Author: Gisela Wuerfel

It is said that Elafonisos is the Greek Ibiza. We couldn't find out, at least as far as pubs and discos etc. are concerned. But the beaches and bays are fantastic, fine sand, turquoise sea, picturesque rocks in the background. We spent two days and nights in one of these bays, went swimming from the boat and enjoyed ourselves. However, with a small downer: The bays are mostly open to the southwest, and the swell, the swell that forms during the day due to the constant wind, runs straight into the bay. With the result that the boat rocks, especially when the wave is quite big: always up and down, because it lies at anchor across the waves. That was a bit uncomfortable, one could not sleep so calmly. But because there is almost no light from houses or villages in the bays at night, the starry sky was incredibly beautiful.

Then we wanted to go to Neapoli, opposite Elafonisos on the mainland. But there it was impossible to go ashore: a very small pier was already occupied by Coast Guard and High Speed Ferry, and the open spaces were too shallow, even though we had a draft of 1.68 m. A slight panic broke out, because we didn't want to be anchored so restlessly again.
2 km east of Neapoli there is the tiny port of Palaiokastro, which looks more like a ship graveyard, at least as far as a few bumbling sailboats are concerned, partly lying on the land and already tipped over. At the much too short pier there was a somewhat rusty, but still functional working ship, estimated to be 20 m long. Two men were fishing and we asked if We Couleur fix our boat at this workboat. Yes yes, was the answer, in two hours another ship would come, but that would be fine. So we moored ourselves to this steel colossus and, although a bit grotesque in appearance, we were all the safer and calmer. The working ship came and maneuvered up to 5cm towards us - the captain was a real professional. Suddenly the owner of the ship we had moored to came and asked when we wanted to leave, we said after one or two nights. No problem was the answer, but he had to go out tomorrow at noon. So it was clear: we would stay one night.
We have hardly ever had a berth before that was as exotic, but also as quiet as the one between the truck and the work ship.

From Kalamata we went further south out of the beautiful bay of Limeni to the most southern point of the Peloponnese, which together with Gibraltar/Tarifa is the southernmost point of the European mainland, Cape Tenaro.

The landscape of this southern part of the peninsula is impressive: wild, rugged, inhospitable, barren, but incredibly beautiful, with high mountains, rock falls, gorges, stalactite caves that can be navigated by small boats.... it is compared to Scotland. It is the Mani, a very special region of Greece.

The Maniotes have been settling here since the second century BC, they see themselves, even today, as the descendants of the Laconians.  The special thing: They live in family associations, in clans that have been fighting feuds among themselves since the 16th century, in which there was also blood revenge - right up to the 19th century. Rigid patriarchal structures, honour and male dominance. Against external enemies they held together - the whole changeable time during the rule of the Turks and the Venetians, partly also the crusaders - Franconia is the collective term for it here - they were always independent, never occupied. Even the Bavarian King Otto (who was appointed Greek King in the 19th century) was unable to integrate them completely into the Greek state.

They live in residential towers, which also serve for defence, and which have up to seven floors. From the sea, these towers are good points of approach. 

A beautiful bay is Porto Kagio, narrow and sheltered (though not from the winds from the mountains) and a former pirate base.

And near Stoupa on the west side of the peninsula is an old disused lignite mine - the model and backdrop for Nikos Kazantzakis' film Alexis Sorbas. 

Further south, just before the Cape, comes the port of Achilles, which operated from here during the Trojan War. Says Homer. And one of the caves just before the cape is one of the entrances to Hades. 

The cape carries an impressive lighthouse, white limestone like the whole landscape in the extreme south of the peninsula. The Greek sailing almanac, which not only has very detailed sailing information, but sometimes also restaurant tips and bizarre things, writes in its note 15: "A large wave once fell upon the light keepers house and washed him together with his dog into the sea. They were never seen again....."

Around the cape the landscape remains rugged and forbidding, sometimes the peninsula is only a few hundred metres wide, until after 20 miles it becomes a little more lovely - we arrive in Githion or Gythion, a beautiful small town built up the slope, colourful, typical houses, Gardens with bougainvillea, lime trees, oleanders, figs.......and a lively harbour, which is difficult for sailors, because it is almost exclusively occupied by fishermen, and in which many rusting and rotting boats have been lying around for years. 

The small offshore island of Kranai (Marathonisi) was the scene of the wooing of Artemis, Hera and Athena for Paris. However, this did not take any of the three, but the beautiful Helen, wife of Agamemnon. Thus began the Trojan War. Homer says.

