999 Steps

Nafplio

This is a picture of me and two friends after climbing 999 steps to get to a medieval fortress on a hill. At first I was wondering why anyone would make a fortress at the top of a hill, because it is hard to get to. But after climbing up the stairs I realized that this was actually a very strategic move. For one, the view from the fortress is amazing, because you can see the whole city and even off into the horizon of the sea. From a tourist's perspective the views are great for photo ops, but from the point of view of the ruler of an empire it is useful to be able to see the sea to keep an eye out for marine attacks and then it would also be good to keep an eye on the entire city from one place in case anyone tries to attack by land. Another thing I realized after climbing up all the stairs is that it is exhausting! Why would anyone want to attack a fortress you need to walk up a thousand steps to get too? I would definitely be discouraged!