Monemvasia

Monemvasia is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected to the mainland by a short causeway 200 metres in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 m above sea level, up to 300 m wide and 1 kilometre long. Founded in the sixth century, and thus one of the oldest continually-inhabited fortified towns in Europe, the town is the site of a once-powerful medieval fortress, and was at one point one of the most important commercial centres in the Eastern Mediterranean. The town's walls and many Byzantine churches remain as testaments to the town's history. Today, the seat of the municipality of Monemvasia is the town of Molaoi.