Thursday 8th May 2008

We wanted to take the opportunity for a long walk and we decided that the castle guarding the north-west entrance to the bay was in reach. We walked along the beach and, as we approached the castle hill, we came across a the nature reserve based around a large brackish lake on the other side of the beach from the bay. Turtles wander around the paths, terrapins scurry in and out of the freshwater stream and ospreys fish in the lake that is rich in sea life. At least that is what the boards said but we didn't see any of them! Except the fish and it is true to say that we saw hundreds of them - as we walked along the shore the water boiled with shoals of small silver fish breaking the surface.
A sign at the bottom of the castle hill said that the castle was closed for safety reasons but the path was well worn so we decided to go up to see the view even if we couldn't get in. The path took us beside the very narrow channel between the island of Sphakteria and the mainland and around to the open sea. We could only see a small part of the wall from the bay side but as we rounded the seaward side we saw the castle in its full glory, as potential attackers would have seen it. Now known as Paliokastro (old castle), it was built by Nicholas II of St. Omer (Northern France) in 1278 and area was known then as Porte des Joncs (rushes) after the rushes that grew in the marsh below (now the brackish lake). There was however a fortification on the hill in Classical Greek times when it was know as Koryphasia and the area was settled by many different invaders over a period of 2,000 years. We were able to get into the castle and found a route through the stones to the castle keep, with is also thought to have been the ancient acropolis. We were nearly at the highest point but couldn't see the exit at the other side or any obvious route across. Jane stayed in the shade whilst I acted as scout and when I found the exit, I met a young German couple coming up through it. They told me that it was very steep and they had to find handholds in order to climb up. I knew that I would never get Jane to clamber down so I reluctantly went back to Jane and told her that we would have to retrace our steps. However, before we descended, I was able to go to the Eastern side of the keep to see the view down over Navarino Bay, Sphakteria Island, the lake and one of the most beautiful bays in Greece. Voidokilia is a perfect semi-circle of white sand enclosing beautiful blue and turquoise water and it looks as though it has come straight off a holiday poster. This was our next objective but via the longer, if safer, route.
In the meantime I admired the view of Navarino Bay across to the modern town of Pylos overshadowed by another castle, Neocastro (new castle) – they are not very original with their names here! This castle, built originally by the Turks in 1572 and improved by the Venetians in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, guarded the other, wider entrance to Navarino Bay at the southern end of Sphakteria Island. There is jet another fortification on the island itself and this shows just how important this very large natural harbour was over thousands of years. It was here that, in ancient Greek times, the Athenians one a battle over the Spartans and took a number of surrendering Spartans prisoner. This destroyed the reputation of the invincibility of the Spartans who never allowed themselves to be captured.
A more recent and very decisive battle occurred in October 1827 and this was to signal the beginning of the end of the Greek War of Independence. The Greeks had massacred the Turks in Neocastro at the beginning of the war in 1821 but they had returned and were in control of the area. The British admiral Cunningham was sent to the area in command of an allied (British, French and Russian) fleet with orders to guarantee Greek independence without offending the Turks. This seemed to be an impossible task and so it turned out to be. After negotiations with both sides, the Greeks agreed to sign a armistice but the Turks refused. On this pretext, Cunningham gave the order to attack the Turkish fleet. Entering the bay through the southern channel, Cunningham faced the 82 warships and 2,438 guns of the Turkish fleet with the 26 ships and 1,270 guns of his own. By the end of the day the allied fleet had been annihilated with 53 Turkish ships sent to the bottom and 6,000 men dead. Meanwhile, the allied fleet had lost no ships and only 145 men. The British, ever the diplomats, desperate to limit the damage to relations with Turkey, described the victory as an 'untoward event' but the French and Russians did not conceal their delight. The Greeks erected a statue to the three allied admirals in the square in Pylos and every 20th October, ships from the three nations attend a celebration of the victory.
We walked back down and along the strip of land between the castle hill and the lake, arriving at the beautiful Voidokilia bay. I wanted to walk up to the so-called 'Cave of Nestor', occupied since Neolithic times, with a classical Greek remains below it. The cave went deep into the cliff but was largely featureless except for the faint shaft of light coming from a tiny hole in the roof. The cave was directly below the castle exit that I had rejected and on the way I met a Swiss family that had taken that route down. They explained that, although the first 3m were slightly difficult, there was no danger and it was easy after that. I could have come down that way but I still don't think that I would have persuaded Jane. Perhaps we will do it next time that we are in the area, in the reverse direction. There are many Mycenaean tombs in the area and the tholos tomb on the other side of the bay is said to be that of Thrasymedes, one of the sons of Mycenaean King Nestor. It was a long way around the bay in deep sand and we have seen a number of Mycenaean tholos tombs, so we decoded to head back to the campsite.
Photos: A shipwreck (not one of the Turkish fleet!) in Navarino Bay with Sphakteria island on the right and Pylos in the centre distance; Sphakteria Island from the old castle with the sea on the right and Navarino Bay on the left – the northern channel runs between the island and the castle hill; Voidokilia Bay viewed from the castle with the lake to the right.