Greece 2010 - July 16th - Fortress at Sea

Next, we drove out to Monemvasia, which is described by the Lonely Planet as being "the Greek equivalent to France's Mont St-Michel."  I'm afraid this didn't mean much to me until Laurence explained that it basically meant a big fortified city on a rock at sea.

Big is the rock, and impressive are the fortifications!  In fact, the main fortifications are of comparable size, but the rock in Monemvasia is much bigger, and the stuff looks much older and timeworn.

The main square.  Fortifications at the top of the rock are visible in the background.

A section of the main street.

Going up to the ramparts.

Church in the town.

The town has been mostly restored, but if you take the time to climb the stairs and go to the top of the rock, you can see beautiful ruins of a castle, cisterns, and more.  There is also another mostly intact/restored church.

Ruins along the wall.

Church of Aghia Sophia, at the top of the hill.

Entrance to the church, from the side.

The background mountain is on the mainland.

Sun setting on the town.

Town from above.

The long way down.  Very slippery.

The shorter (but deadlier) way down.

This door has seen better days.

That day was also an occasion to interact with the animal kingdom on multiple bases.

It is that hot.

They make Garfield proud.

Little guy lounging in the shade.

Goats on our way home.  They are blocking the road, perhaps to protest something.  Shortly after we snapped this picture, a pissed off shepherd dog attempted to take apart our Fiat.