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...beautiful nature, history, diachronic culture, religion, entairtainment, special tastes ...
Tranquil nature, gentle autumns and mild winters, lush landscape, fertile soil, extensive beaches, many springs and abundant water, verdant mountains, Venetian castles and traditional villages compose the unique charm of the prefecture of Messinia. Be it winter or summer, Messinia is always unbeatable.
Tucked away in the southwestern tip of Peloponnese, it is one of the most beautiful regions in Greece, left mostly unexplored by foreign or domestic visitors.
Kalamata, the prefecture’s capital and major port, is a modern city with parks, wide streets and broad educational and artistic activities. Its Venetian castle, the old quarter, a great number of churches and monasteries, libraries, the city theater, the main gallery, neoclassic buildings, an old tobacco factory and its archaeological and popular art museums are some of the sites well worth a visit. Every summer, cultural events including concerts and plays are performed by the Kalamata theatrical group at the amphitheatre of the old castle.
The prefecture of Messinia is strewn with quaint settlements giving visitors the opportunity to marvel at nature, history and human greatness. The two astonishing coastal towns of Kyparissia and Methoni, the agricultural and commercial centres of Gargalianoi and Meligalas, the traditional and historic island-like town of Pylos, the quaint seaside town of Koroni that resembles a Cycladic settlement, the once fishing village and now cosmopolitan resort of Phinikountas and the traditional coastal village of Kardamili are some of the most popular resorts in Messinia.
Amphitheatrically built in a typical Mediterranean environment at the foot of Mt. Ithomi, Ancient Messini is one of the best preserved ancient cities, never having been destroyed or covered by later-day settlements.
The beauty of Mani is preserved year-round, waiting to be discovered at the end of a route crossing age-old areas considered the cradle of European civilization. Hamlets hidden in the mountainsides and hamlets on the water’s edge, stone houses, brooks and torrents, Byzantine churches and castles, rugged peaks and wooded slopes plunging headlong towards the sea, this astonishing land gives you the feeling you are entering another country.
River Neda is one of the many challenges for visitors, offering the opportunity for rafting and gorge trekking in an astonishing landscape composed of waterfalls, the nearby ancient site of Figalia and nature with rare signs of human presence.
With snow-white two-storey houses and courtyards drenched in flowers lining its arcaded streets, Pilos, a pretty town built on a hill on the south coast of the bay of Navarino, makes visitors feel that they are on an island. A Venetian fortress dominates the west side of the town.
The legendary Mt. Taygetus offers unique opportunities for exciting escapades, beguiling with its cool temperatures, abundant water, forests and fascinating natural beauty, only a few miles from capital Kalamata.
The ancient Temple of Epicourios Apollo, the work of Parthenon’s architect Iktinos dated back to 420BC, is preserved almost intact representing all three styles of antiquity – the Ionian, the Dorian and the Corinthian.
As Euripides, the great tragedian of classical Athens sung its praise, “bountiful Messinia is bathed in myriads of crystalline waters, abounding in excellent pasture, being neither very wintry in the blasts of northern winds or made too hot by the chariot of god Helios (Sun)”.