Venetian Fortress at Methóni
Methóni, Greece
February 16, 2009
Methóni, Greece
February 16, 2009
The imposing bastions of the Venetian fortress at the port city of Methóni must have been a welcoming, if intimidating, sight to those en-route from Venice to the Holy Lands. Modern day travelers must enter via a stone bridge that crosses a dry moat and leads through three imposing gates before opening out into the overgrown expanse inside the fortified walls. The interior is scattered with the ruins of it’s sundry occupants over the centuries – a Turkish bath, a Byzantine cathedral, Doric pillars, a British cemetery, a French church, and, of course, Venetian homes.
While walking the outer walls, I discovered the sea gate leading out to the causeway and offering a dramatic view that can’t be that different from what travelers saw almost 1000 years ago.
