The Peloponnisos (Peloponnese) could now almost be regarded as an island, since the cutting of the Corinth Canal through the narrow isthmus that connected it to the mainland, has completely surrounded it by water. If the Peloponnisos is shaped like a hand, then the middle of the three bottom fingers is the Mani. The backbone of the Taiyetos ridge, which runs down through to the Mani, reaches 2407m (7895ft) at Profitis Ilias, and plunges into the sea at Tainaro, mainland Greece's southernmost point and the ancient entrance to the underworld.
The Mani was famous for its lawless autonomy, even when nominally under Turkish rule, its Byzantine churches and its vendettas. The latter led to the development of tall towers from where the feuding families could shoot at their neighbours. The only people who weren’t targets were priests and, necessarily, doctors. The Mani has two halves: the area south of Areopolis, known as Deep or Inner Mani - brown, dry, barren and inhospitable, with villages full of crumbling battle towers, and the northern or Outer Mani, the more fertile area between Kalamata and Areopolis. Stoupa and Kardamyli are situated in the latter half and the walks in this book cover part of the Exo (Outer) Mani.
Stoupa is situated on the west-facing side of the Taiyetos ridge, some 25km southeast of Kalamata. Once a small fishing harbour, it became a small holiday resort in the 1980s, by virtue of its beaches, by far the best in the area. There are two sandy beaches, the main village beach, and the narrower but deeper Kalogria Beach to the north - or three if you include the little Halikoura Beach. It was near Kalogria that the Cretan writer Nikos Kazantzakis lived for several years, and wrote some of his books. He was a friend of the miners from the nearby Prastova coal-mine, which is situated on the ridge of hills behind the village.
Kardamyli, a few km north. is an attractive small town, with tavernas, cafés, cake-shops, many lovely old houses and a long, pebbly beach. Just behind, at the mouth of the spectacular Vyrou Gorge, is the 19th century (but much older-looking) citadel of the Petreas and Mourtzinos families.
Agios Nikolaos is an established harbour village to the south of Stoupa, with an attractive harbour. Facilities include a number of tavernas along the waterfront.
Many of these villages have had their names Hellenicized in the last hundred years, but the old Slavic names are still much used by the locals - an example is Agios Nikolaos, formerly Selinitza - but the name of Stoupa has remained unchanged.
A major feature of the countryside behind the villages is a network of fine, well-engineered kalderimia (broad, stone-paved paths) - perhaps the best remaining in the country - which are excellent for walkers.
Anyone interested in the Mani should see the remarkably extensive website of John Chapman. In particular, the coverage and illustrations of the architecture, churches and frescoes are excellent.
For maps of the wider southern Peloponnisos we suggest
