Palamidi
Palamidi is the hilltop fortress towering more than 700 feet high over Nafplio. For me, it was an easily visible landmark that helped me get oriented when walking around the city. New Yorkers have the Empire State Building; Nafplians have Palamidi.
Palamidi has an important place in Greek history. The enormous fortress was built by Venetians in just three years (1711-1714). Just one year later, it was seized by the Ottoman Turks. Finally, in 1812, the fortress was conquered by the Greeks during the war for independence. Staikos Staikopoulos led the siege, and General Theodoros Kolokotronis rode his horse up the steep hillside to celebrate the victory. Nafplio has statues honoring both war heroes.
Although it is possible to drive up to the fortress, we thought it would be much more interesting to walk up the famous staircase. We had a good view of that staircase when we walked up Akronafplia, the smaller hill next door. It was daunting to think about climbing 999 steps! Legend has it that there were originally 1,000 steps, but Kolokotronis’s horse broke the last one. (I’ve read that there are technically only 857 steps, but I’m sticking with 999.)
It was before 9:30am, so it was cool, and the morning clouds hadn’t burned off yet. We took our time climbing those stairs, pausing often on the landings to admire the views of Akronafplia, Old Town Nafplio, and Nafplio Harbor.
The toughest part was about three fourths of the way up, when there were two long straight flights of stairs with no landings - 73 steps in row, followed by 89 more! It was the 18th-century equivalent of a StairMaster machine. The flights after that felt easy in comparison, and we made it to the top in triumph! It took us about 30 minutes to climb that staircase.
The ticket booth was at the top of the staircase. In celebration of European Cultural Heritage Days, admission to Palamidi Fortress was free! That saved us €40, which was more than enough for dinner for two in Nafplio.
The fortress was enormous, with eight independent bastions, each with its own water reservoir, food and ammunition storage, barracks, moats, etc. The first and most important one was the Bastion of Agios Andreas (St. Andrew). It had a large courtyard, a bell tower, and a chapel carved into the rock. The most curious feature was the deep, dark prison cell where Kolokotronis had been jailed for treason.
We wandered through the other bastions, climbing up and down uneven stone steps, ducking under low archways, and peeking through angled gun slits.
I imagined that an adventurous ten-year-old would be happy for hours, exploring the endless nooks and crannies of that huge fortress. But it would be anxiety-inducing for parents - there were plenty of dangerous drop-offs, marked with a small sign, a flimsy string, or not at all!
As we explored each bastion, the next one came into view, and it was impossible to resist its allure. Some bastions had clear pathways and stairs, but others were more challenging - we had to clamber up and down the steep sides of a dry moat. Each bastion had its own spectacular views. It felt like being on top of the world!
We decided to walk back down the 999 steps. It was easier than walking up had been, but it still took effort. When we reached the bottom of the staircase, my legs were feeling a bit unsteady. At our apartment, my legs protested as we climbed the stairs to the second floor. Final tally: 12,400 steps taken and 75 floors climbed!
Thoughts
Climbing the 999 steps was totally worth the effort!
Palamidi is surprisingly huge, and thankfully it is also graffiti-free.
Just five months ago, new prices were implemented across all the Greek heritage sites. Admission to Palamidi was raised from €8 to €20! That’s a steep hike, but it will provide badly needed revenue for preservation/restoration efforts and visitor services. We are visiting many sites during our time in Greece, so I don’t feel guilty about taking advantage of free admission for one site.
