[Aug. 2023] In the town of Nafplio on the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece, where we stayed for about 10 days, there are two fortresses that stand out.
One is on a high mountain, and the other is offshore about 600 metres west of the port.
The day after we arrived, we first visited this offshore fort, Fort Bourtzi.
There are frequent ferries leaving from one corner of the harbour.
The ferry fare was €5 per person and the entrance fee to the fort was also €5.
However, the entrance fee for this fort started 9 days before we went, and it was free until then.
Bad timing.
This fort was built by the Venetian Republic in the 1470s, and the information board said that it was built to the highest level of technology at the time.
Historically, Nafplio has been occupied by several powers, and before being occupied by the Ottoman Turks in 1540, it was affiliated with the Republic of Venice from 1389 to 1540.
And when Greece finally achieved independence in the first half of the 19th century, it became the capital of Greece.
It is said that Fort Bourtzi played an important role during the country’s independence.
This important fort was leased to a local businessman from Nafplio in the 1930s and turned into a hotel.
After that continued until the 1960s, it was apparently used by the Greek Tourism Board as a tourist facility, and it seems that it was only recently that it was changed back to its fort form and became the symbol of the town.
It’s a small island fort, so you can walk around it in no time.
From the rooftop, we could see a panoramic view of the town of Nafplio.
However, the view of the fort from the town might be more impressive.
The weather was not good and it started drizzling.
It was good in that it wasn’t too hot, though.
On this day, first thing in the morning before visiting here, we went to the open-air market in Nafplio, which is held twice a week.
It’s mainly a vegetable market, and there are also some seafood booths beyond that.
There wasn’t anything unusual, but it was interesting to see a few booths selling just one type of product, such as a cucumber specialty shop, a grape specialty shop, and a snow pea specialty shop.
We bought a ton of grapes for less than €1.
We ended up buying too many nuts, and ended up not being able to eat them all.
However, when it comes to seafood, my friend said, “The prices are about the same as in Tokyo.”
The items we bought were wrapped in a cone of paper and handed to us.
