Spetses sightseeing - Places to visit in Spetses

September 15, 2008

Spetses is an island of the Saronic Gulf, near the coast of the Peloponnese. It is a beautiful island, which with its rich greenery, nice beaches and calm and clean waters, is a pole of attraction for tourists from many years.

Spetses was inhabited from Prehistoric times. Due to the fact that it is a small island, there were no important events in its history. The island was under the domination of Rome and later under that of the Byzantine Empire. Due to its position, it also was target of pirate raids. It took part, with Hydra, in the War of Independence against the Turks in 1821. The wealthiest captains of the island, amongst them a woman, Laskarina Bouboulina, provided significant assistance by placing their ships at the disposal of the war effort.

Spetses covers an area of 22 km2 and has a coastline of 29 km. Its capital is the town of Spetses. The island has fine sandy beaches and clean sea. As on Hydra, in Spetses the use of private cars is forbidden and the only means of transportation are buses, animals or boats. On the western side of the island, near the beach of Agii Anargiri, there is the cave of Bekiri, which has great historical interest since many revolutionaries found refuge there during the War of Independence in 1821.

The island has good tourist accommodations. Because of its location, from Spetses it is very easy to visit the interesting archeological sites of Argos and Sparta, on the opposite coast of Peloponnese.

Spetses Architecture

The dominant architectural character of the island is reflected on its white two-storied mansions with red tiled roofs. In the capital, near the port, there are neoclassical mansions. Beyond the square, are the houses of war heroes, such as Bouboulina and Botsaris.

Spetses Monasteries

  • The Monastery of Agia Anna, near the town of Spetses
  • The Monastery of Eleonas, further south and accessible with difficulty.

Comments

One Response to “Spetses sightseeing - Places to visit in Spetses”

  1. yannis dimitriadis on September 18th, 2008 7:35 am

    A few corrections regarding the info you are giving on my home island, if I may:

    Spetses covers an area of 27,2 sq. km

    The road that circles the island is 32 km
    The coast line surrounding the island is at least double that figure.

    There is no monastery of Elona (not Eleonas), but a church with an uninhabited house, since Elona is a private church with free access.
    The main monastery of the island is Agii Pantes, overlooking the bay of Agia Marina, with 32 nuns.

    Spetses was not occupied by the Byzantine Empire, since Spetses is Greek soil and the Byzantine Empire was a Greek Empire, with capital city Constantinopolis.

    As for the historical facts I strongly suggest wikipedia as reference, since it would take me hundreds of pages what is mentioned above and set the facts straight.

    Thanks for your kind attention.

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