Town life and neoclassical buildings

The neoclassical old town hall dates from 1909 (realsparta.gr). The Archaeological Museum (1874–75) was the first Greek museum built outside the capital (SNF).

PHOTO TO COME

The Second World War and the Occupation (1941–44)

Greece was occupied by the Axis from April 1941. In Sparta the darkest day came on 26 November 1943, when German occupation forces executed 118 hostages from Sparta at Monodendri, in reprisal for a guerrilla attack on a German column there (ERT Archive). German troops withdrew from Laconia in early September 1944. The Museum of Modern Sparta has a display on the war and the Occupation. For the Civil War that followed, see War & Civil War.

Sources: ERT Archive, “Monodendri, 26 November 1943”; Spartan Roots (withdrawal date, 3 September 1944, secondary source).