Sparta Full Day Tour

The Full Day Sparta tour starts with a 45-mile drive along the National highway. We will reach the well-known Corinthian canal or else Isthmus canal that connects the Saronic Sea and the Corinthian Sea. The canal, though executed in the late 19th century, has been a 2000-year-old dream. Before its construction, ships in the Aegean Sea that wanted to cross to the Adriatic or anchor in Corinth, a rich shipping city, had to circle the Peloponnese, which would prolong their journey an extra 185 nautical miles. It is believed that Periander, the tyrant of Corinth (602 BC), was the first to conceive of the idea of digging the Corinth Canal. As the project was too complicated given the limited technical capabilities of the times, Periander constructed the diolkós, a stone road which allowed ships to be transferred on wheeled platforms. On 67 AD that Emperor Nero attempted the construction of the canal with a group of 6,000 slaves. But he was murdered before the plans were finalized. Finally, the construction of the canal came to an end at the last decade of the 19th century.

Continuing with a 2-hour drive through the mountains, in central Peloponnese, arriving at Sparta, a prominent city-state in Ancient Greece, situated on the banks of Eurotas River in Laconia, in the southeastern Peloponnese. Findings at this archaeological site were unearthed by the pioneer excavations of the British School of Archaeology starting in 1910. Excavations resumed in the early 1990’s, primarily in the areas of the ancient theatre and the merchant stalls. The most significant monuments of this archeological site include: The Temple of Athena Chalkioikos whose position has been defined by few surviving relics found at the northwest end of the Acropolis. The ancient theater of Sparta on the south side of the Acropolis is a product of the early Imperial Period. The orchestra, the retaining wall with engraved inscriptions of the rulers of Sparta in Roman times and the concave portion of the large theater has been preserved. The so-called Circular Building of Unknown Destination is a circular structure built of hewn blocks and smaller stones. The section that has been preserved, perhaps due to Roman repairs, seems to have been an important building in ancient Spartan life (the Skias). The remains of merchant stalls adjacent to the ancient theater discovered in recent excavations by the British School seem to be products of the Roman Imperial period. The relics of a grand Basilica of the mid Byzantine Era have been linked to the Basilica of Saint Nikon (10th century AD). Concluding the visit at the archaeological site of Sparta the traveler will continue with a visit at the archaeological museum of Sparta. The museum hosts thousands of findings from the province of Lacedaemon, along with those coming from other areas of the Laconian prefecture,which are not included in the archaeological collections of Gytheion and Neapolis Vion. The objects exhibited in its halls, cover the time period between the Neolithic and the Later Roman eras, while findings from the great sanctuaries of Sparta hold the most prominent position. The museum visitors will have the opportunity to admire retrieved material coming from the greater pre-historical sites of Laconia, sculptures dated from the Archaic to the Roman eras, found at various locations of the prefecture, along with artefacts from rescue excavations, the most important of which being the remains of Roman mosaic floors from Sparta. In addition, the museum exhibition includes a few but extremely valuable epigraphs,providing rare information on the history of the area.

The Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil, in Sparta (Peloponnese), transports you to the culture, history and technology of the olive and olive oil production in the Greek realm, from prehistoric times to the early 20th century. The Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil offers you the opportunity to see the very first testimonies about the presence of the olive tree and the production of olive oil in Greece. For each historical period the visitor will discover the contribution of the olive and olive oil to the economy and to everyday life: nutrition, body care, but also now outdated uses, such as lighting. (Every Tuesday the museum remains closed).

Mystras, the ‘wonder of the Morea’, developed down the hillside from the fortress built in 1249 by the prince of Achaia, William II of Villehardouin, at the top of a 620 m high hill overlooking Sparta. The Franks surrendered the castle to the Byzantines in 1262, it was the centre of Byzantine power in southern Greece, first as the base of the military governor and from 1348 as the seat of the Despotate of Morea. Captured by the Turks in 1460, it was occupied thereafter by them and the Venetians. After 1834 the inhabitants of Mystras gradually started to move to the modern town of Sparta leaving only the breath-taking medieval ruins, standing in a beautiful landscape. Many monasteries were founded there, including those of the Brontochion and the monastery of Christos Zoodotes (Christ the Giver of Life). Under the Despots, Mystras reached its zenith with the building of churches, outstanding examples of Late Byzantine church architecture, such as Hagioi Theodoroi (1290-1295), the Hodegetria (c. 1310), the Hagia Sophia (1350-1365), the Peribleptos (3rd quarter of the 14th century), the Evangelistria (late 14th – early 15th century) and the Pantanassa (c. 1430). The city was a major piece on the political chessboard of the time and was developed and beautified as befitted its role as a centre of power and culture. The city’s complex history is clearly evident in its fortifications, palaces, churches, convents, houses, streets and public squares. Mystras is a truly outstanding example of late Byzantine culture which influenced the rest of the Mediterranean world and beyond.