese . In alliance with the majority of it consisted Peloponnesian cities. Defeating Athens in the Peloponnesian War , Sparta became the mistress and almost all of Greece. But not for long : she was defeated by other Greeks, and then the whole of Greece - Macedonia. Even in the best of times Ancient Sparta was rather large village and soldiers serving their artisans and peasants, and not the city. There was no grand public buildings, no walls or towers. Sparta residents were proud of it , saying that the walls of the city 's best - brave warriors . About harsh manners of ancient Sparta everyone knows from childhood. Modern Sparta was re- mastered in the old place first king of independent Greece Otto in 1834. Today it is a thriving modern city . Mistras left by the inhabitants , a medieval town on the slopes of Mount Taygetos , with breathtaking views of the famous valley laconically .
Being the most important center of the Byzantine Empire Mistras once was a flourishing city -fortress of unique beauty . Now from the metropolitan luxury remained dilapidated mansions of the nobility , the ruins of the palace Palaeologus and several churches of beautiful pink stone and shaped bricks . Their magnificent architecture and numerous frescoes show that in the XV century . In the art of Byzantium was on the verge of something similar to the European Renaissance . After the founding of new Sparta in 1834 , most of the residents moved there.In 1952 , archaeologists , forever transformed the city of Mystras monument .
