Now it is time to leave Athens a little bit and talk about the breathtaking trip I had to the Peloponnese! When I was planning my trip, actually I did not have it in my mind at all to go outside of the city, but fortunately my host was full of great ideas and open to show me places that I could not reach with public transport so easily. Her first suggestion was Nafplio: an important port city on the East of the peninsula which’s history is rather connected to the history of the medieval and modern Greece.

The car trip to reach the city was already a sort of living movie for me: not just due to the huge mountains, grey and red rocks, green fields and hills, olives and vineyards everywhere, but also due to the fact that we were driving near lots of worldwide famous cities with a story dating back to the ancient times, such as Thebes (today: Thíva), Mycenae, Argos or Corinth. While crossing the Corinth Canal, I did not forget to mention to my host that the canal was in fact designed by Hungarians: Béla Gerster, who also participated in the design of the Panama Canal, and István Türr, who was not just an architect, but a veteran of the Hungarian (and then also the Italian) war for independence.

Nafplio’s name is similar to Naples, Italy and it is not a coincidence: the route of both names is the ancient Greek world neapolis (‘new city’), which was a common name in cities that had Greek connections (see my article about Siracusa, Sicily). Nafplio already existed in the Roman times, but it started flourishing during the Byzantine era and during the centuries became an important fortification and strategic point of the whole Peloponnese. Later when the Republic of Venice was the ruler, it also developed its fortification system, and the Ottoman Empire also left a strong mark on the city’s image.

By the way, don’t be surprised if you see the Italian phrase Napoli di Romania anywhere; since Naples and Nafplio eventually have the same name, this phrase was used to distinguish this ‘Greek Naples’ from the Italian one. ‘Romania’ here did not stand for the Balkanic Latin country we know today (which did not even exist yet), but in the Middle Ages, it referred to the Byzantine Empire, since Byzantines called themselves Romans for their entire existence (the Empire in fact was not else but the former Eastern Roman Empire, got hellenized in the early Middle Ages). 

Therefore, Nafplio is a proud home for even three castles, which, as a matter of fact, all used to be prisons at a certain point. The most famous one, Palamidi is situated in the highest peak of the city, and when I looked at it, it reminded me to Santa Barbara – the enchanting castle of Alicante, Spain (By the way, Palamidi is also the name of the beach behind the castle hill.) Unfortunately, it was difficult to approach the castle by feet, so in the end we visited the second largest castle, which was called Acronapulia (more or less meaning ‘High Castle of Nafplio’). 

The view from Acronapulia was maybe not the same as it could have been from Palamidi, but I indeed enjoyed walking among the old stone walls, gazing the lovely, colorful town houses, the pier and the ships docking in the port and the distant, dark Peloponnesian mountains, all bathing in the sunshine. The fortress also had stone carvings winged lions above the gates which I knew very well from my Venetian days: they are the obvious references to the Republic of San Marco, one of the greatest sea powers ever. 

The prickly pears and pines nodding in the warm breeze and the crystal clean, blue, still water amazed me so much that I could have stayed around the castle for the whole day. It was also interesting to see that there was a former hotel on the top that did not really fit the picture of the area, but most probably it was a perfect chance for urbex tourists who like visiting abandoned buildings. Hotel Xenia was actually also a jail before, where mainly the political opponents of the military dictatorship were imprisoned before it was rebuilt to be a hotel due to the increasing popularity of Nafplio as a tourist destination. 

The third fortress, the latest and smallest one was down in the port on a little island and was called Bourtzi. It was built by Turks and also used to be a prison and a watchtower to control the whole harbour, mainly with canons. Today it can be reached by ferries and boats. By the way, climbing up to the castle hill also keeps some secrets, like a Roman Catholic church dedicated for the Transfiguration of the Saviour. Locals also call it Frankokklesia (‘Church of the Franks’), because in the early Middle Ages everyone who was Catholic, particularly Frenchmen, Italians and other Latin people in general were considered ‘Franks’ for the Orthodox Greeks.

There are only a few people who are Catholic, not Orthodox among the religious residents in Greece, but of course, there is a story beyond. The church used to be an Ottoman mosque, owned by the widow of a local Turkish officer, Fatme (who was in fact, Christian and of Greek origin). She had the mosque restored after the Greek revolution, which was ultimately turned into a Roman Catholic church for King Otto’s order (who was Bavarian thus himself Catholic as well).

There are holy masses performed in various languages in the church, such as English, French, Italian, Albanian and Polish – it was interesting for me to see it on the photos that there were many Polish missionaries serving in the church, even though I know it very well that the Catholic church has a strong position in Poland and it is kind of obvious that their culture was also among the represented ones. Many of the foreign volunteers of the revolution, the so-called Philhellenes are also buried under the church and there is a memorial board with their names for their honor. 

