36:41.754N 22:22.911E
Muskrat
Chris and Alison
Tue 4 Jun 2024 18:45
24/06/24 - 28/06/24 We left Gythion on the 24th May and headed to Porto Kagio. Now we are deep into the Mani mountains so some history of this fascinating place is needed to get into context. The Maniots, or Maniates are an ethnic Greek subgroup that traditionally inhabit the Mani Peninsula; located in western Laconia and eastern Messenia, in the southern Peloponnese. They were also formerly known as Maniotes, and the peninsula as Maina. The Maniots claim to be the descendants of the ancient Spartans and they have often been described as such. The terrain is mountainous and inaccessible (until recently many Mani villages could be accessed only by sea), the regional name Mani is thought to have meant originally “dry" or “barren” . The name Manioc is a derivative meaning “of Mani”. In the early modern period, Maniots had a reputation as fire and proudly independent warriors, who practiced piracy and fierce blood feuds. For the most part, the Maniots lived in fortified villages (and “house towers”) where they defended their lands against various armies and later against those of the Ottoman Empire. Ancient Mani The clans and their branches dwelt in a specific location. This frequently coincided with a neighbourhood or quarter of a large settlement, or might be identified with the boundaries of a small one. The manner in which close relatives rallied together for defensive purposes is evident in the way in which they built their houses, very close to or contiguous with each other. In the southern parts of Mani these groups of houses were protected by a collective war-tower (tower house), which is often the earliest structure amongst them. In the settlements of the north, defence was based on privately owned tower houses and the fortified buildings of local rulers. The closed character of a basically warlike society, in which blood kinship played a more important role than the community, determined the layout of the public space. Points of contact between the settlement and the outside world were provided by the roads leading out of Mani, both by land and, by sea. Surveillance was kept over important access routes to the hinterland, and some of the harbours, from towers-lookout posts called vardies.  Settlements of Mani and their living space Mani was a densely occupied yet barren land, with few land routes and difficult of access from the sea, and for centuries preserved an unchanging picture of occupation. Very little is known for a long period reaching down to the l6th century. Later, the evolution of the network of settlements was based mainly on the dynamic articulation of society into patriarchal groups linked by blood ties, called clans. The creation of new settlements and the abandonment of others was often connected with the movement of branches of these groups both within the borders of Mani and outside it. A general feature of the peninsula in Post-Byzantine times was the relatively sparse settlement network with large population concentrations in the north (Outer) Mani, in contrast with the dense network of mainly small settlements in the south, particularly in Inner Mani in the south-west. Inhabitation of the region of Passava in north-east Mani, which was the most vulnerable to the Ottoman Turks, was particularly sparse down to the early 18th century. Throughout the history of the settlements of Mani, their living space was the countryside, since the inhabitants lived by farming and stock-raising. At the same time, the raising of silk-worms, beekeeping. Collecting acorns and hunting were practised to a lesser extent. Despite this, production was frequently not enough to meet the needs of the large population, particularly in the barren regions in the south. Supplementary sources of income were the seasonal or permanent migration of the population and piracy. Ministry of Culture and Sport Ephorate of Antiquities of Messenia (2019) So there we have a very brief description of the Mani and its people. In Porto Kagio, and later in Kardamila, we were able see the “tower houses” that the Mani people built for defence. Walking in the mountains one certainly got a feeling that this was a special place, you could almost feel the presence of ancient people with history going back to Neolithic times. We moved on from Porto Kagio rounding Cape Tainaron (Mataram) to Dirou, a small cove 3 miles south of Limeni. We came here to visit the caves, that are spectacular. The story of the discovery of the caves relates that a shepherd, chasing one of his sheep, fell through a hole into one of the caves and thus the cave complex was discovered. Evidence of prehistoric occupation has been discovered. Perhaps this is the real entrance to the underworld rather than Cape Matapan. Heikell R Greek Waters pilot 13th ed (2018) A guide punts and pushes a flat bottomed boat around the subterranean passages which are full of stalactites. The passages are lit, and, although the tour is an extensive one, you get the feeling that there are many more passages trailing off into the blackness. We moved on the next day to Port Limeni because of the poor shelter in Dirou. Limeni is a neo- Maniote village and the tall “tower houses” around the bay are evidence of Maniote occupation. Although some of these are new builds, they are very sympathetically created to mimic the original. Although small, Limeni has a fascinating history. In the 14th century, the Turks moved to conquer the East Trace region, and at that time, many Greek families tried to escape. Many took to boats and headed over to Mani. One child arrived on the island’s shores and was picked up by the locals. The boy was called Michalis, but the locals called him Mavromichalis because of the terrible ordeal he had been through. Eventually the Mavromichalis family, a hegemonic family, ruled over the island and were considered important in the 1821 Greek liberation struggle and Greek politics. Chasingthedonkey.com accessed 28/05/24 1350 UTC The "tower houses" in the Mani mountains  The boats waiting to take us through Dirous cave  Inside the cave  Inside the caves  Inside the cave  |