^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Sparta (Municipality, Greece)

Σπάρτη

Presentation of Sparta
Former municipality of Mystras

See also:

Presentation of Sparta

The municipality of Sparta (35,259 inhabitants in 2011, 11,898 ha) was formed in the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Faris (Φάρις, 5,269 inh.), Karyes (Καρυές, 926 inh.), Mystras (Μυστράς, 4,608 inh.), Oinountas (Οινούντας, 2,625 inh.), Pellana (Πέλλανα, 3,405 inh.), Sparta (19,854 inh.), and Therapnes (Θεράπνες, 3,062 inh.).

Olivier Touzeau, 17 May 2014

Former municipality of Mystras

Flag of Mystras - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 17 May 2014

Situated on Mt. Taygetos, near ancient Sparta, Mystras became in 1249 the seat of the Latin Principality of Achaea, established in 1205 after the conquest of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, and Prince William II Villehardouin built a palace there. In 1261, the Latins ceded Mystras and other forts in the southeastern Peloponnese as ransom for William II, who had been captured in Pelagonia, and Michael VIII Palaeologus made the city the seat of the new Despotate of the Morea. It remained the capital of the despotate, ruled by relatives of the Byzantine emperor, although the Venetians still controlled the coast and the islands. Under despot Theodore it became the second most important city in the empire after Constantinople, and William II's palace became the second residence of the emperors. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaeologos, was despot at Mystras before he came to the throne. Demetrius Palaeologos, the last despot of Morea, surrendered the city to the Ottoman emperor Mehmed II in 1460. Except a Venetian occupation from 1687 to 1715, the Ottomans held it until 1821 and the beginning of the Greek War of Independence. In the 1830s, the fortified town was abandoned and the new town of Sparta was built, about eight kilometres to the east. In 1989 the ruins, including the fortress, palace, churches, and monasteries, were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The flag of Mystras (Kokkonis website) was yellow with a Byzantine eagle and the name of the municipality.

Olivier Touzeau, 17 May 2014