Built on the peninsula of St. Nicholas in Messiniaher castle Methoni It extends to about 93 acres and is 700 meters long. Its strategic position, next to an ideal natural harbor, has already made it a key station for pilgrims to the Holy Land since the Middle Ages, but also for the traders who connected the West with the East.
When the Venetians occupied the castle in 1209, they transformed the site into an important shopping center and port of refueling in Messinia, to such an extent that they would call it “the eye of Venice”. For nearly three centuries the castle has been heavily, until it fell into the hands of the Ottomans in 1500, after an exhaustive siege.
However, Methoni never stopped causing the desire of the powerful. The Venetians took it again, the Ottomans returned, and the French settled for a while in the 19th century. In 1828, in the context of the struggle of Independence and thanks to the intervention of the French troops under the General Mental, the fortified city finally passed the control of the Greeks. Each dominance left its own footprint, creating a unique architectural palimpsest.
Admirable military architecture
Methoni Castle is a masterpiece of fortress art, adapted to the artillery era. His powerful walls, towers and bastions testify to planning capable of withstanding the sieges. The entrance, a monumental Renaissance Gate, impresses from the first moment. Until 1828 access was made by a wooden bridge; today, with fourteen stone arches, it was made by the French.
Inside, the visitor meets a true outdoor museum: ruins of Venetian houses, Ottoman baths, crypt and a pyramid -shaped barracks from the first Venetian period. There is also the temple of the Transfiguration of the Savior, a one -room temple probably of the second Venetian domination. In the past, the metropolis of the area had been turned into a mosque by the Ottomans, an indication of the religious and political rearrangements that the castle had experienced.
Bourtzi, unforgettable symbol
Opposite the castle is Bourtzi, its most recognizable part. The octagonal tower, emerging from the sea and connected to the main fortress through a stone bridge, was built by the Ottomans in the late 15th century.
It was used as an observatory and sometimes as a prison, giving the monument a special figure immortalized by generations of travelers and artists.
A wounded giant, but always upright
Even today the castle is fighting against the forces of nature. The furious waves of the Ionian Sea constantly erode its east side, but the monument continues to stand proud and magnificent. The tour of its walls, the view of the Ionian Sea and the Aegean or the visit to Bourtzi, make up an experience that takes you out of time, full of memories.
It is one of the most popular archaeological sites in the Peloponnese, and the castle of Methoni is not just a remnant of the past; it is a living place where stories of battles, marine trade and cultures meet. Every visit is an invitation to a journey to history and re -discovery of the grandeur of this bastion in the “Holy Ages”.