Mani Peninsula

Maniot landscape

The Mani Peninsula (Template:Langx), known historically as Maina or Maïna (Template:Langx), is a geographical and cultural region of southern Greece. The Mani is the central of three peninsulas that extend southward from the Peloponnese into the Mediterranean Sea. The Laconian Gulf and, across the gulf, the peninsula of Cape Maleas are to the east. The Messenian Gulf and peninsula of Messenia are to the west. The Mani Peninsula terminates at Cape Matapan (called Tainaron by the Ancient Greeks), the southernmost point of continental Greece.

Administration of the peninsula is now split between modern Laconia (East Mani) and Messenia (West Mani). In ancient times, all of Mani was considered part of Laconia, a region dominated by the powerful city-state, or polis, of Sparta.

Lying due south of Sparta (Spárti), Mani is the central of three peninsulas extending into the Mediterranean Sea.

The historical region and cultural area is frequently referred to in English-language sources as "the Mani", "the Mani Peninsula", or simply "Mani". These are long-used conventional names for the area that overlap with—but are semantically distinct from—the names of its two constituent municipalities of East Mani and West Mani; both municipalities were established in 2011 following a nationwide administrative reform.

The Mani Peninsula is the southern extension of the Taygetus mountain range. It is about 28 miles (45 km) long with a rocky, rugged, interior bordered by scenic coastlines. Cities of the Mani Peninsula include Areopoli in the northwest and Gytheio (ancient Gythion or Gythium) in the northeast.

The demonym for inhabitants of Mani is Maniots (Template:Langx). A Maniot tradition claims that they are descended from ancient Spartans and refugees of the early Roman period. They maintain a unique heritage among the regional subcultures of their fellow Greeks.

The Mani Peninsula was known as Maina Polypyrgos ("Many-Towered Maina") for its numerous tower-houses. From 1978 onwards, the Greek state successively decreed many settlements "traditional", setting restrictions on construction. In 2003, the whole peninsula was designatedTemplate:Refn a "cultural complex of international importance".<ref name=Greekscapes>Template:Cite web For an example of a decree designating specified settlements as traditional, see Template:Cite web</ref> Notable sites in Mani include the ruins of the ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Matapan, and the Diros Caves with their prehistoric remains near Pyrgos Dirou outside Gytheio. Mani and the Maniots played a key role in the Greek War of Independence that began in 1821.<ref name=Mazower-2021> Template:Cite book</ref>

Etymology

There is no agreement on the origin of the word "Mani". The region's medieval name was Maini, however this is itself of uncertain origin. Two early 10th-century Byzantine emperors refer to the region by the name "Maini" in their writing. It was first mentioned in the Tactica of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (c. 900), and was mentioned again in the De Administrando Imperio of Emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959). In 1205, the French established a Crusader state on the Peloponnese in the aftermath of the sack of Constantinople. They built a castle on the Mani in 1250 and called it the Grand Magne, presumably naming it after the region.<ref name=Fermor-1958> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Still, folk traditions claim that the Mani is named for the "Frankish"Template:Refn castle of Grand Magne and not the reverse.

Geography

The dark-toned Taygetus mountain range, with snow-covered peaks, runs down the spine of Mani, the central peninsula jutting southwards from the Peloponnese, in this March 2014 photo taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station.

The Mani is a peninsula with Cape Matapan forming its southern tip. Its northern delineation from the Peloponnese mainland is not precisely defined; maps of the Mani frequently show an area just south of Kalamata as its westernmost point, and Gytheio as its easternmost point.

Geology

Template:Main The massif of the Taygetus range is about Template:Convert long, extending from the center of the Peloponnese to Cape Matapan. The Mani peninsula is composed of Mesozoic-era carbonate rocks (such as limestone), which erode to form karst caves like the one at Alepotrypa.<ref name=Sakellariou-2016> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

The tallest mountain in the Taygetus range is Mount Taygetus. Its summit, called Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss), stands at Template:Convert, and is the highest in the Peloponnese.<ref name=VP-Taygetus> Template:Cite web</ref> Some historians identify Template:Transliteration with the "Taletum, a peak of Taygetus" mentioned by Pausanias.<ref name=Waterhouse&Hope-1960> Template:Cite journal For the primary source, see: Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Climate

The Mani Peninsula, like much of southern Greece, has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa).Template:Citation needed The Messenian, or Outer, Mani receives more rainfall than the Laconian, or Inner and Lower, Mani (see rain shadow), and as a consequence is more agriculturally productive. Locals call the Messenian Mani Template:Transliteration Template:Gloss and the Laconian Template:Transliteration Template:Gloss.<ref name=Karakatsianis-2010> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

Local government

Administrative map of East and West Mani, 2012

The Mani peninsula is divided into the administrative municipalities of East Mani (Template:Lang, Template:Transliteration) and West Mani (Template:Lang, Template:Transliteration), in the modern regional units of Laconia and Messenia, respectively.

