Rick Steves Athens & The Heart of Greece
Μάνη
Mani Villages to Monemvasia Day 7
Our route this morning took us to the small Mani village of Kastania (which means sweet chestnut in Greek). Tucked away in a valley of the Taygetos mountains, it's a traditional Mani village, still inhabited, though not nearly as many people as in the 1800's. During the Greek War of Independence 1821, it was the largest village in the Mani. The Maniots (as they were called) of Kastania boasted having 400 'guns', referring to the men of the village and their reputation as fierce fighters.
It's all so very Greek!
In 1912 the name of the Mani capital was changed to Areopoli, the city of Ares, after the ancient Greek god of war. The Greek War of Independence started started at Areopoli on March 17, 1821.
The bus let us out a short walking distance to the village and we passed by the petite Church of St John. In the village, the large, shaded main square in Kastania is surrounded by the Church of the Assumption, a couple small coffee houses and the 18th century Dourakis tower house still standing watch (though now in ruins).
Steep, narrow alleyways head off from the square in every direction. No less than 10 Byzantine churches dot the landscape, though many are not in the best condition. Apostolos leads us up the narrow alleyway toward the first church on our tour of this little town.
We peek inside the Church of the Panagia (Greek for 'all holy' and the title given to the Virgin Mary). Very tiny church, the frescos inside are fantastic but deteriorating. It's very dark inside, just the light through the open door shines on the frescoes that cover all the interior walls. One of the paintings depicts St George on his white horse, going off to battle (you can still clearly see the teeth of the horse!)
A little further up the hill we enter the Church of St Nikolas (Agios Nikolaos). Such interesting frescos here! There is a rope attached to the bell in the bell tower, so it must still be in use, though it looks a little precarious!. As in the previous churches, all the interior walls are covered in frescoes, every inch! Such incredible detail, too; it's a shame that the church is in a deteriorating state; hopefully, someone will save it from complete collapse!
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High above the center of the village is the Church of St Peter (Agios Petros). It is the oldest Byzantine church in Kastania, from around 1200, with 13th century frescoes and a Venetian style bell tower added in the 1800s. The building and the frescoes were in quite a state of disrepair, but thankfully, restoration of both the building and frescoes was completed and awarded the 2016 European Cultural Heritage Award, Europa Nostra 2016.
After walking up and down the hills of Kastania, it was time for a Greek coffee and treats in the village square. As we drank from our tiny little cups, Apostolos surprised us by announcing that he would 'read' our coffee grounds. Well, who could resist that! Many of us lined up and, one by one, heard fascinating proclamations about what our coffee grounds predicted! It must really work - I saw heads bobbing up and down in agreement as he was talking!
The word for Greek coffee is elliniko
You can order it
sketos (plain, without sugar),
metrios (medium, 1 teaspoon of sugar)
glikos (sweet, two teaspoons of sugar)
me gala with milk; and if you want a double, you would say diplo
Apostolos is serious when he's reading coffee grounds...
Our lunch stop was in Greece's hidden fishing village of Limeni, at the taverna “O Takis”, right on the water. Freshly caught fish, coming straight off the boats as we sit and enjoy the view. The large grill is hot, and our food comes to the table fresher than you can imagine.
We learned that Jules Verne visited the Mani on one of his voyages around Europe, and in 1884 wrote The Archipelago On Fire about the Greek War of Independence (something I'll have to read when I get home!)
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Water bluer than blue and crystal clear.
This is GREECE!!
It was a quiet bus ride after lunch, with a restroom stop and snacks (we always seem to be ready to eat). As we made our way to Monemvasia, we saw an abandoned cargo ship on the beach near the town of Gythio. Story is that the ship was left to drift and ended up here; some say it was used to carry illegal cigarettes between Turkey and Italy. Whatever the story, it does make for a fantastic sight!
If you did manage to keep your eyes open on the bus and not catch a quick nap, you would have been amazed at the size of the orange groves we drove through! According to Apostolos, there is a large community of people from Pakistan living here and providing labor for picking the oranges.
(Napthlio is the largest producer of oranges in Greece)
At last we arrive at Monemvasia! There it is - "The Rock."
The words that came out of my mouth at first sight were something along the lines of:
"Wow! What the...? Holy moly!"
Nothing really prepares you for the first time you see it, it really is quite the sight!
Can't wait to explore it tomorrow!!
After checking into the Hotel Panorama, we take a quick walk around the town of Gefyra with Apostolos (Gefyra is the town on mainland side of the causeway); then it's time for dinner. For us it's take away SOUVLAKI! Back to our hotel where we can sit on the balcony and enjoy the view of "The Rock"!!
It's all so very Greek!
The town with the causeway to Monemvasia is called Gefyra, which means bridge in Greek.
Well done, Gefyra, well done!