A trip to nature and history

Sparta! The famous city, which left its mark on Greek and world history! A place with unique monuments and attractions and incomparable natural beauty that is worth visiting! Toponyms, monuments, archeological sites and museums compose the setting for a journey into myth and history. Follow the footsteps of Leonidas, Menelaos & Oraia Eleni and wander the castles, palaces, churches and stone houses of Mystras where Constantine Paleologos reigned. Admire the imposing statue of Leonidas – the most photographed attraction of Sparta – in front of the municipal stadium. In a short distance you will find the Acropolis of Ancient Sparta, where you will see relics of the temple of Athena Chalkioikos, the so-called “circular building” and the ancient Roman theater which was one of the largest in ancient Greece. On the outskirts of the acropolis, you will find the ruins of a peculiar temple-shaped building, the Leonidaion (5th century BC). The local tradition, as well as the traveler Pausanias, state that Leonidas’s bones were transported and buried there from Thermopylae. Two more archaeological sites worth visiting are the sanctuary of Orthia Artemis, which was the religious center of the Spartan education of the young, and Menelaion, an important sanctuary where the worship of the mythical king Menelaus and the Beautiful Helen took place. From the hill of Menelaion you will admire the most beautiful view to the valley of Sparta and Taygetos!

In Sparta there are also remarkable museums that present the historical and cultural development of the region:

The Archaeological Museum is housed in an impressive neoclassical building in the city center and its collection includes exhibits from prehistoric to Roman times.

The Museum of Olive and Greek Oil, will take you on a journey through the culture, history and technology of olives and olive production in Greece, from prehistoric times to the early 20th century.

The Museum of Modern Sparta exhibits traditional costumes, manuscripts, drawings, as well as anything related to the city and its history from its re-establishment in 1834 until today.

For the friends of folklore there is the Manousakeio Museum of Popular & Urban Life, where through representations of interiors and multimedia projections you will meet aspects of family and social life, the people who created and inhabited the new city of Sparta.