Booking.com

Methoni

Picturesque and seaside, Methoni with its imposing castle, is located at the southwest tip of the Peloponnese. It retains its traditional architecture and spreads to the sea with its beautiful beach that combines green and blue. South of Methoni in the sea is visible the island group of the Messinian Oinousses that includes among others important habitats, on the islands of Schiza and Sapienza.

Methoni is 10 kilometers from Pylos and 61 kilometers from the capital of Messinia, Kalamata.

Methoni is a popular tourist destination in the Peloponnese, rich in ancient monuments as well as Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish: churches, mosques, fortifications, while great is its castle, which was built by the Venetians and is surrounded by the sea. It is built on a rock that enters the sea and is separated from the mainland by an artificial moat. South of the castle is the tower Mpourtzi, built on a small rocky islet connected to the fort by a bridge with arches.

In Methoni you will see manors that maintain the characteristics of local architecture, you will find many taverns and restaurants with traditional flavors, and rooms to let.

Local attractions include Methoni and the catacombs of Saint Onoufrios, the oldest Christian cemetery that has been found in the Peloponnese and that is located on the mountainside of Agios Nikolaos, north of the town. Four hundred meters east of the cemetery lies another important monument of the region, the Byzantine Church of Saint Vasilios of the 10th – 11th century. Within 4 kilometers northeast of Methoni, it is worth visiting the imposing ruins of the church of Agioleo, which was destroyed in 1267.

In antiquity, Methoni was known by the name Pidasos.

During the Greek Revolution, the castle of Methoni was not occupied by the Greek rebels, because of the resistance of the fortified Ottoman population. In 1825, Ibrahim disembarked on the town’s port and settled into the castle, which became a base of the Egyptians during their campaign in the Peloponnese. The Egyptians surrendered without a fight in 1828 to the French expeditionary body under General Maison. The settlement was then transferred outside the walls, the town street plan was made and the castle, which for centuries had been the center of social and economic life of the town, was deserted.

Most Popular