Mystras in the context of "Laconia"

Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the state was known as Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων, Lakedaímōn), while "Sparta" referred to its capital, a group of villages in the valley of the Evrotas River in Laconia, in southeastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become one of the major military powers in Greece, a status it retained until 371 BC.

Sparta was recognized as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars, in rivalry with the rising naval power of Athens. Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), from which it emerged victorious after the Battle of Aegospotami. Thebes' victory over Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartan hegemony and freed Messenia from Spartan rule; the loss of the slave labor this region provided sent the city into terminal decline as a military power, though it retained its independence until its forcible integration into the Achaean League in 192 BC. The city recovered some autonomy after the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC and became a tourist destination during the Roman era, restoring some measure of prosperity. However, Sparta was sacked in 396 AD by the Visigothic king Alaric, and underwent a long period of decline into the medieval period, when much of its population relocated to Mystras. Modern Sparta is a provincial town and the seat of the Laconia regional administration.

The Evrotas Valley is an 82 km elongated valley between Taygetus and Parnon which traverses Laconia, Greece. Homer called the valley Kili Lakedemon, while Sparta, Mystras and Gytheio are the main cities within the valley. It is one of the largest valleys in Greece. The valley is predominantly an agricultural region that contains many citrus groves, olive groves, and pasture lands. It is the location of the largest orange production in the Peloponnese and probably in all of Greece. Lakonia, a brand of orange juice, is based in Amykles. The Evrotas Valley records the highest summer mean maximum temperatures in Greece.

The Despotate of the Morea (Greek: Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως, romanized: Despotâton toû Moréōs) or Despotate of Mystras (Greek: Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ, romanized: Despotâton toû Mystrâ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its existence but eventually grew to include almost all the southern Greek peninsula now known as the Peloponnese, which was known as the Morea during the medieval and early modern periods. The territory was usually ruled by one or more sons or brothers of the current Byzantine emperor, who were given the title of despotes (in this context it should not be confused with despotism). Its capital was the fortified city of Mystras, near ancient Sparta, which became an important centre of the Palaiologan Renaissance.

Georgios Gemistos Plethon (Greek: Γεώργιος Γεμιστὸς Πλήθων; Latin: Georgius Gemistus Pletho c. 1355/1360 – 1452/1454), commonly known as Gemistos Plethon, was a Greek scholar and one of the most renowned philosophers of the Late Byzantine era. He was a chief pioneer of the revival of Greek scholarship in Western Europe. As revealed in his last literary work, the Nomoi or Book of Laws, which he circulated only among close friends, he rejected Christianity in favour of a return to the worship of the classical Hellenic gods, mixed with ancient wisdom based on Zoroaster and the Magi.

In 1438–1439 he reintroduced Plato's ideas to Western Europe during the Council of Florence, in a failed attempt to reconcile the East–West schism. Plethon also formulated his political vision in several speeches throughout his life. The boast in one of the speeches that "We are Hellenes by race and culture" and his proposal of a reborn Byzantine Empire following a utopian Hellenic system of government centered in Mystras, have generated discussion about Byzantine and modern Greek identity. In this regard, Plethon has been labelled both "the last Hellene" and "the first modern Greek".

Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the state was known as Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων, Lakedaímōn), while "Sparta" referred to its capital, a group of villages in the valley of the Evrotas River in Laconia, in southeastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become one of the major military powers in Greece, a status it retained until 371 BC.

Sparta was recognised as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars, in rivalry with the rising naval power of Athens. Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), from which it emerged victorious after the Battle of Aegospotami. Thebes' victory over Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartan hegemony and freed Messenia from Spartan rule; the loss of the slave labour this region provided sent the city into terminal decline as a military power, though it retained its independence until its forcible integration into the Achaean League in 192 BC. The city recovered some autonomy after the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC and became a tourist destination during the Roman era, restoring some measure of prosperity. However, Sparta was sacked in 396 AD by the Visigothic king Alaric, and underwent a long period of decline into the medieval period, when much of its population relocated to Mystras. Modern Sparta is a provincial town and the seat of the Laconia regional administration.