Awaking Day

High above the Laconian plain on the slopes of the Tayegetos mountain range, the day awakens.

While Sparta lies sleeping below, the village dogs bark a welcome to the sun. Memories of the past fill in the ghost sounds of early morning donkey brays – long gone, replaced decades ago with mechanised transport.

Dawn breaks over the Byzantine ruins of Mystra – the high fortress with the remains of the Despot’s Palace on the terrace below where the provincial rulers of the Byzantine Empire’s Despotate of the Morea reigned.

Later that morning…around the hill and down to the plain to the modern village that shares the same name. Au revoir Mystra.

Awakening: The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge