This Friday I flew from sunny (today) Barcelona to rainy (today) Athens. Cynthia, from Toronto (left yesterday). We were driven directly from the airport (where Cynthia & I joined, our flights arriving just about the same time - not a coincidence, but due to careful travel planning!) to Nafplion (invariably referred to also as Nafplio), less than 2 hours away, in the northeast of the Peloponnese peninsula.
Nafplion, the first capital city of modern Greece (we are reminded often – it was the case for no more than 5 or 6 years after the end of the War of Independence, until 1834 when it was moved to Athens). Gives on the Argolic Gulf. Staying at Aetoma (pronounced “Aitoma”) Hotel, a very small boutique hotel (5 rooms – we are at the top with a lovely balcony which we may use if the rain stops while we are there!) http://hotel-aetoma-nafplio.focusgreece.gr/
Dinner nearby (at the Phanaria Restaurant); on slouvaki (veal & chicken) and spinach pie, with house red wine (great simple food, still 25Euro). What is interesting with these small villages is that they may be dating back centuries, but they are very modern – one particular womenswear store we walked by had wonderful, slick design clothes… Went to bed with the sound of rain falling on the shower sky window, nice…
Feb 19
Saturday morning; the rain stops. Earthly breakfast at the hotel (prepared and served by the owner – cut fruits, Greek yogurt and honey, cheese and ham omelet, chocolate and coconut cakes, coffee and fresh orange juice – this must be the season, orange trees are everywhere and loaded of fruits!). We had to walk this breakfast off. Climbed up to the Palamidi, a series of bastions (8 of them) built on a high cliff that dominates Napflion. Climbed up hundreds of steps (999 of them, the popular belief has it; 857 according to a more authoritative source – we did not count them!)
Quite a view from up there – over the city, the Acronafplia peninsula – the other fortification of Nafplio predating the Palamidi – the port and the fortified islet of Burdzi guarding its entrance, and the Argolic Gulf that gives on the Aegean Sea.
In following the history of the construction of the various bastions of the Palamidi and that of the Acronafplia, you learn as well quite a bit about the history of Greece or certainly of that key region, mainly characterized by successive “dominations” of foreign powers:
• Starting with the Byzantines, as early as the 6th century A.D., who added to the already existing fortifications of the Acronafplia;
• The Franks succeeded, when French crusaders took the city in 1212 and kept it until 1388 (i.e. some 175 years);
• 1388 is when it was sold to the Venetians – first “domination”, from 1389 to 1540 ( i.e. a good 150 years), during which time the city expanded and more fortifications to the Acronafplia were added;
• The Turks took it back in 1540, and kept it for almost another 150 years, until 1686;
• The Venetians regained the place, and held it from 1686 to 1715 (29 years). That is when the Palamidi castle was built – the last major construction of the Venetian empire overseas;
• The Turks retook it easily again in 1715 (the Palamidi Castle was weakly defended by no more than some 80 soldiers, we are told); the Ottomans kept it for more than a hundred years;
• When in 1821 the Greeks fought hard to take it (they starved the city for a year or so), as part of the War of Independence which gave them back their homeland shortly after.
Nafplion then became the seat of the Government of the newly liberated Greece, where its first leader, Count Ionnis Kapodistrias, was assassinated in the fall of 1831 (by members of some rival family). That is when royalty was established (?) in Greece with King Otto who eventually moved the capital to Athens in 1834.
Nafplion is still very much a port city – you can see that from the top of the Pamalidi with the expansion of the new town – but it has developed very much also as tourist destination (the old city is full of hotels and little “pensions”), especially as a weekend destination for nearby Athenians, as it is blessed by a sunny climate, milder than the average Greek weather, which also attracts other Europeans beyond Athens.
Lunch at Kiros Restaurant, on fried feta and sesame for appetizer, and veal and dolmades for main courses (with cats mating on awnings covering the courtyard!)
Walked along the port and all around the Acronafplia, to come back at the foot of the Pamalidi, and eventually the hotel. Late afternoon, walk in town, the Ayios Spyridon church (Greek orthodox?) next to the hotel, where Kapodristrias was assassinated (see above), the Constitution Square, the Archeological Museum (built in the early 18th century as the arsenal for the Venetian fleet), the “Voulevtiko” mosque (built in 1730, then served to host in 1825 the first Parliament of the new Greece), the Nafplia Palace Hotel (great location, almost at the top of the Acronafplia, facing the port; a bit run down though – maintained at a minimum cost?). Dinner at Savouras Restaurant, a fish place on the harbor – fresh dorade and French fries, Greek salad + feta cheese!
Nafplio, Greece, February 20, 2011
