March 30, 2023 – Gythion, Greece

Gythion, Greece is a beautiful seaside town on the southern side of Peloponnese, in the peninsula of Laconia in Greece.  Constructed on the hill slopes around a natural bay, Gythion is the largest town in the region of Mani, a secluded barren place with ghost villages and wild landscape and the seaport of Sparta. Evidence of the ancient Gythium prosperity can be found by the fact that the Romans built an ancient theatre which is well preserved today and is still used occasionally.  They believe the city was destroyed in the 4th century AD by an earthquake.

We arrived in Greece this morning.  The sea is calm, the sky and water are blue.  We dropped anchor and took a tender to the shore.  It looks like a pretty, little seaside town with cafe’s, restaurants and shops.  The buildings are mostly pale yellow and white in color with awnings right along the water.  The town goes up a steep hill so even though you may live 4 or 5 blocks away, you still have an ocean view.  In the distance is a snow capped mountain.

Our guide today is a pretty, young Greek woman that spoke very good English.  She’s a student of archaeology and history.  She said to call her Mel.  She had a beautiful name, but Mel was short since we American’s would badly mispronounce it.

We got on the bus and traveled away from the town, up the hills and through a valley.  We traveling south, down the peninsula into an area known as the Mani Region.  The landscape is what you think of as Mediterranean, low brush, dry looking ground and olive trees.

Soon we stopped at this very, tiny village for a break.  We walked along this cute little beach area.  Not sand, but pretty, smooth, gray stones.  The water is multi shades of blue.  When you looked at the water, it looked like stripes from all the different shades.  The little beach was protected from this very high mountain to the side of it.  You can see an extremely, steep trail going to the top.  Can you imagine the view from there?

We continued our drive and Mel would tell us about the history of the area.  Why the houses looked the way they did with small windows that could be blocked up for defensive purposes and tall towers.  The road went up and down in elevation and twisted around hilltops and valleys.  You can tell it’s an ancient walking trail for human or maybe donkey turned into road.  The bus barely fit through some of the villages as if you could reach out and touch each side of the little road.

We reached an area called Mani Region (another UNESCO World Heritage Site).  We’re at the top of a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea and visiting the village of Vathia.  This small settlement of stone towers and abandoned houses almost became a ghost village, but in recent years, it has become one of the must-see destinations in the Mani Peninsula.  Vathia was built as a fortress to protect the people from hostile attacks coming from the sea (Ottoman’s and pirates).  Tall tower houses built close to each other, with small alleys in between, create an imposing and mystical atmostphere.  The village is at an altitude of 590 feet above sea level and about a mile from the sea.  I’m sure it is mesmerizing in the sunset, the color of the stones will change along with the color of the water below.  Too bad we are not staying longer.

The area is remote and rugged.  I was shocked as we drove around the peninsula, you see these stone towers, literally, everywhere. The color of the stone blends in so well with the landscape that it almost disappears.  Mel was telling us that many of these villages were inaccessible for thousands of years.  I can certainly see why.  The tower villages look like small castles.  The most powerful families had the highest towers.  Several vendettas between families have occurred in the past, sometimes resulting in the destruction of stone towers.

Vathia reached its peak in the 19th century, when around 300 people lived in the area.  After WWII, many of the local people moved to bigger cities and a large number of these stone towers were abandoned.  In 1979, the only residents of this remote area were 11 elderly woman with no electricity.  No doubt, strong woman.

If you like remote places with peace and quiet, you may find this part of Greece your thing.  Some of these tower villages became hotels and guesthouses so visitors can stay and enjoy the region. To give you an idea of distance, if you fly to Athens and rent a car, it’s approximately a 4 hour drive. I would say, a fun drive.

We drove to the end of the peninsula, Cape Tainaron.  This is continental Greece’s southernmost area (also southern most point of Europe) where you can hike to the end where there is a lighthouse.  At this point, we turned around and started our journey back to Gythion and the port.  The ride up and down the mountainous terrain watching the beautiful sea was enjoyable.  We reached Gythion but didn’t have time to go explore the town.  We said our good-bye to Mel.  She was a very knowledgeable guide and pleasure to talk with.  It’s time to catch the tender back to the ship.  What a beautiful day it has been.  Memories made that included our friends Bev and Mike that were also on this tour.

We’ve been to Greece before but not this area.  We visited Corfu, an island off Greece’s northwest coast in the Ionian Sea that has rugged mountains and many resorts around it’s shoreline.  My favorite visit to Greece was Santorini.  This island located in the Aegean Sea was devastated by a volcanic eruption in the 16th century which forever shaped its rugged landscape.  The crescent shaped island has 2 towns, Fira and Oia.  The whitewashed buildings cling to the cliffs above an underwater crater.  It’s magical.  The domes of the churches are blue and surrounded by all the white buildings, it’s stunning.  Definitely a place to stay, if you are not afraid of heights.

Ok, enough daydreaming. We’re back onboard the ship and enjoying the views of this beautiful bay as we sail away and into the Aegean Sea.