Lost Capital of Byzantium

by Steven Runciman

ISBN: 978-1-84511-895-2

First published 1980

144 pages

Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbooks

Cover image: Hagios Nikolaos, Mistra

Cover image by Vanni/CORBIS

5/5 Stars

Take a trip into the past, into the last flourish of the Byzantine culture. The last cultural outpouring of a people that traced their lineage back through thousands of years, before finally falling under the yoke of the Ottomans.

There was a brief period, after the Franks had left, before the Ottomans had arrived, in  the 13th and 14th century that a brief revival of Byzantine culture occurred. Situated in the Vale of Sparta, Mistra attracted travellers from all over Europe. Philosophy and the arts were patronized.

We are guided through the streets of Mistra, from its founding and growth to its decline, and its re-finding in the 18th Century, on the Grand Tour.

A wonderful journey into the history of a site that still beguiles and bewitches to the present day.