Messinia / Laconia -The Messinian and Laconian Mani
Archaic, rough and sublime
The Peloponnesian region, Messenia
People who have the need for unspoiled nature, warm hospitality and the permanence of a culture thousands of years old come together in the Mani. The Outer Mani stretches through the Taygethos Mountains down to the Bay of Itilon, where it becomes the Laconian (Inner) Mani. The center here is Areopolis with its new platia and the beautiful old town further down towards the sea. Discover the small chapels and churches with old wall paintings, which lie at the end of the narrow streets and are still mostly unlocked.
Further south, the landscape now becomes stonier, the vegetation less. Prickly pear cacti and prickly oak bushes, fig trees and wild herbs. The caves of Dirou with their underground water labyrinth, tower villages and old fortifications and again and again Byzantine churches. Passing Gerolimenas with its tranquil promenade, the rocky coast is interrupted only now and then by small sand/gravel bays down to the beautiful, long double bay of Marmaris.
With Cape Matapan (Tainaron), the Mani, together with Sicily and the Strait of Gibraltar, becomes Europe's southernmost point of the mainland.
Since time immemorial legends & myths entwine around this brute area of Greek earth
Meanwhile, the Mani continues to be dominated by its centuries-old towers, fortresses and fortifications. Its small mountain villages nestle against the rugged rock, prickly pears, olive trees and wild herbs cover the stony earth.
Today, many towers are abandoned, the long shotguns are silent, the jatans lie well hidden and only a few women dressed in black still know about the long tradition of eternal memory.
In classical times, the history of Mani is closely linked to that of Sparta, whose myth later perished in an open field battle at Leutkra in 371 BC. In its remoteness and inaccessibility, this archaic piece of Greek earth later offered a new home to the independent and freedom-loving Spartans. Another sign of the ever-present individuality can be seen in Mani's late accession to Christianity in the late 10th century.
Under Corinth, it was converted late with its own diozoese, so that a common explanation for the unusually high concentration of Byzantine churches of Messenia & Laconia from the 10th to 14th centuries, is a "zeal for religious catch-up and expression of extreme lifestyle."
The Franks, Venetians and Ottomans were unable to overcome this desire for freedom of the Maniotes, who are used to fighting. Piracy, mercenaryism and family feuds are an integral part of Mani's turbulent history.
When the last of the Turks from diplomacy appointed Petro `Bey Mavromichalis, led the revolution on 17 March 1821, was thus initiated the independent nationality of Greece. The Mani, however, remained wild and militant as ever until the 19th century.
When after the II World War the left and right parties within Greece began to exterminate each other, the depopulation began from which Mani has not fully recovered until today.
The love of tradition and funding from the EU currently contribute greatly with international guests to preserve and revive the long history of the "old heart" of Greece.
Here, where the present and the past merge into this unique mixture of warm cordiality and cosmopolitanism, the stranger is still a guest who is met with curiosity and politeness.
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Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) - The British travel writer, scholar & soldier. Partisan and famous also for his adventures in Crete during World War II, (the kidnapping of General Kreipp) especially for the kidnapping of the German military commander on the island, Fermor lived in Kardamyli for many years. The Fermor estate in Kalamitsi Valley can be visited by appointment. https://patrickleighfermor.org/tag/kardamyli/ Alexis Zorbas - birth name was Georgios, is the hero of the famous movie "Alexis Zorbas", with plot based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957). Zorbas who was of Macedonian descent, lived in Mani and worked in the mines of Prastova, near Stoupa in Messenia. This place was the inspiration for Kazantzakis' work "Alexis Zorbas", which he also wrote here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QskFT7AaKH0
Thus, in the last 15 years, individual hostels, boutique hotels and guesthouses, upscale hotels and smaller resorts have been built from the natural stones of Taygethos. Already Asclepius as a healer of antiquity, the area was well known due to its high herbal occurrence.
Apart from the "green gold" of Messinia (olive oil) of the olive trees, which has a very high international value, the Mani meets the high EU agricultural standard only rarely. So the landscape is in many places, still as wild and inaccessible as in ancient times. (Internationally known varieties are the Kalamon (Kalamata Olive) and the Koreneiki olives).
Vacation & Travel in Mani - Messinia, Lakonia
Many Greek residents left their homeland to seek happiness abroad during the difficult period of the Greek Civil War and World War II. (Emigrated to Australia and the United States, mainly from the regions of Peloponnese and Attica).
As a good businessman, the Greek has now been able to take care of the home villages and family estates financially again after returning home.
Together with the support from EU funds of the Culture Fund and under their strict building requirements, many old courtyards and tower buildings were renovated, rebuilt or/and newly built according to tradition. The natural stone used exclusively for the outer wall harmonizes wonderfully with the mountains. WTG Tip!The tower hotel Limeni Village in breathtaking hillside location in the bay of Itilon.
The Mani is not in the focus of the big "vacation machinery". No big hotel bunkers, too few clubs or animations, the loud entertainment industry with the discos and amusement parks are missing.
Greece lovers and culture lovers will find here unspoiled stretches of coastline with bizarre rock formations alternating with sand/gravel beaches. WTG Tip! Foneas Beaches/Pandazi/Kalliopi/Delfinia/Ritsa
The small, secluded bays with the crystal clear waters of the Messianic & Laconic Gulf offer carefree swimming for the whole family.
The town of Stoupa, which is lively in the high season, is a "small" exception here with its long sandy bays, water sports facilities and its long beach promenade.
Outside the village, the quiet, Greek everyday life continues. There is time for a chat. Old, charismatic villages like Kardamili, or trad. Fishing communities like Ag. Nikolaos and Trachilia form the typical picture of "old" Greece.
With its ancient and still living traditions and customs, the traveler finds here with the Mani a versatile & original piece of Greece.
Old connecting roads and donkey trails offer attractive hiking and trekking routes through the wild maquis to small mountain villages over valleys, river courses and plateaus. WTG-Tip!: Agia Sofia hike and Kambos gorge. Or guided up to the 2022 meters high Prof. Ilias or Halasmenos.
The Byzantine heritage in the form of over 250 small churches and chapels in Laconia alone, mainly from the 11/12 century. Wall paintings from the 17/18 century enrich the old stone walls of the places of worship with their biblical motifs, Orthodox church history.
This default of originality, natural beauty and versatility of possible vacation activities make the Mani area a favorite among Greece connoisseurs.