Although people do live and tourists do stay on the rock, it is well…pretty rocky and the views, this one of the sea taken on the Lower Town portion of Monemvasia, are rather beautiful. May 25, 2015

Inside the 11th century Church of Christos Elkomenos (Christ in Pain) with its Byzantine origins on the rock’s Lower Town portion of Monemvasia. May 25, 2015

A donkey provides transport through the narrow, rocky streets of the Monemvasia Lower Town on the Rock. May 25, 2015

Just a little more of Monemvasia. May 25, 2015

A donkey provides transport through the narrow, rocky streets of the Monemvasia Lower Town on the Rock. May 25, 2015

We left the Rock of Monemvasia this morning to make our way to Nafplio…but along the way we stopped at the medieval city of Mystras and the famous Sparta. Mystras, four miles west of Sparta on the slopes of Mount Taygetos, is an important Byzantine castle-town site in Greece. The main attractions at Mystras are its churches with its late Byzantine architecture and beautifully extravagant frescoes. May 26, 2015

This is the entrance to the Metropolis courtyard and the Cathedral of Agios Demetrios. May 26, 2015

This is the courtyard of the Metropolis where the Cathedral of Agios Demetrios is located at Mystras. May 26, 2015

Inside the Cathedral of Agios Demetrios at Mystras. May 26, 2015

A beautiful fresco inside one of the churches at Mystras. May 26, 2015

The nuns and the wild cat make Mystras their home in Greece. Humans do not feed the wild cats because the cats’ jobs are to keep the bug, lizard and mice population under control. May 26, 2015

This is what I was expecting in the city of Sparta…plus a variety of archeological findings….May 26, 2015

…but this is actually what Sparta looks like today, a small city with little in common with the ancient city of Sparta because it’s buildings were dismantled to reuse in the construction of Mystras. May 26, 2015

Inside one of the beautifully frescoed churches of Mystras. May 26, 2015