Wednesday 7th May 2008

We got very distracted this morning and didn't leave the site until 12:00. We had a long chat with a very pleasant Scottish couple near us who confusingly had a Spanish registered motorhome as they lived in Spain and then Pat Miller introduced herself to us just as we were about to leave. Pat is the editor of the Hobby Club magazine in the UK and had spotted that we had a UK registered Hobby, quite a rarity especially in Greece. We didn't even know that there was a UK Hobby club so Pat gave us the details and we may well join once we return from the Odyssey.
So, eventually, we left and headed the short distance to Methoni and its castle. This is much more elaborate than the one at Koroni, having a large moat and intricate, very well guarded entrance. Methoni has a long history, being mentioned by ancient historians as a city in the 8th - 7th century BC and it was occupied by Phillip II of Macedonia (Alexander's father) in 354 BC. However, just like Koroni, it is the Venetians that have left the castle in its current form, as was obvious from the number of stone-carved Lions of St. Mark that we saw. In 1125 the Venetians invaded and destroyed the city and from 1206 to 1500 they ruled the area. During this time they built a massive fortification to protect what they called the 'Eyes of the Republic', an extremely important strategic location on their main trade routes to the Black Sea and the Middle East. The history was very bloody – after a Turkish siege in 1500 the Turks managed to storm the castle and beheaded every Venetian and Greek male over 10 years of age. They then held the castle until 1685 when, at the 6th attempt, the Venetians, desperate to win back Methoni, took it after the Turks surrendered. In 1715 the Turks once again took the castle, again massacring the Greek and Venetian defenders. You may by now be beginning to understand why the Greeks hate the Turks. The Turks continued to hold the castle even after the Greek War of Independence, only falling to French forces in 1828.
The castle encloses a very large area that contains ruins from many periods including two Turkish baths. The walls are largely intact except on the side that faces the wrath of the storms where large sections have fallen into the sea. We walked all over the site, including the Bourtzi (a small octagonal fort) built on an islet just off the castle. It was interesting to see stone cannonballs, bits of pillars and carved stones incorporated into the walls and buildings, indicative of the importance of the defence of the site over and above the aesthetics.
Conveniently, there were picnic tables on the beach just by where we had parked Henrietta and we had lunch there together with two other groups who came to use the facilities.
Pylos was the next stop, a working port and very pleasant town with an unusual silver-domed church in its centre. After a walking tour of the small town, we carried on to Camping Erodios at Gialova just a few miles away around the bay. This turned out to be a very sophisticated campsite by Greek standards – constant hot water in the showers, toilet paper provided, liquid soap at the washbasins and hand dryers – all almost unheard of in Greece. Unsurprisingly, it was quite a lot more expensive than other sites but occasional luxury is really appreciated.
Photos: Entrance to Methoni castle; The Bourtzi off Methoni castle linked to the castle by a stone bridge and a wooden drawbridge. In the background is the island of Sapienza ('wisdom' in Italian), on the other side of which lies the 'Well of Inousses' a 12,500 ft deep trench in the sea where European physicists have built an instrument on the sea bed to detect neutrinos; The interior of the castle – the column in the foreground comes from a shipwreck off the island of Sapienza. The ship was carrying granite columns pillaged from the 1st century AD Great Peristyle in Kessaria, Palestine built by Herod. One of the two Turkish baths can be seen in the middle distance, with the Bourtzi in the background.; The silver-domed church in Pylos.