Venetian Greece itinerary

There is a Greece that feels oddly familiar to anyone who knows Italy: Venetian Greece. For almost six centuries, from the 13th to the end of the 18th century, the Republic of Venice controlled ports, islands and fortresses along the routes to the East, and in many places it left lions of St Mark carved over gateways, arrow-shaped bastions, bell towers, loggias and even words that entered the local dialect. The Peloponnese, which the Venetians called the Morea, was for centuries one of their lands, and it preserves some of the most spectacular fortresses in the Mediterranean.

This seven-day itinerary follows the traces of the Serenissima in the Peloponnese: Nafplio, with Palamidi and its winged lions, Monemvasia, the stone town on a rock in the sea that gave its name to malmsey wine, and the twin fortresses of Methoni and Koroni, which Venice called "the eyes of the Republic". Along the way you cross the Mani peninsula, with its stone towers, and the finest coasts of Messinia.

Venice in Greece

After the Fourth Crusade of 1204, when the crusaders captured Constantinople, Venice took ports and islands along the route to the East: Crete, which it held for over four centuries, Corfu, which never fell to the Turks, and the ports of Methoni and Koroni in the Peloponnese. Later it acquired Nafplio and Monemvasia. Wars with the Ottoman Empire followed one another for centuries, and at the end of the 17th century Doge Francesco Morosini reconquered the whole Peloponnese, which remained Venetian for some thirty years: it was during that war, in 1687, that a Venetian cannonball blew up the Ottoman powder magazine in the Parthenon. For the history see our pages on Ottoman Greece and Italians in Greece.

Day 1: from Athens to Nafplio

From Athens to Nafplio is about two hours, with a stop at the Corinth Canal. Nafplio was Venetian twice, in the 15th century and at the end of the 17th, and it shows everywhere. On the Land Gate and the bastions of Akronafplia the lions of St Mark are carved, and the large building on Syntagma Square, now the archaeological museum, was a storehouse of the Venetian fleet built in the early 18th century. In the afternoon stroll through the centre and take the boat to the Bourtzi, the castle on the islet that once closed the harbour with a chain.

Where to stay: in Nafplio, for two nights.

Day 2: Palamidi

The Palamidi fortress, on the hill above the town, was built by the Venetians between 1711 and 1714: it is one of the greatest examples of Baroque military architecture in the Mediterranean, a system of eight interconnected bastions, each able to defend itself alone. By an irony of history, the year after its completion the Ottomans took it almost without a fight. Climb on foot by the staircase of almost a thousand steps or drive up, and look for the winged lions carved over the bastion gates. From the top you see the whole Argolic Gulf. In the afternoon you can visit Mycenae or the theatre of Epidaurus; see the myth itinerary in the Argolid.

Day 3: Monemvasia

Drive down the coast and through inland Laconia to Monemvasia (about three hours). It is one of the most extraordinary sights in Greece: a huge rock rising from the sea, joined to the mainland by a causeway. The name means "single entrance". From the road you see nothing, then you pass beneath a narrow gate and find yourself in an intact medieval town, car-free, with stone lanes, Byzantine churches, restored Venetian houses and small hotels in historic mansions.

From the port of Monemvasia the Venetians exported throughout Europe a sweet wine named after the town: malvasia, known in England as malmsey. Today some local producers have revived it. At sunset the lower town lights up with lanterns.

Where to stay: in Monemvasia, inside the walls, for two nights.

Day 4: Monemvasia's upper town

In the morning climb a zigzag path to the upper town, on top of the rock, now largely in ruins, where the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia, from the 12th century, stands over a sheer drop to the sea. The view is immense. In the afternoon swim at one of the nearby beaches or visit the house of the poet Yannis Ritsos, born here in 1909 and buried in the small cemetery outside the walls.

Day 5: the Mani

Cross the Mani peninsula, the wildest in the Peloponnese, land of warrior clans who never fully submitted to either Venice or the Turks. Pass through Gythio, the colourful port from which, by tradition, Paris and Helen sailed for Troy, and head south through villages of stone tower houses, built by families to defend themselves in feuds, such as Vathia. At the Diros Caves you glide by boat along an underground river among stalactites and stalagmites. In the afternoon drive up the west coast, through Areopoli, the town of the 1821 uprising, to the village of Kardamyli, where the writer Patrick Leigh Fermor lived.

Where to stay: in Kardamyli or Stoupa.

Day 6: Koroni and Methoni

Pass through Kalamata and drive down the Messinian peninsula to Koroni (about an hour and a half), a village of pastel houses climbing beneath the Venetian castle. Inside the walls, besides the ruins, a small community of nuns still lives in the Prodromos convent, with a flower garden above the sea.

On the other side of the peninsula, Methoni has one of the finest fortresses in Greece: a huge walled enclosure on the sea, with a stone bridge at the entrance, lions of St Mark, a Venetian column and, at the far end, the octagonal Bourtzi tower, built by the Turks on an islet reached by a little bridge. Methoni and Koroni were the ports where Venetian galleys called on the route to the East and to Jerusalem, and medieval pilgrims described them in their diaries.

Where to stay: in Pylos, for one night.

Day 7: Pylos and the return

In the morning visit the Niokastro at Pylos, the fortress built by the Ottomans and later restored by the Venetians, with a museum on the history of Navarino Bay, where in 1827 the fleets of Britain, France and Russia destroyed the Turkish-Egyptian fleet, opening the way to Greek independence. Then go down to Voidokilia beach for a last swim. From Kalamata Airport, about an hour away, fly home, or drive back to Athens (about three and a half hours).

How much it costs

To save money: Monemvasia is the most expensive stop; you can sleep in the little town of Gefyra on the mainland and walk across the causeway. Koroni, the Mani and Pylos have good-value guesthouses and studios out of season.

Practical information

• Monemvasia: cars cannot enter the walls; you park along the road and carry your luggage, so travel light.
• Fortresses: Palamidi and Methoni have little shade; in summer visit early in the morning.
• Diros Caves: in summer there are queues for the boats; arrive early.
• Italian: in tourist areas many Greeks understand a few words of Italian, a legacy of centuries of trade and proximity.
• Documents: EU citizens only need a valid identity card. See getting to Greece.

Variations

• Corfu: the island that was never Ottoman, with its two Venetian fortresses, UNESCO-listed old town and the Liston; see Corfu.
• Crete: Venetian Candia, with the harbours of Chania and Rethymno, and the loggia and Morosini fountain of Heraklion.
• Ionian and Aegean islands: the Venetian fortresses of Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Naxos and Tinos.

What to read before you go

To understand the Venetian presence in Greece, a good history of the Serenissima's Stato da Mar, such as Roger Crowley's City of Fortune; for the Mani and Messinia, Patrick Leigh Fermor's travel book Mani. For Monemvasia, the poems of Yannis Ritsos. See also our page on the Peloponnese.

Final tips

• Pace: in Monemvasia stay at least two nights inside the walls: in the evening, when the day visitors leave, the town becomes magical.
• Combinations: from Nafplio you can link up with the myth itinerary in the Argolid, and from Pylos with the Odyssey itinerary.
• A tip: in Methoni walk to the Bourtzi tower at sunset, when the sun sinks behind the Oinousses islands: it is one of the finest sunsets in the Peloponnese.

See also our other itineraries in Greece.

Monemvasia on the map

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