ARCHITECTURE
FRANKISH KEEPS & VENETIAN STRONGHOLDS
AgiosLoukas, signifi cant for their late-Byzantine multidomed style,
and the 11th-century Moni Dafniou, which stands on the site of an
ancient Sanctuary of Apollo.Frankish Keeps & Venetian Strongholds
After the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, much of
Greece became the fi efdoms of Western aristocrats. The Villehardouin
family punctuated the Peloponnesian landscape with Frankish castles,
such as at Kalamata and at Mystras, where they also built a palace that
ended up a court of the Byzantine imperial family for two centuries.
When the Venetians dropped by to seize a few coastal enclaves, they built
the impenetrable 16th-century Koules fortress in Iraklio, the very sturdy
fortress at Methoni, and the imposing 18th-century Palamidi fortress at
Nafplio. The rambling defence at Acrocorinth is studded with imposing
gateways, and the rock-nest protecting the enchanting Byzantine village
at Monemvasia commands spectacular ocean views.Ottoman Off erings
Interestingly, remarkably few monuments are left to catalogue
after four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule (16th to 19th centu-
ries). Though many mosques and their minarets have sadly crumbled
or are in serious disrepair, some terrifi c Ottoman-
Turkish examples still survive. These include the prominent pink-
domed Mosque of Süleyman in Rhodes’ Old Town, which still bears
many legacies of its Ottoman past, as does the walled quarter of
Ioannina and its restored Fetiye Cami (Victory Mosque). The
Fethiye Mosque and Turkish Baths are two of Athens’ few surviving
Ottoman reminders, and the architect for the 16th-century
Koursoum Tzami in Trikala also designed the Blue Mosque in İstanbul.
The Turkish quarter of Varousi in Trikala, and the streets of Thessaloniki
and of Didymotiho, near the Turkish border, showcase superb Turkish-
designed homes with stained-glass windows, wooden overhangs on but-
tresses, decorated plasterwork and painted woodwork.
Greeks are becoming acutely aware that their 400-year-long
Ottoman dossier is worth preserving. One good restoration job is the
18-domed Imaret in Kavala, which incorporates a mosque, college and
hammam (Turkish bath).BEST FUTURISTIC ATHENSAcropolis Museum This new space houses Greece’s antiquities. Designed by Bernard
Tschumi, the museum features an internal glass cella (inner room) mirroring the Par-
thenon with the same number of columns (clad in steel) and a glass fl oor overlooking
excavated ruins in situ.
Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Cultural Park The Pritzker Prize–winning architect
Renzo Piano is designing the SNFCP. Plans include new venues for the National Library
of Greece, the National Opera and the National Ballet School, to be set amid natural sur-
roundings that will also feature an agora (market) and a canal that will link the park (at
the old horse-racing tracks in Faliro) with the sea. Completion is due in 2015.
Planetarium This is the world’s largest digital hemispherical dome, providing 360-de-
gree 3D virtual rides through the galaxy.
Athens Olympic Complex (OAKA) Notable for Spanish architect Santiago Calavrata’s
striking ultramodern glass-and-steel roof, which is suspended by cables from large
arches.