NAFPLION
The first Capital of Greece, has 20,000 inhabitants and is divided into the old and the new town. The old town was built mainly in the days of the governor Ioannis Capodistrias, at the beginning of the 19th century, but buildings still exist from the Venetian era. The new town is an ordinary Greek town with no special assets, so stroll about the old, historical quarters with their neoclassical buildings, charming squares and majestic fonts. Nafplion is the capital of the prefecture and one of the loveliest towns in all of Greece. The old city with its neoclassic houses, picturesque streets, wooden balconies with cascading flowers, Turkish fountains, Constitution (Syntagma) square with fascinating mosques and outdoor cafe tables and tavernas (restaurants), is like a faire land.
Here, after centuries of struggle happiness, has finally settled. You feel like immersing yourself in its history, burrowing into its pass- the house of the Regent Mauer, the Military Academy [it operates as a military Museum], the army Ministry, the first high school, Parliament house, St. Spyridon's church [where Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece was assassinated]. And the fairy tale world continues, whether you climb up the 999 steps to the Venetian fortress of Palamidi crowning the city, wander around the battlements of Acronafplia or pop over to the fortified island, Bourtzi, afloat in the middle of the bay.
Nafplio is full of the joy of life. It is the nobility and calm found in Minoan frescoes. In Syntagma square the Archaeological Museum with its findings from various periods and frescoes from Mycenae and Assini, is housed in an imposing Venetian building. While the Folk Art Museum on Vas. Alexandrou Str. occupies a neoclassical house.
