Qualla: Monemvasia https://qualla.com/monemvasia en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:07 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Monemvasia https://qualla.com/monemvasia Monemvasia: Introduction https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit KenSwe72, CC0. The name is an instruction. Monemvasia comes from the Greek words for single — moni — and approach — emvasis. One way in, one way out. An earthquake in 375 AD had already done the essential work, separating the great rock from the mainland and leaving only a narrow tombolo of land connecting the two. The people who eventually settled here understood what that geography meant: a place that could be defended from almost any direction except the single causeway that joined it to the Peloponnesian shore. In 1890, a portion of even that tombolo was cut to allow ships through. The town became, as completely as geography can make anything, an island.

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Image: KenSwe72 | CC0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Monemvasia: The Rock and the Town https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit Jeroenu, CC BY-SA 4.0. The rock of Monemvasia is not a gentle hill. Its plateau rises roughly a hundred metres above sea level and extends about a kilometre in length, with sheer cliffs on the northern and western faces. The town is built on the slope to the southeast, pressed between the cliff above a...

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Image: Jeroenu | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-the-rock-and-the-town.mp3 0:06 2 full Monemvasia: Founded from the Ruins of Sparta https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 3.0. Monemvasia was founded in the sixth century, and its origins are unusually specific: the inhabitants came from the ancient settlement of Epidaurus Limera to the north, who in turn were connected to the longer history of Laconian settlement going back to Sparta itself. The sources...

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Image: Ingo Mehling | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-founded-from-the-ruins-of-sparta.mp3 0:06 3 full Monemvasia: Byzantines, Venetians, and Ottomans https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit Pitichinaccio, Public domain. For most of the medieval period Monemvasia was a Byzantine stronghold, and it became one of the most important commercial centers in the eastern Mediterranean. The town's strategic position on the sea routes between Constantinople and the western Mediterranean gave it economic we...

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Image: Pitichinaccio | Public domain

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-byzantines-venetians-and-ottomans.mp3 0:06 4 full Monemvasia: Yannis Ritsos and the Town's Literary Life https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Monemvasia's most famous native son is the poet Yannis Ritsos, born here in 1909 and died in Athens in 1990. Ritsos is one of the major Greek poets of the twentieth century — deeply political, associated with the left, imprisoned multiple times during periods of right-wing and mi...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-yannis-ritsos-and-the-towns-literary-life.mp3 0:06 5 full Monemvasia: The Town Today https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit Pitichinaccio, CC BY 3.0. After Greek independence, Monemvasia was home to just 659 inhabitants according to the 1828 census, most of the houses destroyed in the war. The rebuilding was slow. Today the town is a carefully preserved medieval settlement and a significant tourist destination, its restored st...

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Image: Pitichinaccio | CC BY 3.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-the-town-today.mp3 0:06 6 full Monemvasia: From the Air https://qualla.com/monemvasia/ Photo credit Jean Housen, CC BY-SA 3.0. Monemvasia is one of the most visually dramatic sites on the Greek coast. The great rock — roughly a kilometre long, rising sheer from the sea — is connected to the eastern Peloponnese by the narrow tombolo causeway, unmistakable from the air. The lower town's roofscape crowds th...

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Image: Jean Housen | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/2/monemvasia-wp/sw82-monemvasia-from-the-air.mp3 0:06 7 full