Speaking of churches, the Church of St. Spyridon is not just an old an important Orthodox building, but also the scene of a tragic and significant event of modern Greek history. After the Greek revolution, the first capital of Greece was Nafplio, since it was much developed and bigger at that time than Athens, which was, let’s say ‘just a village with ancient ruins’ back then. Very different from what we know nowadays.

The first prime minister of the Hellenic Republic though, Ioannis Kapodistrias, a key figure of the revolution, was assassinated on the stairs of this church, and then was succeeded by his brother. The city still remembers the famous statesman and pays its tribute to him, for instance through his statue standing close to the port. By the way, you will also find another statue near St. Spyridon, and you might think that it is Kapodistrias too, but it is not: its a monument of Greek writer Angelos Terzakis.

And here comes something else about Greek freedom fighters for you: believe it or not, there was a woman among the Greek admirals during the revolution called Laskarina Bouboulina; this is the reason why a character from the famous novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek, namely, a French madame had the nickname Bouboulina as well. I was reading the book twice:  ironically it happened when I was living in Venice and established my Greek connections, but apart from the book, I can recommend you the movie with Anthony Quinn, who was, fun fact, given an honorable citizenship from Greece for his authentic screen role.

Back to history, in the end, Greece turned into a kingdom and Bavarian Otto from the Wittelsbach family was invited to the throne be the king of the country. It was decided during his reign that Athens, a symbol of traditional Greek culture should be the capital of the state, and the country was a monarchy until the military dictatorship began in 1973. Actually ,the Hellenic Parliament on Syntagma (‘Constitution square’) was a royal palace of the king in the beginning and was turned into a parliament later.

By the way, I have just learnt it that when I first went to Greece in 2018, the last Greek king, Constantine II was still alive and he died in 2023. Roman king Michael I had a similar story – he also lived for a very long time, until the end of the late 2010s as the last ruler of his country who was dethroned. 

In spite of all the contradictions of democracies and monarchies, Otto in general has a cult and a positive legacy and in spite of being a foreigner, he has many statues that mostly picture him in traditional Greek military uniform – the same uniform which is worn by the famous parliament guards in Athens, which clothing is eventually a heritage from the Ottomans with its Eastern features (particularly the shoes).

I also learnt another fun fact from my host, but it was actually very true: if you want to know whether a statue represents a person of ancient Greece or modern Greece, the most important is if the person is naked or not; if so, the statue was a reference of the ancient times, if not, it was connected to the modern country established in the 19th century. 

Until my trip to Nafplio, I had many gaps regarding modern Greek history, and it was good to see this people through a different lens, rather than the ancient Hellenes we know from history books. Events like socialist movements, second world war, cold war, military juntas or the birth of the European Union all had impacts on this country just like on us in Eastern Europe. I do not know what was true about the urban legend that ‘Greece and Hungary were exchanged between the Western and the Eastern bloc due to Churchill’, but in the end, we all suffered a lot from the historical storms of the 20th century.

Last, but not least, I should mention some spiritual traditions I witnessed mainly in Nafplio, but afterwards I also noticed it in Athens. One of them is the very ancient belief of an amulet called μάτι (mati, meaning ‘eye’ in Greek), which is, as the name suggests, a round-shaped eye motif that protects the owner from evil and brings them luck, fortune and good health. This eye can be seen on various items and souvenirs, such as mugs, cups, scarfs, wallets, magnets and so on, and people usually buy it for themselves or as a gift. 

The idea beyond is the concept of evil eye, and amulets like mati are meant to protect the owner from that, like a counterpart, like a ‘good eye’. Apart from Greece, this motif is known all around the Middle-East, so in Turkey and in many Arabic countries as well. The same amulet in Arabic is called nazar, and its features are nearly the same: the eye mostly has different shades of blue and there are concentric circles around in white, yellow or black.

Another tradition belongs to Orthodox Christianity, and apart from St. Spyridion’s Church, I saw it in the top of Lyccabettus. Icons are very important in the Orthodox belief and they mean a direct connection to the saint for the people. Saint George is an outstanding figure for the Eastern churches, therefore, when it comes to his day in the end of April, many people ask him for different favours and they all leave some donations at his icon in return. Of course, this tradition is known for Catholics too and, as we will see it soon, votive gifts exist in many religions since the dawn of mankind. 

During the car trip I also saw many small models of Orthodox churches by the road imitating real ones, but in a smaller size: as it turned out, they are installed for the memory of fatal car accidents or death cases by the relatives of the victims. There are craftsmen and companies specialized in creating such small churches, and, what is more, they also offer you Orthodox chapels that you can place in your own garden based on your customer needs.