the peloponnese are the part of greece south of athens. this is the area where the peloponnese war happened between athens and sparta in 431-404 bc, and where independent greece first was established. nafplio, the city where we started our trip, was the first capitol of independent greece.
the weather was fairly dismal every time i wanted to walk through town and take photos, so all i have are some pictures of the harbor. the castle in the center of the harbor is bourtzi castle, built by the venetians in the 15th century to protect the city against the ottomans. it later served as a prison, and then, from 1930-1970, as a hotel.
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when in nafplio, you have to go to the palamidi fortress, perched high above the city in the acronauplia – the edge of nafplio (in greek, “au” is pronounced “af”). unlike me, you should also remember to photograph it from a distance … anyhow, the fortress was built in the early part of the 18th century to defend the city against the ottomans, and this turned out about as well as you’d expect, although the greeks did take it during the war of independence, forcing the turks to surrender with a fight. there are 999 steps to the top. we drove.
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COHN17 