Kato Verga

At the entrance of Messiniaν or Exo Mani there is Kato Verga, just 8 km away from the city of Kalamata  at an altitude of 211 meters. Τhe old province of Selitsa included Kato and Ano Verga and beach of Verga. The village was renamed to Kato Verga in 1956 to commemorate the historic “dry stone” which was a wall approximately 1,000 meters long, 1.5-2 m tall, with 1,000 embrasures. It was built in 1826 by people from Mani and Messinia, to deal with the attacks of Ibrahim and it is known as the “Wall of Verga“. There are still many pieces of the wall that started from the rocky Kato Verga and reached to the sea, where there is now the monument of warrior of Mani.

The “Battle of Verga” took place in Kato Verga from 22 to 24 June 1826 and it was the first defeat for the Turks and Egyptians of Ibrahim who until then were unbeaten and had conquered Tripolitsa and Messolonghi. He had also defeated Papaflessas in Maniaki and burned and destroyed the villages and crops in Moria.

There is a marked path for hikers, that connects Kato with Ano Verga.