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Mistra was a fortified town in the southern Peloponnese, near the ancient Sparta. In 1249, Mystras became the seat of the Latin principality of Achaia, created in 1205 after the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade. The Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, made the city the seat of the Despotate of the Morea. Under the despot Theodore Mistra became the second most important city of the Empire after Constantinople and the Palace of Wilhelm II became the second imperial residence. Mystras was also the last center of Byzantine scholarship. In 1989 Mystras, now a national monument and greek goal of sightseeing, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Photo of one of the many monasteries.