A Nice Stroll About Nafplio

Nafplio (Modern Greek: Ναύπλιο, Nafplio) is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was an important seaport held under a succession of royal houses in the Middle Ages as part of the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, held initially by the de la Roche following the Fourth Crusade and then by Aragonese nobility, before coming under the Republic of Venice and, lastly, the Ottoman Empire. The town was the capital of the First Hellenic Republic and of the Kingdom of Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the regional unit of Argolis. ~wiki

What a sweet little town. The historic part of Nafplio is exactly what you would expect a coastal European town to look like: quaint coffee shops, small boutiques featuring jewelry, souvenirs, and clothing, and large, open squares. Narrow streets lined with trees and apartments, complete with clothing hanging out to dry. It was lovely! We met some really nice people there, as well, including the sweet soul who told us all about komboloi.

"Komboloi with beads made of real-genuine amber of Baltic Sea"

"The Greeks are the only nation in the world who do not use the komboloi for religious purposes. We adopted it from the Turks and changed its philosophy and purpose. It has become an aid for tranquility and meditation. The number beads is not definite but analogous to the size and length of the beads of the komboloi, thus providing the owner with the utmost comfort for playing with it. It always needs to have an odd number of beads. The color, the sense of touch, and the sound produced by the beads are qualities of great importance." ~The Komboloi Museum, Nafplio, Greece

They are traditionally made of amber, which happens to be a favorite of Chuck's. So, we indulged on some special komboloi of our own - his are a luscious butterscotch color, while mine are more translucent burgundy/brown.

Here are some more pics we snapped of Nafplio. We stayed here for two nights and even though most of the town was closed due to the season (and it was damn cold!), we still enjoyed our walk-abouts, and some of the best gelato outside of Italy.

"I wanted to add something about the little port town on the southern tip of the Peloponnese where we spent a couple of nights, Nafplio. From there we traveled out to Epidaurus (the healing temple of Asclepios and a large theater), Lerna (very ancient House of Tiles and place of the mythical monster Hydra), and Tiryns (massive walled fortress in the plains). But  the town itself has an amazing history of trade-off domination by the Greeks, the Venetians, and the Turks. They all left their marks on the architecture, arts, crafts, and politics of the city. High on a bluff directly above the city is a massive brick and stone fortress that the Venetians built in just four years. By the end of its construction, the unpaid  and starving Venetian soldiers abandoned the fort when they saw the Turkish army approaching. If one wanted to they could walk up the 900 stone steps from Nafplio (or drive up the zig-zaggy road) and see how easily anyone could conquer the town simply by lobbing shots down from the heights until they surrendered. Fortunately for us the day we were there, due to winds, the steps were closed and the bus remained on-site to get us back down the hill.

Nafplio itself has pleasant walkways and shops. We strolled all the way around the cliffs to find an abandoned resort. The cliff top was another fortress that was the first protection of the city. Back among the shops, we stopped into one shop that is also a museum of komboloi (commonly called worry beads). The clerk and curator explained the history and meaning of these hand distractions. So Liz and I purchased our own sets made of amber (ancient tree sap) both as a souvenir and contemplation aid, which  we now carry wherever we go. Another site that we didn't visit is a small fort on a tiny island out in the middle of the harbor from which the Venetians would run chains to block the entry to any threatening fleet. Nafplio is truly a stroller's town rich in complex history." ~from Chuck's journal