The Peloponnese: City of Pylos Messinia Prefecture

Pylos is a nice medieval town you go through on your way up the west coast of the Peloponnese and was know in medieval times as Navarino but it was known in ancient times as Pylos so they renamed it Pylos again later.

Pausanius tells us that in the 2nd century AD the city had a temple to Coryphasian Athena and the   Tomb of Nestor, while nearby was a cave which was believed to have been used as the stable for Nestor's oxen.

In 1226, and by now called Navarino, it belonged to Nicholas II St. Omar who built its castle.

On October 20th, 1827 the famous sea battle of Navarino took place in which the combined fleets of Britain, France and Russia utterly defeated the Turkish and Egyptian fleet and put a big dent in Ottoman power over Greece. The town was eventually captured by the French and turned over to Greece while the French engineer Maison stayed on to help re-plan the town.

Modern Pylos is sometimes known also as Neokastro, and dates from 1828. It was built by the French general Maison after the Battle of Navarino, and is a lovely town. The waterfronts, the kastro, and the hillside alleys are enjoyable places to wander around, and the main square, Platia Trion Navarhon is beautiful, shaded by plane trees and full of cafes. The war memorial there honors the admirals who routed the Turks-Codrington, de Rigny and von Heyden (the British, French, and Russian commanders, respectively). A small museum on the Methoni road, the Antonopouleion Museum (Tues-Sun 8:30am-3pm; 2 euros admission) houses remains from the battle as well as regional archaeological finds.

The Neokastro or New Castle, on the south end of the Bay of Navarino was built in 1572 by the Turks on the site of an earlier structure, and rebuilt by the French in 1829. It sits near the port of modern Pylos, at the city's southwest end, and is comprised of a large crenellated enceinte which encloses a citadel with six bastions, a domed mosque converted into a church, and a small hotel.

The southwesternmost bastion, with a platform over the sea, affords good views of the entire complex as well as the entire bay. It was a prison during much of the 18th and 19th centuries, with it inner courtyard divided up into segments enclosed by high walls, a design quite unlike that of most Greek prisons, but which is explained by the need to keep Mani prisoners from different clans from killing each other. The kastro is open Tues-Sun 8:30am-3pm; 2.50euros admission.

The name Pylos is probably a Venetian corruption of Ton Avarinon (Castle of the Avars) which the Byzantines called the old castle, and which later carried over to the newer one. The Venetian occupation was short (1686-1718). The locals call the town Neokastro (new castle) for the citadel that guards the south entrance to the bay, on a promontory above the town, which is the chief one of of the eparchy of Pylia, with around 3000 inhabitants.

The site was not occupied during antiquity, its kastro being built only in 1572 by the Turks, who named it Neokastro to distinguish it from the older one (Palaiokastro) on the north end of the bay. Ibrahim Pasha made it his center of operations in Messenia in 1825, utterly devasting the surrounding area, but he was thrown out by the British, French, and Russians after the famous Battle of Navarino in 1827, the battle that in effect confirmed Greek independence from the Turks during the Greek War of Independence which began in 1821. The Treaty of London (July 1827) had provided that those countries would insure the autonomy of Greece under Turkish rule, with the intention of intimidating the Pasha to withdraw the Turkish and Egyptian fleets from the Peloponnese, but to do so without alienating them. The British admiral was left to his own discretion in this delicate balancing act between a show of force and diplomacy. When told by the Turkish Admiral to leave he responded with " I came to give orders no to take them."

The Battel of Navarino

The allies called for an armistice, accepted by the Greeks, but rejected by the Turks, resulting in the entry into the bay of 26 allied ships, with 1270 guns, which reduced the Turko-Egyptian fleet of 82 warships, 2438 guns and 16,000 men to 26 ships, with 6000 dead, the allies with only 174 killed and 475 wounded and not one ship lost. Supposedly the allies had not intended the attack, but had responded defensively to some cannons fired accidentally (or 'nervously', according to some authors) by an Egyptian frigate. The allied reactions were mixed, the French and Russians happy about it, while the British showed embarrassment.

The Bay was also the site of battles in classical times, described by Thucydides, and in 425BC, during the Peloponnesian War, Athenians laid siege to Spartans on the island that hemmed the bay and the Spartans (contrary to their tradition of fighting to the death) surrendered, greatly surprising the Greeks.

The magnificent natural harbor of Navarino Bay is 5.5km/3.4 miles long from north to south and 3km/1.86miles wide with a depth of 22-55meters/66-180.4 feet. The island of Sphakteria (described above), encloses it on the west. The only reasonable entrance is on the south and is 1190meters/3903feet wide and divided into unequal channels by the islet of Plylos and the Tsichli Baba Rocks. The islet has a lighthouse on it and the French Monument, built in 1890 when the bodies of Frenchmen killed in the Battle of Navarino were transferred here from the cemetery on the mainland,along with the dead from the Morea Expedition of 1828-30. On a low rock in the harbor's center is the Memorial to the British Sailors.

The island of Sfakteria, which is uninhabited, and which all but closes the Bay on the west, is 4.5km /2.79miles long and 450-900 meters/1476-2952feet wide, with an interior covered with thickets and steep cliffs on the harbor side. The highest point, at Aghios Ilias (168meters) is partly enclosed remains of a huge ancient stone wall, where the Spartans made their stand.

There are some tombs and monuments on the island and the wrecks of the sunken Turkish ships can be seen below the waters near the north end, where a chapel sits near the 'Monument to the Russians Sailors'. The ancient acropolis and castle (Palaiokastro), about a ten km trip from the modern town, sits up on a ridge across the shallow straits from the northeast end of the island, with a path leading up to it. Also known as 'Old Pylos', this is likely the setting of the prehistoric Palace of Nestor.

The fortifications are a mix of Frankish and Venetian, built upon ancient foundations. Courtyards and cisterns can be discerned, and the surrounding walls are quite substantial. Approaching the promontory where the castle sits by going via to the road to Romanos from Pylos, you will reach the beautiful sandy beach on the deep semicircular bay Voidhokilia, which opens to the sea to the west of a narrow isthmus that goes south to the castle hill., while east of the isthmus is a stunning freshwater lagoon , an area which may by now be a bird conservation area, and where motor vehicles are distinctly unwelcome (for obvious reasons).

From the beach a path leads upward to the Spilio tou Nestoros (Nestor's Cave) and continues from there up to the castle. The 18meter/59foot long cave, inhabited by humans during Neolithic and Mycenaean times, is now inhabited by bats, and has a hole in its roof. There are also many stalactites. The cave has been identified by some as the location of the grotto mentioned in the Odyssey, where Nestor and Neleus kept their cows, and also as the place where Hermes hid Apollo's cattle (the stalactites resembling animals and hanging hides) as well as the actual site (according to archaeologists) of King Nestor's harbor (see below). On the promontory to the north of the Voidhokilia Bay is one of the earliest tholos tombs (right)in mainland Greece, which research reveals had been intserted into a Middle Helladic tumulus. An Early Helladic settlement existed there in earlier times and Neolithic finds have been discovered there as well as later cult/votive offering from the Classical and Hellenistic periods. This area can be reached on foot from the villages of Petrochori or Romanos.

Other beaches on the bay include Yialova (6km from Pylos) which has some of the shade-proferring tamarisk trees common on many Greek beaches, as well as an excellent campsite open between April and October, with a good restaurant and good facilities. There are also some rooms and hotels here. To the north, at Maistros, is a popular windsurfing spot with a good taverna.