Greece - Mystras - 012

"Mystras, the 'Wonder of the Morea', was built as an amphitheatre around the fortress erected in 1249 by William of Villehardouin. Reconquered by the Byzantines, then occupied by the Turks and the Venetians, the city was abandoned in 1832, leaving only the breathtaking medieval ruins, standing in a beautiful landscape. The complex of the ruins of Mystras offers the image of a city with a brilliant destiny that was deserted by men and threatened by the return of encroaching vegetation, which is splitting the walls and covering the slopes, thus destroying here and there fragile traces of history." (Extract from whc.unesco.org/en/list/511)

The city was divided into four layers. The lower city, the middle city, the upper city and the citadel (fortress) at the summit of the hill.

Here view of the surrounding area and on the upon the palace under renovation

Three shots (-2,0,2) processed in Photomatix and Photoshop