Pylos, Methoni & Ancient Messini

Gooooooooooooooooood! (with 2 "o", not only one...)
Today we went with some people from the school where Giannis (our greek teacher) is working to visit these places.

Pylos
Pylos is a very nice looking town by the sea! The fortress, originally built by the Venetians and then rebuilt by the Otomans, is a lot empty in the inside maybe because it is very large... Anyway it has a magnificent view over the bay! Worth a visit.



Methoni
A very very nice and welcoming little town/village near the sea. The main point of attraction is the huge fortress and castle that supposely existed inside the fortress... It reminded me of just another portuguese fortress that i've seen but then we entered. It is a Venetian fortress, as we can see in the outside wall: a carving of a lion with wings, the coat of arms of Venice. After crossing the first "inter-wall" space, we crossed another gate and then a huge green area extended to the sea. In the middle there is a very long road crossing all the supposed settlement to the other side of the fortress where the "Butcher's tower" is located. Yes, it supposely had a setlement... If it is still there now it should be below all those bushes... They could have such a great place in there if they had conserved it better in the past!
Anyway we walked something like 5 minutes to cross it. Another gate, we are on the outside again. And a marvelous view strikes my cornea! The tower just appears "in the middle" of the sea with a not so large path leading there. It is really great, with the mountains far in the back...
Inside there is not so much to see unfortunately. It was a tower where many many people were slaughtered by the Turks, and normally it was used to held prisioners. It should have 2 floors but the top one is gone... A nice round dome and nothing else to see!
Okay besides the fortress, Methoni has very nice beaches. It should be great in summer!



Ancient Messini
Arriving in Ancient Messini you can see some good-looking walls far away on the other side of the valley. Going down to the archaeological place you can see a big ancient amount of stones. It's not so big as the Greek Agora in Athens but it is extense anyway! It still has some walls in a very good condition as well as the little theatrer and the fabulous stadium! This last is really great. The sitting places are well preserved and there are many many columns all around it. Great ambience! :) Down there you can hear the sound of the water flowing below it.
On the way back to the entrance I found two pieces of a pot or a vase! :)
And conclusion... Verena said that 4 months ago the walls in the entrance were not there, so at least something is being done there... slowly...But there is still soooooo much to be found in that place! I bet with anyone! An unfortunately for this we are in Greece, what I have seen about conservation and restauring is not the best.... :(

It is great to imagine all that zone with life, in that valley, protected with 8km (yeah a lot!!) of fortificated walls all around it! In the North to protect that little "kingdom" from the Arcadians; in the East to protect from the Spartans, and the others two sides i dont know, Giannis didnt say! :) Those 2 gates can still be found, I hope i go back there in some months!



PS: Thank you, High Entity.