Nafplion Travel

Nafplion
Nafplio (or Nafplion) was the first capital of Greece after independence. Today Nafplion is a lovely seaside town about a 2.5 hour drive southwest of Athens on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Many visitors to Greece use Nafplion as a base for visiting the many ancient archeological sites nearby. Cruise ships love Nafplion because of its picturesque harbor, which is dominated by three citadels—the vast Palamidi Fortress, the Akronafplia Fortress, and the Bourtzi Fortress. Cruise ships anchor in this wonderful harbor and passengers take a tender ashore.
Although Nafplion is a charming town featuring elegant Venetian homes and towering fortresses over the harbor, the town is also a good place to use as a base for shore excursions to two nearby World Heritage sites—Epidaurus and Mycenae.
Nafplion is located in the northeast corner of the Peloponnese, approximately 146 kms from Athens. It is one of the most beautiful and symbolic cities in Greece. The first governor of Greece and the first king of Greece took the oath of allegiance in the church of Agios Georgios in Nafplion. The two communities (Niles and Nafplion) have enjoyed the opportunity of communicating and learning of the other’s culture.
Nafplion is a favourite weekend getaway destination for hot and bothered Athenians, and no wonder because it is not only a lovely city, but exudes a cool and relaxed atmosphere soothing to busy locals and foreign tourists alike. It was capital of the Greek state from 1828 to 1834 after the war of independence, although its history is modern compared to the rest of Greece, and particularly the Peloponnese, it is a popular holiday spot for its charm alone. Nafplion gets by without any classical ruins. The town does sport picturesque streets overhung with wooden balconies cascading with flowers. Some lively outdoor cafes and fascinating mosques add to the atmosphere. Energetic visitors can climb the 857 steps to the Venetian Fortress of Palamidi that overlooks the city, but most prefer to just enjoy the tavernas on the waterfront, the open-air cinemas and the beaches, while using the town as a refreshing and comfortable base from which to explore the archaeological sites of the Peloponnese.
HISTORY
Although there is very little known about ancient Nafplion – Paleolithic and Neolithic objects have been found near by – what impresses today is the recent history of this charming town.
The Venetians have marked it with the impressive, mighty and for some, elegant, fortress of Palamidi, on the 700 ft hill top right above the town.
Built between 1711 and 1715 by the Venetians it fell in the hands of the Turks a year later in 1715 and remained so until the end of the Greek war of Independence at which time conquering Greeks used it as a prison. Kolokotronis, the revolutionary war hero was imprisoned here.
After the Independence War Nafplion became the capital of the newly born Greek State. Ioannis Capodistrias, the first governor lived here and was later assassinated here in 1831 at the entrance of the basilica of Agios Spyridon. The church standing today at the Agios Spyridon square, bears the marks of the bullet at its doorway. The first pharmacy of modern Greece standing still today at the “Three Admirals� square was the placed used as a morgue to embalm his body.
Bourtzi, one more landmark of Nafplion stands in the harbour. A tiny island fortress built in 1471 by the Venetian Antonio Cambello has undergone changes that made it from an assault pad for the bombardment of the then Turkish Nafplion, to a hotel as it existed between 1930 and 1970.
The Archaeological Museum of Nafplion in Syntagma square – the center of old Nafplion – is a superb Venetian building with arcades, used to be the warehouses of the Venetian navy. The museum is housing interesting items from Mycenae and Tiryns.