So I eventually did make it to the fortress above Nafplio, and the views
alone were worth the trek. The weather forecast had called for rain, but I had
asked the Med to give me a sunny day and the sea obliged. It rained for maybe
five minutes when I was at the Achilles bastion, long enough to make the rocks
slick as heck but not enough to even take cover. I didn’t mind at all. It was warm
and there wasn’t much wind and the way the clouds were over the sea made it
more beautiful and spiritual, even. The sun poked through and illuminated spots
on the water that made it seem as if it were divine light. One could see how
the ancient Greeks thought there were gods everywhere – the land and the sea are
certainly god-like.
 |
| entrance. finally. |
 |
| the Venetian winged lion |
 |
| view of Nafplio from above |
I came to Greece for ancient history and ended up getting
some rather pertinent to my interests in the “clash of civilizations” that we
are said to be experiencing between the West and the Muslim World (their words,
not mine) in that the site was a battleground for the fight against the
Ottomans. I tried to imagine soldiers running through the fortress but it was
tough because it didn’t seem like a livable place. I didn’t really get it,
anyway, the way the place was designed. I mean, if someone wanted to invade,
wouldn’t they just invade the city below instead of attacking the fortress? How
could a fortress so high up defend a city? I’m sure I could look up the
answers, but it just didn’t make sense to me. Then again, neither does war.
The Venetians were a decent people, apparently, because you
never hear about them committing atrocities, not like the Ottomans, who were so
brutal at times that the Bulgarians now shake their heads for yes and nod for
no, because it was their way to avoid converting to Islam (when asked, they
could be honest by nodding for no.) That’s the legend, anyway. The Ottomans
were dicks, even when they weren’t being dicks. They deserve more of the blame
for the world’s problems than they get.
You can see where the Ottomans built on top of, finished, or
repaired parts of the fortress because they famously just used whatever
building materials were available to build on top of what was already there. In
a way, it is very efficient, but it also meant they destroyed the aesthetics of
buildings and really had no sense of style. I mean, yeah, people will say “Ottoman
architecture” but they really just took from everyone else. I guess that’s what
art is, though.
I spent a lot of time up there, not just because I found it
interesting, but because of the scenery and because of the dread of going back
down. Oh, and it was worse going down. I had muscle failure. It took me about
forty minutes to go down because my legs just didn’t work. When I got to the
ground, I couldn’t walk. Eventually, I started moving again and then walked a
couple of miles along the sea. But that’s for another post.
 |
| arrow hole! |
 |
| i really wanted some cactus fruit but was afraid to pick any, though most were out of reach as it were |
|
 |
| barracks area |
 |
| barracks with bed |
 |
| chapel |
 |
| this was horrifying. it was the prison. you had to crawl to get to it and there were no windows. talk about cruel and unusual. and people spent life sentences here. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| barracks |
 |
| barracks |
 |
| barracks |
 |
| bourzi defense post in the bay |
 |
| Larissa Castle ruins at Argos across the bay - also Venetian, but with ancient ruins as well. Did not see up close |
