Western Mani
Western Mani hides many treasures and its enchanting villages “witness” countless secrets… So read what to look for and where:
The church of Agia Sophia in the village of the same name, which is very close to Kardamili. The village is also called Gournitsa.
The last village of Exo Mani, Agios Nikos or Poliana.
The old cobbled path that started in Kambo towards Mystra, in the village of Altomira. The village is amphitheatrically built on the mountainside of Taygetos and takes its name from the bandit Altomoros who found refuge in the area. In the uninhabited village today you will also admire churches with wonderful frescoes, stone houses, excellent examples of Maniatian architecture and the double stone bridge in Biliovo, in the Ridomou gorge.
The numerous historical monuments in the village of Exochori.
The Byzantine-style church of Agios Nikolaos, the historic Monastery of Prophet Elias and the Zoodochos Pigi in the settlement of Kallianeika.
The ancient passage of the road that led from Sparta to the Messinian coast, to the traditional settlement of Lagada with its tower houses and houses with tiled roofs. Sights of the area are the old temple of Yatrissa which was once the largest monastery of the Laconian peninsula. Also the Byzantine churches of Faneromeni and Agia Marina painted by the monk Andronikos Paleologos, brother of Konstantinos Paleologos.
The verdant, full of ravines and the traditional houses with their distinctive decoration, the neighborhood of Milea or Fagrianika with the Monastery of “Panagia tis Yatrissas”, which has an unknown date of creation, but also the rest of the Holy Temples that have been designated as Historical Preserved Monuments.
The view of Koroni from the authentic village of Nomitsi, which is built at the foot of a small hill of Gaidourovouni. This picturesque place offers wild natural beauty and beautiful cobblestones that connect it to the neighboring villages. In the center of the village dominates the parish church of Agios Georgios with its wood-carved iconostasis, which is said to have been built by someone who had taken refuge there while being persecuted and with the only tool a knife. Don’t forget to notice the built-in decorative reliefs on the well-built stone taps of the village, which are unique architectural buildings of intense interest.
The path of Biliova, in the settlement of Central (Biliova).
The bell tower of Agios Nikolaos, in the settlement of Brida (North).
The Koukea Tower in the village of Zacharias or Limbohovo, which is located at an altitude of 680 m. The Tower was built in 1800 and is known as the Tower of Zacharias because the charioteer Zacharias Barbitsiotis was murdered in it in 1805.
The sacred Manteio Inous in the mountainous traditional village of Thalames. The oracles of the oracle, requested by the passers-by, were given by the goddess in their sleep in the form of a dream, while they slept inside the Temple.
The church of Agios Mamas which was built in 1750 with the icons from Odyssos but also the Monastery of Sotiros to which it belongs, Gospel of the Evangelist Luke in the village of Kalyves which is located 4 kilometers from Prosilio towards Kardamili.
It is also worth visiting the home of Patrick Leigh Fermor, an Anglo-Irish author and famous resident of the area, who wrote many works about Greece and Mani. The author fought as “Mihalis” in the Resistance of Crete, but fell in the battle with his love for Mani and chose to share her with his homeland. It is a house-museum in a beautiful location and a Mediterranean garden.
The amphitheatrically built Arachova, the “widely heard” as the poet Nikitas Nifakos has written in his verses. The village is located between two slopes at an altitude of 500m. Here you will find the ruined tower of Goudelis and the churches of Agios Georgios and Prophet Ilias.
The Katafygio caves, where the inhabitants fled to hide in fear of the Pirates, in the village of Katafygio.
Pyrgohori Malta with the historic tower of Koutifaris-Alupides and the tower of Mavrikos. Here you will also admire the women’s monastery of Androubevitsa, it is a Byzantine building with elements of Maniac architecture. While in the Holy Church of the Dormition you will see some great frescoes of the 13th century that have survived to this day.
