Things to Do and Places to See

Local sports and activities

Places to visit

If you have never been to the Peloponnese, you are in for a treat. The Peloponnese is the hidden treasure trove of Greece. With very little package-deal tourism, most of the little villages and resorts feel like the Greek islands twenty years ago. Technically the Peloponnese is a Greek island, being separated from the mainland by the Corinth Canal, but the canal is so narrow that if you were on the motorway driving from Athens you would probably miss it. We did.

Nearby - temples,Turks and turtles

The nearest city and airport to Chrani is Kalamata, the Messinian capital famed for its delicious black olives and the world's best (we think) olive oil. If you head north for half-an-hour from Kalamata you'll reach the delightful village of Mavromati with its waterfalls, overlooking the scattered ruins of Ancient Messini.  There is an impressive Doric temple with a well-preserved assembly hall with a Roman floor and further down the stadium used to stage contests in honour of Zeus remains largely intact.

About 20 minutes from Chrani heading south along the coast, you reach the picturesque town of Koroni with its harbour and Venetian Castle. If you continue on the road past Koroni, round the coast is the fishing village of Finikounda, one of the best windsurfing spots in Greece. Follow the road on to Methoni with its vast 13th century fortress surrounded on three sides by sea. Inside the fortress are the remains of an entire medieval village. Continue round the coast and you reach another beautiful historic port, Pylos where Admiral Codrington accidentally sank almost the entire Turkish fleet in the Battle of Navarino.  Pylos has two castles and nearby is the Palace of Nestor one of the best preserved Mycenean palaces.

In 2012 the Olympics are of course in London but the fabulous ancient site of Olympia is situated near the port of Patras about a 3 hour drive up the eastern coast from Chrani.

The Messinian coast has some of the best beaches in the Peloponnese.  En route to Koroni, just past Vounaria, about 15 minutes from Chrani is the beatuiful sand beach of Peroulia with shallow swimming perfect for small children. Peroulia has two good tavernas by the beach.  Just past Koroni is the famed Zaga Beach, a long sand beach where turtles nest in some numbers (the turtles are protected and you will propbably see people handing out leaflets about the turtles in Koroni).

 

Mystras and The Mani

Well-worth the mountainous but beautiful two and a half hour drive is Byzantine hill town of Mystras. Situated on Mt. Taygetos, near ancient Sparta,it was a centre of Renaisaance cultural flowering in the 14th and 15th centuries. The frescos in the Peribleptos Church, dating between 1348 and 1380, are a very rare example of late Byzantine art.

The middle finger of the Peloponnese is called The Mani, a place of rugged peaks and spectacular views, described in Patrick Leigh Fermor's book of the same name. Just south of Aeropolis on the edge of the inner Mani are the Diros Caves. Inhabited in Neolithic times, they are famous for their stalactites and stalagmites with lyrical names such as Crystal Lily and Three Wise Men. The Mani landscape bristles with small stone towers built by the feuding Maniots - for taking pot shots at their neighbours. They're friendlier now.
And so back to the fertile valleys and soft rolling mountains of Messinia. With all of this you can understand why the gods of Ancient Greece spent much of their time in the Peloponnese.