Aug 25, 11.00 am we set sail for the 310 nautical miles to the Peloponnisos in Greece and dropped anchor on Aug 27 @ 02.30 pm in the bay East of Methoni, averaging a little over 6 kts. The trip went fine on a port tack with the wind at 60 degrees. However there were high left over seas on the beam from the storm a few days earlier, causing a jerky rolling motion that made sleeping difficult. Who said that sailing has to be comfortable?
Arriving always gives as a sense of achievement and makes this lifestyle worth living.
Homer (Homerus) a Greek poet, thought to have lived around 750 BC refers to Methoni as Pedassos. During the Byzantine years Methoni was one of the most important cities of the Peloponnesus. Following the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, marking the end of the Byzantine (East Roman) Empire, the “Partitio Romaniae”, a treaty signed amongst the crusaders, assigned most of the Peloponnese to the Republic of Venice. In 1207 the Venetian fleet took possession of Methoni and Koroni. Under Venetian rule, the two towns enjoyed great prosperity. They became the staging point on the route between Venice and the Holy Lands, and many descriptions survived in pilgrims’ accounts.
The Peloponnesos came under Ottoman rule in 1500 AD and except for a brief reoccupation by the Venetians (1686 – 1715) stayed under Ottoman rule until the Greek independence war 1821 – 1839 when the Greeks assisted by Great Britain, France and Russia retook what is now modern Greece from the Ottoman empire and its vassal state Egypt.
The main entrance (Central Gate) to the city was on the North side in the heavily fortified acropolis.
The great “square of arms” was once the center of commercial and social life of the city. The granite column was retrieved from a shipwreck and erected in the square. It was never part of a building.
The construction of the “Moorish Tower” or “Bourtzi” or “Burj” was initiated by the Venetians and finished by the Ottomans. It served as guardhouse, lighthouse and prison.
We wandered through the fortifications for much of the afternoon. Enough to see to trigger our fantasy.
The French planned the modern city outside the citadel and demolished most of the buildings inside the walls to force people into the new settlement, “in order to prevent the spread of epidemics”.
Uuuh…..where have we heard that lately?
“Instil fear on the masses and they will follow orders”.
“New” Methoni is a pleasant holiday destination. The vacationers are attracted by the beach, good restaurants, cheap accommodation and of course the historic citadel.
We stayed a few days in this lovely and laid-back tourist town (population of 2500) and bought some Greek produce like Retsina whine – Kalamata olives, Tzatziki and ready made Souvlaki for the BBQ.
On Aug 30 we raised anchor and set sail for the 18 miles to Koroni that together with Methoni were known as the “two eyes” of the Republic of Venice.
The history of Koroni is largely the same as Methoni’s. However Koroni castle is still inhabited by a few families. Most interesting is the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the acropolis.
The Monastery was founded in 1918 by the Pious Koronian fr. Theodoulos Anagnostopoulous on his property in the castle, as a spiritual school and the monastery still preaches today: “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (the quality of being worthless).
Since it was the first time that we were “confronted” with te Orthodox church we looked into the main differences with our Roman Catholic religion.
Christianity seems to be divided into the Eastern and Western churches that are referred to as Orthodox and (Roman) Catholics respectively. The basic beliefs and practices are the same. But……
The Roman Catholic Church is headed by a Pope and Vatican is the seat of Christianity. The Pope cannot advise for a change of leadership in any country. Latin was the language of the Catholic Church for long. Only later native language was allowed. Also, priests are not allowed to marry. The Catholics believe Mary to be without original sin and hence appropriate to be the mother of the son of god. Catholics prefer statues.
The Eastern Orthodox Church does not recognise the Pope. Eastern Orthodox recognises the Archbishop as the highest authority though he is not infallible like the Pope for the Catholics. The Orthodox Church preferred native languages from the start. Also they feel that Mary was ordinary but was chosen to be the mother of Jesus as she had led a virtuous life. The Orthodox church does not recognise the Gregorian calendar hence Christmas and Easter do not necessarily coincide on the same day. Orthodox prefer icons.
On Sept 02 we continued our journey further East. The wind was with 11 – 15 knots less than forecasted so we hoisted the Spinaker. There were a number of commercial vessels anchored in the Gulf (Messiniakos Kolpos) that were clearly put on idle as a result of the diminished world trade.
The wind speed increases at the end of the afternoon due to the thermal component. Also the speed increases around a headland or a cape. Of course these two components coincided when we rounded the cape and although anticipated, the increase was more than expected and it was a struggle to douse the spinaker. We unfurled the genoa to create a lee for the spinaker so we could pull the sock down. The trick worked well and we got it done safely.
At 04.30 pm we dropped anchor in front of the tiny hamlet Porto Kayio, tucked away in the south of a well protected bay. Here we could safely wait out the unsettled weather that was forecasted for the coming days.
Here we were, in what seemed the end of the world. Two guesthouses, mainly for Greek vacationers, two restaurants and one bar. Next to the stairway to the bar there was a memorial for a Greek revolutionary “Lambros Katsonis” who assembled a fleet of 70 pirate vessels in 1778 and started harassing the Ottoman fleet in the Aegean sea. His hideout was in this bay.
A vegetable vendor would visit the hamlet, announcing his daily arrival by loudhailer on the top of the hill before driving his truck down the winding road. A baker would come once per week. The yotti’s would take their dinghy ashore and stand in line for fresh veggies together with the patron of the restaurant they eat at the night before.
It was easy to built a conversation with the friendly locals. The hamlet is run by two families. The place was dead 40 years ago. The inhabitants had left for the bigger cities or different countries to work. They returned about ten years ago, renovated the buildings and even built guesthouses. In the summer months the bay is frequently visited by yachts, supporting the economy as well. However in the winter months most Greeks leave again for the city leaving a caretaker behind.
After a few heartwarming days in Porto Kayio and with stable weather returning we decided to move on to Nisos Elafonisos to position ourselves for the rounding of the fearsome Akra Maleas.
There was a whole fleet holed up in the anchorage waiting for the right time to move. We are going to leave the Peloponnisos and the Southern Ionian soon, but that is subject for another post.
We hope that you enjoyed the read and found it interesting. Thank you for following our story.
Warm regards; Liza and Frits.
Another good read of adventure (now learnt how to put away the cruising chute at high wind) and history. Looking forward to follow your foot step.
Thank you Kinh and Jennifer for the appreciation. Sure hope we will meet again someday.