Mani Peninsula Peloponnese
The Mani Peninsula is a region in the central finger of the Peloponnese in the southern part of Greece, between the Laconia Peninsula in the east and the Messenic Gulf in the west.
A hidden place, where the land is not fertile, made of stones, a few olive trees and prickly pears. A continuous passage between hairpin bends and roads, between climbs and descents with high cliffs along the coast, to arrive in small bays and picturesque harbors where the sea is clearer than ever, up to the imposing chain of Taygetos Mount where legend has it that the Spartans threw children unsuitable for fighting.
A region that over the centuries has seen constant clashes between clans, forcing the population to build defensive towers to protect themselves from the continuous enemy incursions (there are almost 800 towers), a rough and difficult territory that not even the Turks managed to subdue, but despite everything with its own charm, where you can breathe history everywhere and with an unparalleled naturalistic landscape.
There is something to see for all tastes, starting from Kadramili with its crystal blue waters, surrounded by wild olive groves, stone houses, the small port and its fantastic beaches. And yet Aeropoli capital of the Peninsula with its center of buildings always in stone, picturesque alleys and full of clubs, shops and typical taverns; moving you arrive in Limeni, a tiny village in a beautiful bay that almost looks like a swimming pool where peace reigns supreme. Gerolimeas a small fishing village, Vathia a ghost town above a rocky promontory overlooking the sea, where the prickly pears have taken possession of the landscape and where most of the tower houses are located, Cape Tenario where legend has it the house of Ade, where it is possible with a walk to reach the lighthouse between coves with turquoise waters and relax in the sandy bay on the Marmari and Gythio beaches a historic city on the banks of the Evrotas river, about forty kilometers from Sparta where today there is a beautiful well-preserved Roman theater. Last but not least the Caves of Diros, reachable by boat between tunnels where the water is crystal clear with iridescent colors and in some places it seems almost impossible to get there from how low and narrow.
A continuous discovery of magical places, with a still authentic and rocky flavor with continuous changes of landscape and landscapes where getting there surely may not seem so easy but that will give you a different experience and introduce you to a different Greece.