Byzantine church of saint Dimitrios, Mystras

The castle on top of the hill at an altitude of 620 m. was built in 1249 by the greatest of all Frankish princes, William II of Villehardouin. William was  a “second generation “crusader knight : he was born in Kalamata the second son of Geoffrey of Villehardouin, who had taken the cross in the fourth crusade . He spoke both French and Greek. Somewhere I read that   prince William  made a point of spending   every Spring in Mystras, because he  loved  the many  flowers that decorate the hill in that period.  In 1261 the Frankish  castle and palace were ceded to  the Greeks. Because of the ongoing hostilities  between  Franks , Greeks ,  Albanian tribes and Turkish mercenaries  the population  living  in the Lacedaemonian plain flocked to the better defendable hill side of Mystras.  In 1270 metropolitan Eugene started   the building and decoration   of the metropolitan church of saint Dimitrios. This oil painting shows  a cobbled path that leads down the hill to  the building complex  that was added to the church of saint Dimitrios  during the Ottoman Empire. The many flowers  are bathing in bright sunlight and in the background the Eurotas valley  can be seen. What inspired me to paint this landscape was the way in which the flowers  seemed  to  radiate light. The trunk of  the  cypress tree casts a shadow forming a line that guides the eye to the sun lit flowers, playing the leading part. I’ve argued before (see here) that many landscape paintings gain interest by incorporating some kind of human intervention; without the building complex there would be no “stage” for the flowers to play their leading role.

Cobbled path leading down to  the church of saint Dimitrios,  Mystras

40 x 50 cm, oil painting