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Anavriti
Anavryti Village |
Welcome to Anavriti!
Anavriti (or even spelt Anavryti, stressed on the last syllable) is a lovely village on the foothills of Mt. Taygetos, at an altitude of 800 meters (about 2500 feet). It is very near (13 km, 8ml) Sparti (ancient Sparta), the capital of the Prefecture of Lakonia, West-Southwest from it, 8 km (5 ml) past Agios Ioannis village, near the archaeological site of Ancient Amyclae (Amykles or Amikles in Modern Greek). It was built around 1000 AD, at exactly the same spot as the Mycenaean city of Vrisseae, and originally had the same name.
There are plenty of restaurants, tavernas and souvlaki places offering plates based on locally produced delicious meat. It is one of the villages on Mt. Taygetos that appear so small on maps, or are not mentioned at all in Travel Guides. Yet, they should have a special place in our travel itineraries because they truly deserve a visit! There is no language problem to the English speaking visitors, since the majority of Anavryti's inhabitants are retired Greek-Americans who come back to live the rest of their lives in their beloved village of origin!
There are a lot of excursions to go for around Anavriti; if you like walking, any long promenade around the village will bring you to places of serenity and impressive beauty. There are three sign-posted mountain paths starting from here: one can get you to Mystras after one to one and a half hour walking through the Anavryti gorge and following the path to this most interesting archaeological site. If you have a good trekking map, you could find a cobbled path built in Mycenaean times, some 1500 years B.C. (!!!) If, on the contrary, you follow the uphill path, you reach the Varvara mountaineering station.
One could get lots of info on these trekking opportunities at the Botanical and Geological Museum in Anavriti, which exhibits a variety of elements and pictures related to the flora and fauna of the village and its surroundings, with a section specially dedicated to Mt. Taygetos. Among them, a long list of splendid Orchids, endemic in Laconia. The museum is to be found in the building of the old Elementary School of Anavryti, big enough to have housed, once upon a time, more than 400 pupils.
Other excursions in the region are to Polydrosso (Tzitzina), a spectacular village, to Monastery of Faneromeni and to the renowned Kaiadas (Apothetae). More villages include Loganikos, Georgitsi and Chrysafa, with its Byzantine churches of Chrysafiotisa (1290), Agion Pandon (All Saints) (1367) and Agios Dimitrios (1641). One could also tour the Springs of Tripi, walk through the Ravine of Neraida (=Mermaid), explore the Caves of Koumoundouros and visit the historical church of Agios Nikolaos (St Nicolas). To come this far and not visit Gytheion and Monemvasia would be a real pity!
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