Platsa

Platsa is among olive trees 54 km at northeast of Kalamata , at an altitude of 370 meters. Platsa with its traditional style, the fortified towers and magnificent natural environment is very interesting as it is a typical traditional village of Mani. It is built in a privileged location overlooking the majestic Taygetos to the east and the Messinian Bay and the deep blue Ionian Sea to the west.

During the antiquity in Platsa that means plateau or open square, there was ancient Pefnos, the kingdom of Tyndareus, father of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and its port was located in the modern beach, Agios Dimitrios. There is also the tower of Christeas in the area.

Many beautiful churches of Platsa prove the importance of the village during the Byzantine and post-Byzantine times, when it was the largest settlement of Mani and seat of diocese. The most important churches are the ones of the Assumption in the center of Platsa, Saint Dimitrios (11th-12th centuries) with excellent frescoes and reliefs, Saint Paraskevi (1412), a small cross-shaped church with frescoes of the 15th century on the outskirts of the village, Saint Ioannis in “Tsagkaristia” and the basilica of Saint Nicolaos in Kampinari.

On the road between the villages Platsa and Nomitsi with excellent view over the Messinian Bay, there is the Open Theater of Mani, a monument of modern civilization that is harmonized with its surroundings.