The remains of a Frankish castle, in the Acropolis of ancient Lefktra. A stone pickaxe from the Proto-Hellenic period, a marble head of Athena, a marble Ionic capital, a marble head of a bearded man from Roman times and a clay female head from classical times have been found in the prehistoric city. All are in the Museum of Kalamata.
The secret of the beautiful semi-mountainous village of Petrovouni, which is nothing more than the beautiful view it offers to Kardamili and the entire Messinian gulf.
Kalyves with its stone houses and narrow streets.
The fortified towers in the traditional semi-mountainous village of Platsa, which means plateau or open square, and the Mani Open Theater in the Kabinari location of Platsa, with its magnificent view. Here you will also see beautiful churches and several temples of Byzantine and post-Byzantine times.
The tower or castle of the Captains in the village of Haravgi. The Kapetanakides were one of the Maniatian families who were chieftains, they started and continued the revolutionary struggle of 1821. At the entrance of the castle there is still a grave with human remains, without mentioning any other evidence.
The sea cave Katafygi of Vatsinidis or Votsinidis, of exceptional natural beauty, near the Suburb, inside which there are beautiful small lakes, but it is unused. In the Suburb you will also see the towers of Perdikea and Hyurea, the renovated Fountain of Melissines from 1643, Agios Nikolaos, the Dormition of the Virgin, the Monastery of Agioi Theodoros and an impressive stone bridge.
The mines where Kazantzakis worked in Prastova.
The tower of the commander captain Christea who participated in the liberation of Kalamata, in the square of Agios Dimitrios.
The natural observatory village of Pyrgos, thanks to its position you can admire the Eastern coast of the Messinian Gulf and the seaside villages. Look for the Black Cave where the signs that still exist testify that people lived there.
The historic Saidona, since it is said that one of the first blows received by Mussolini’s invaders comes from this small mountain village. At the entrance of the village there is a monument to the victims of the war.
The settlements of Elaiochori, Ano and Kato Riglia, which are built between two streams that start from the mountains of Milea and end at the beautiful Pantazi beach. Here you will find the Church of Agios Georgios with the beautiful bell tower, Agia Paraskevi in a cave, the Agioi Apostoloi and Sotira.
In Kato Riglia there is also a stone-built arched well that bears witness to daily life in earlier times.
The three-story Katafygi cave in Trachila village.
The castle of Zarnata, in the village of Stavropigio.
Stone-built houses, creations of famous stonemasons and real monuments in the villages of Tseria, located at the highest altitude of the habitable villages of Mani.
Establishment of the Municipality of West Mani, with Kardamili as the seat of the Municipality of West Mani.
It also includes the villages and hamlets: Stoupa, Kampos, Krya Vrysi, Kitries, Sotirianika, Toumbia, Dendra, Haravgi, Pigadia, Malta, Akrogialion, Avia, Megali Mantineia, Rizana, Stavropiion, Vorion, Altomira, Kouris, Anatolikon, Kentron, Platoma , Kato Doloi, Drosopigi, Kalianeika, Ano Doloi, Orovas and Chora Gaitson.
The settlements Agios Nikolaos, Platsa, Stoupa, Neon Proastion, Tseria, Yatraiika, Zacharia, Katafygion, Pedinon, Kalamitsi, Kampos, Pyrgos Lefktro, Proastion, Trahila, Prosilion, Pigi, Kotroni, Lakkos, Thalamai, Kalyvai, Saidona, Riglia, Ano Riglia, Eliochorion, Milea, Agia Sophia, Nomitsis, Leuktron, Neochori, Kyvelia, Somatiana, Agios Nikon, Exochori, Chora, Karyovunion, Platanos, Kato Chora, Petrovouni, Dryopi, Kastanea, Lagada and Agios Dimitrios.
Recognition of the settlements, Agios Vasilios, Ai Gianna, Geranou, Leftini, Marmoutsa, Meropi (island), Bazigeika, Plagiada, Poliana, Prastova and Stara and their annexation to the Municipality of Western Mani.
