Methoni is a small tvillage with 2700 inhabitants in the southern Peloponnese on the Messinian peninsula. The distance to the city of Kalamata is 65 km. In antiquity and byzantine times the southern cape of rock was an important anchorage due to the natural harbor. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Venetian conquerors had built a magnificent city wall built, which is still very well preserved day. The port of Methoni was used as a transhipment port for goods from the Orient and Italy.
The city of Methoni grew strong, making it one of the trade centers of Greece. Pretty Venetian houses with balconies show how wealthy the city of Methoni was. In early 13th century, the Venetian built a huge castle the size of a small town. Every conqueror left his mark in this fort, due to the constant change of the conquerors, Venetians, then Turks, then again in the 16th century Venetians, then Egyptians and in the 18th century the Turks and later the French. The fortress is surrounded on three sides by the sea and separated from the mainland by a dry moat. Enter the inner keep through the mighty gateway to discover a Turkish bath, a cathedral, a house, a cistern and underground passages. The port town within the fortress walls, was the Venetians’ first and longest-held possession in the Peloponnese. It was also a stopover for pilgrims en route to the Holy Land. In the surrounding area you´ll finde whitnesses that Greece had to struggle with Occident and Orient.
Like Koroni, Methoni also has a nice little harbor promenade.
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