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Nafplio

Nafplio is a Greek city of Peloponnese. Capital of Argolida, seat of a bishopric, located on the seafront, it is a historical and tourist city which has 14,203 inhabitants. Its surface area is 387.8 km.

The town is located on the northern slopes of the Itch-Kalé peninsula (85 m) or Acronauplia.

It is a city with neoclassical buildings, old quarters, pedestrian streets and large squares preserving the legends of its past.

The city has been occupied successively by the ‘Franks’, the Venetians and the Turks, who left their mark. The city is dominated by two fortresses: Acronauplia and Palamidi. Acronauplia is the acropolis of Nafplion. It was built by the Venetians and later passed under Byzantine control, then Turkish. It is built on three levels, each constituting a different fort with walls built at different historical periods. Palamidi, from the top of its 999 steps offers a unique panorama of the city and the sea. The fortress was built between 1711 and 1714.

Nafplio was the second capital of the free Greek state (1828-1834), after Aegina. The entrance to the port, facing the city, is guarded by the fortress Bourtzi, Venetian style. You will discover its hexagonal architecture. It is one of the major attractions of Nafplio. Today it is a place of temporary exhibitions and music festivals after being for many years the residence of executioners of Nafplio, then a luxury hotel. Its objective was mainly to protect the port, doubling the protection assured from above on the Acronauplia.

You will not miss Syntagma Square which is the place of the Constitution, the former Venetian Foro, main square of the city.

There are several museums in Nafplio: the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of the Army, the Ethnographic Museum and the Kombolo Museum.

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