Kalamata is located at the northern end of the Messinian Gulf. There we stayed for several days, among other things to see the ancient Messene.
Now we are heading south, with destination Limeni, not a harbour or a marina, but an anchorage. In the south of the Peloponnese, there is no need to get up early or to set off, because the wind in summer mostly does not come before noon. It is mostly a southwesterly wind, which then turns more westerly during the day. That means: first out of the bay under engine, then the wind starts about 5 miles from Kalamata. Southwest: So the wind again exactly from the front. That means: turn around, change of course, instead of southwest now more to the west. But because the coastline further to the south leaps back a little, it's not a big loss of height. Soon a turn is possible again, because the wind has turned further. So we can enter straight into the bay of Limeni. Travel guides compare the landscape that begins here, Mani, with Scotland: barren, harsh, windy, poor……and clans "rule" here, one lives in residential towers like in Tuscany, only harsher, more dismissive.
We have to search a bit, but then after six hours of sailing the anchor drops to a turquoise blue shimmering five meters depth on a sandy ground.
Open the railing, get out the swimming ladder - go swimming!
And the reward for the sailing day: a bay like an amphitheatre: a wide semi-circle that rises sharply, small villages on steep mountain slopes, almost alpine, cubic residential towers, rocks, and in the evening the lights of the villages - beautiful.

From the history lessons one may remember that Messene was a city-state, which was mostly at war or in competition with the eastern Sparta. There were two Messenian wars, but the school history books do not report much more. But two facts have led to the fact that Messene has become a spectacular archaeological site, comparable to Olympia, but it was a city with city walls, market place, theatre, temples, stadium, gymnasium and - probably - pulsating life, not "only" a religious place of worship.
On the one hand, the ancient historian Pausanias describes the city in great detail with all the important buildings, and on the other hand there have been incredibly rich finds and excavations of the described city in recent years, which are presented in a really sensitive and appealing way.
Messene is located 30km northwest of Kalamata in a beautiful mountainous landscape. The city is situated below the steep Ithomi mountain (800m), which offered shelter and on which the city walls ran, two city gates are still visible in remains, above a Zeus sanctuary. To the south, the slightly hilly plain opens up towards the sea, with olive trees, vineyards, vegetables and many cypresses.
The town fits perfectly into this landscape: From the stadium you have a wide view to the south, if you sit in the theatre (by the way one of the biggest antique complexes of this kind), you have a view over the city.
At the edge of the ancient city there is a small archaeological museum with the statues and elements found during the excavations, wonderful statues of Hermes and Heracles, the protectors of the youth - they were of course in the gymnasium. But Isis Pelago, the patron saint of sailors, is also represented.
The various temples, sports facilities and the market are very impressive and a must for the visitor to Greece. What is added is the overall impression with the modern village of Mavromati above - in the tavern you can sit outside in the shade and have an aerial view the view over the whole ensemble, great.

Kalamata. Of course, the city is known for its excellent dark reddish-brown fleshy olives, some say the best in Greece.
But there are many other interesting and beautiful things to discover in the second largest city (70000 inhabitants) in the Peloponnese.
Kalamata is a port city with an international port for foreign clearance, customs and all that - at the moment there is less or nothing going on because of Corona and probably also economic crisis.
But the old town is not at the port, as one might expect, but up on the hillside below the 800 year old fortress. Like everything else here, the fortress has changed "owners" between Turks and Venetians again and again.
One has a grandiose view of the whole city and into the surrounding mountains and gorges, in the west the Taygetos mountains, behind which Sparta lies, and further east the Kalatio mountains, also strategically an interesting location.
There are many small, winding, picturesque alleys above, of course with many pubs and bars, where you can eat very good and very regionally original Greek food. In the middle of the old town a tiny church from Byzantine times, which was completely rebuilt after the violent earthquake in 1986.
Kalamata is the centre of the Greek Orthodox Church of Messenia, all metropolitans have their statues here.
The newer city is essentially a chessboard structure, with axes up to 3 km long from the old town to the port and cross streets.
Even late in the evening you get the feeling that all inhabitants are on the streets and squares, in bars and taverns, including the many children.
A very unusual detail: The Railpark with lots of greenery and trees, also water areas, which goes right up to the harbour - and where many old railways, freight wagons, passenger wagons, steam locomotives and railcars are located, an open-air museum, in the middle of which is the obligatory bar, the station pub so to speak.
The marina with its marina for pleasure boats is located west of the large commercial harbour, here you can find supply of electricity, water, showers, washing machines…..and of course restaurants and cafés.
All in all a not spectacular, but still very worth seeing city in the western Peloponnese.

