It was 2000 years ago when people built up a town at the top of a 300 meter rock so as to get protection against the barbarians. This is how a town developed and thrived in the southeastern side of Peloponnese , known as the " Gibraltar of East " : Monemvasia The name Monemvasia means in Hellenic :" Solitary Entrance " and it was given to the fort because there was only one way someone could enter it by land ; Monemvasia's rock with it's castle is an island in the middle of the sea and it is accessible only through a solitary entrance which many years ago used to be a portable , wooden bridge.

Today Monemvasia consists of two different towns ; the Byzantine built at the rock and the port built at the neighboring coast . The Byzantine town which is also known as " the castle " consists of two settlements, one built at the peak and the other at the side of the rock . The one at the peak is almost ruined but the other one is a living and thriving place . People are not allowed to use any other materials for their constructions but mud , stones, wood and tile , like their ancestors , so that the special local picturesqueness remains unalterable . These limitations are not imposed on the inhabitants of the port , a totally modern planed town , which has been developing significantly during the past 20 years .