Mystras

"Mistra" redirects here. For the bay in Malta, see Mistra Bay. For the sedan sold in China, see Hyundai Mistra.

Mystras Μυστράς
Municipal unit
Archeological Site of Mystras
Location within the regional unit
Mystras Location within Greece
Coordinates: 37°4′N 22°23′E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Peloponnese
Regional unit	Laconia
Municipality	Sparta
Area
• Municipal unit	131.9 km2 (50.9 sq mi)
Elevation	310 m (1,020 ft)
Population  (2021)
• Municipal unit	4,238
• Municipal unit density	32.13/km2 (83.22/sq mi)
• Community	724
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	231 00
Area code	27310
Vehicle registration	ΑΚ
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Archaeological Site of Mystras
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iii, iv
Reference	511
Inscription	1989 (13th Session)
Area	54.43 ha (134.5 acres)
Buffer zone	1,202.52 ha (2,971.5 acres)

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Mystras in 2026

Mystras or Mistras (Greek: Μυστρᾶς/Μιστρᾶς), also known in the Chronicle of the Morea as Myzethras or Myzithras (Μυζηθρᾶς), is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Situated in the Taygetus range, above ancient Sparta, and below a "Frankish" castle, it served as the capital of the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea in the 14th and 15th centuries, experiencing a period of prosperity and cultural flowering during the Palaeologan Renaissance, attracting artists, architects, and intellectuals such as Gemistos Plethon. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was despot of Mystras before coming to the throne of Constantinople.

Mystras remained inhabited throughout the Ottoman period, when foreign travellers mistook it for ancient Sparta. In the 1830s, it was abandoned and the new town of Sparta was built, approximately eight kilometres to the east. The 2011 local government reform attached it to the municipality of Sparta.

As an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Byzantine city and because of its testimony to the development of Late Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art, Mystras was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1989.