Monemvasia is a Gibraltar-like rough island off the east bank of the Peloponnese, in Greece, and connected to the territory by a short thoroughfare. The island is around 300 meters wide and a kilometer long, and climbs in a level, a hundred meters above ocean level. On the slant of this level, on the offshore side and avoided the territory, lies a residential area. This surprisingly sentimental walled town, settled under the shadow of the towering rock is a living gallery of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Venetian history going over to the thirteenth century.
Monemvasia was settled in the sixth century by the tenants of antiquated Laconia looking for shelter from the Slavic intruders who commanded a lot of Greece between 500 to 700 AD. The rough island had been differentiated from the territory by a quake in 375 AD. Through the following a few hundreds of years, Monemvasia changed hands over and over, here and there and then here again, between the Venetians and the Turks, until it was freed amid the Greek War of Independence in the early nineteenth century.
The name Monemvasia is gotten from two Greek words, mone and emvasia, signifying "single doorway" and alludes to the narrow causeway which is the best way to enter the town.
The island was at first settled on the highest point of the level, which is currently alluded to as the "Upper Town". Bit by bit the settlement spread down the slope, and on account of its interestingly decently protected position, created into an effective town. In the declining days of the Byzantium Empire, Monemvasia turned into its fundamental city and one of the extraordinary business focuses of the Byzantium world and a real exchanging port, with a populace of 40,000. By the eighteenth century, Monemvasia went into decay until it was re-discovered by visitors in the 1970's.
Gradually, the town is resurging in vitality – this time as vacationer end of the line with an expanding quantities of vacationers going to the district amid the mid year. The medieval structures have been restored, and a hefty portion of them changed over to inns, and there are a lot of places to eat.
Source : Wikipedia