Continuing this journey, one reaches Methoni, at the edge of western Peloponnese. Methone, also known as Pedasos, was the daughter of Oeneus. Homer mentions it in the lIiad as one of the seven cities that Agamemnon offered to Achilles in order to persuade him to come to battle again. A city that is a hub, with a natural harbour, a stop-over for travellers and pilgrims to the Holy Land. A historical and commercial port, the centre of the olive tree land. Wherever one turns their glance there are ancient, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman monuments recording the history of the city.
Byzantine crusaders of 1024 conquered it. The Venetians prevailed and since then it became a station of the eastern Mediterranean that prospers. During the Byzantine period in the 9th and 13th century, seals offer evidence; it had also minted its own coin. A very powerful city, indeed.
After the capes Kolivri and Hontros Cavos there is a zone of special ecological importance incorporated in the Natura 2000 Network. The landscape is marvellous. Even the sea bottom here is exceptional, a paradisiacal land with impressive fauna and flora. Here lives the endemic Mediterranean species Posidonia oceanica that spans throughout the sea area in a depth up to 40 m, creating extensive and dense fields.
The sea bottom becomes even more interesting, while maritime archaeology is researching a sunken settlement, the Mycenaean city of Ancient Methone, the medieval breakwater, as well as the many scattered ancient shipwrecks that make the region an ideal destination for scuba divers, but also preserve the timeless character of Methoni.