We leave the idyllic landscape of Elis with its wide plains, hills, olive groves, vineyards and villages. We drive further south, to Laconia, which was shaped by Sparta. From here comes - exactly! - the term laconic. Oldest explanation for this somewhat short-winded way of speaking, again from antiquity - Philip II of Macedonia to the laconic ruler: "When I have defeated you, I will burn your cities, destroy your army and your women will be widows!". The answer: "If."
The landscape becomes more rugged. Steep cliffs plunge vertically into the sea, white and reddish-brown cliffs, covered with grass and maquis, form a harsh, and in combination with the blue-turquoise sea, of course, a wonderful picture.

The town of Pylos is built on a hill and has a large Venetian fortress from the 16th century in front of it. It is situated on the edge of a wide bay - one of the best natural harbours in the Mediterranean - which is lined by towering cliffs - the Bay of Navarino, as Pylos was called in Venetian times. The Nestor Palace, which was excavated here, dates from far before. Nestor is the hero of Greek mythology, the King of Pylos, famous for his wisdom and eloquence, and also appears in the Iliad of Homer, in the Trojan War.
In 1827 a naval battle took place in Navarino between the Turkish fleet and a fleet of the English, French and Russians. This battle put an end to the Ottoman-Turkish domination and led to the independence of Greece, therefore in the central square a monument to the "three admirals", a similar one on a tiny island in the middle of the bay. This is something that is always noticeable in Greece: The fight for supremacy, also over Europe as a whole, between the (Western) European countries and the Ottoman Empire/the Turks, since the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire and then the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Actually, these conflicts were started in Western Europe by the Crusades in the 11th century. Partially, the lordships/occupations changed in a 100-year rhythm, the Venetians built fortresses, the Turks took them over and finished them……and vice versa.
Pylos is a small cheerful town with a central square with many pubs and bars. Short ways lead to the fortress and therefore to wonderful viewpoints over the bay. The Venetian fortress is a spacious building with long walls high above the sea, a church and a large meeting place. The church has, as many Greek churches, its model as a round building with towers in front of it in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul; one was also pragmatic at that time: the church was partly used as a Christian-Greek-Ortohodox and partly as a mosque.
An attraction a little outside is the Oxbelly Bay, also called Golden Beach, a kilometre long sandy beach that separates a lagoon at the northern end of the bay.

We are located in the marina - no utilities (electricity or water or diesel), also no fees, but quiet and cosy, also picturesque, directly below the rock face on which the houses of Pylos rise.

12 km south of Polos is Methoni, the southernmost tip of the western Peloponnese, here we are already in Messinia. An incredibly gigantic fortress, again partly Venetian, partly Turkish, limits and protects the bay. Huge long walls and an incredibly picturesque tower, partly used as a prison, partly as a lighthouse, partly as a military hospital, closes the ensemble to the south, ending in the turquoise sea, right next to the beach and cafes and bars, Methoni is a real small seaside resort.

Kyparissia is situated at the southern end of a crescent-shaped bay, 27 nautical miles from Catacolon, in the ancient landscape of Eli.
It has a small idyllic harbour with a huge breakwater to protect against storms, you moor alongside, very comfortable.
The seemingly most inconspicuous places sometimes reveal hidden charms, as here too. Coming from the sea, one sees a city that rises up a steep mountain, with the typical greek mostly square cube-shaped houses. The tour guide says that it is a Byzantine city. One has to work hard to get the charms of the city: estimated 300 meters of altitude at 32 degrees. But then you are on the Byzantine fortress and have a wonderful view over the whole bay, the harbour and the sea.
20 meters below the fortress, glued directly to the wall: a kind of lounge/bar with a gigantic view and good draught beer.
A little further below, but still high above the new town and the harbour: a wonderful picturesque street with a church and many pubs, bars and shops. The houses are colourful and all have similar gable shapes, a very balanced street scene with pleasant proportions.
And as one has already made the effort to climb up here, one stays for dinner, which one can enjoy with a direct view to the sunset.
And as this is not all the charm of this wonderful little city, at approximately 9 p.m., some really original Greek folklore music starts, completely unplugged: a double bass player, a guitarist, a bouzouki player, three-part singing - wonderful, impressive!
It remains to mention that right next to the harbour there are beautiful sandy beaches with clear water and roaring surf - what more could you want?