Traditional regions

Mani has traditionally been divided into three regions:

• Exo Mani (Έξω Μάνη) or Outer Mani to the northwest, corresponding approximately to West Mani
• Kato Mani (Κάτω Μάνη) or Lower Mani to the east, corresponding approximately to northern East Mani
• Mesa Mani (Μέσα Μάνη) or Inner Mani to the southwest, corresponding approximately to southern East Mani

The traditional regions of Mani: Exo (Outer); Kato (Lower); Mesa (Inner)

The island of Cranae is located just off the coast of Gytheio in Lower Mani. A causeway linking the island to the mainland was built in 1898.<ref name=KPAM>Template:Cite web</ref>

Transport links

Template:See also Because its terrain is mountainous and not easily accessible, many Maniot villages could be reached only by sea until relatively recent times.Template:Vague Today, a narrow and winding road traverses the perimeter, linking Mani with the mainland through Kardamyli and Areopoli on the west coast, to Cape Matapan in the south, and Gytheio in the northeast. Another road connects Tripoli in the central Peloponnese to Gerolimenas near Cape Matapan; public buses of the Piraeus–Mani line use this route.Template:Citation needed Greek National Road 39 (Template:Langx, EO39) connects Tripoli with Gytheio via Sparta.<ref>Decision ΔΜΕΟ/Ε/779/1995, Classification of the National Road Network of Peloponnese</ref>

The E4 European long-distance walking path traverses the Taygetus to a land terminus in Gytheio, connecting the Peloponnese to the Spanish city of Tarifa. The path continues to Crete by ferry crossing.

History

Prehistory

Palaeolithic to Neolithic

Excavations at Kalamakia Cave, a Neanderthal site

Mani has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Apidima Cave on the west side of the peninsula has yielded Neanderthal and Homo sapiens fossils from the Palaeolithic era.<ref name=Delson-2019> Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:As of, a Homo sapiens skull recovered from Apidima, dating to at least 210,000 years before present, is the earliest evidence of modern humans in Europe.<ref name=Harvati-2019> Template:Cite journal</ref> Neolithic remains have been found on Mani's coast in the Alepotrypa Cave, a major settlement, cemetery and ceremonial site,<ref name=Papathanasiou-2018> Template:Cite book</ref> and human and Neanderthal remains in the Kalamakia Cave, a Middle Palaeolithic site.<ref name=Harvati-2013> Template:Cite journal</ref> The Lakonis I site, a collapsed Middle Palaeolithic cave on the coast near Gytheio, contains evidence of Neanderthals' use of fire to dispose of bones and other food refuse.<ref name=Starkovich-2020> Template:Cite journal</ref>

Evidence of extensive Neolithic and early Bronze Age occupation and activity extending north and south of the Bay of Oitylo has been found at many other cave sites.<ref name=Katsarou&Darlas-2017> Template:Cite AV media Duration 26:51Template:Sndfor study area, see 1:25 to 4:08 minutes in. Retrieved 6 November 2025. </ref>

Mycenaean

The Mycenaean civilization (1900–1100 BCE) dominated Mani and the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age. Mani flourished under the Mycenaeans. A temple dedicated to Apollo was erected at Cape Matapan. It was later re-dedicated as the Temple of Poseidon. Homer refers to a number of towns in the Mani region. The "Catalogue of Ships" in the Iliad names Messa, Oetylus, Kardamyli, Gerenia, Teuthrone, and Las.<ref name="Homer 2.581">Template:Cite web</ref> Mani features in many myths and legends, with one describing a sea-hollowed cavern near Cape Matapan (ancient Taenarum) as a portal to Hades, the underworld.<ref name=Kosmin-2024> Template:Cite book Kosmin cites Hecataeus, Strabo, and Pausanias, among others.</ref>

Ancient Mani

Mani (left peninsula) in ancient Laconia, showing settlements, natural features, and carriage roads (in red) mentioned by Pausanias in his Description of Greece, composed in the 2nd century CE. Modern names are in italic. This map is part of James Frazer's commentaries on his 1898 translation of the work.

Dark Ages

In the early Greek Dark Ages (c. 1050–800 BCE), Phoenicians used Gytheio to collect the murex sea snail, being plentiful in the Laconian Gulf, which they then processed into Tyrian purple.<ref name=Fermor-1958 />Template:RpTemplate:Dubious

Archaic

The area around Mani came under the rule of the powerful city-state Sparta with the onset of the Archaic Period  (800–480 BCE). Under Spartan rule, inhabitants of Mani were classified as belonging to the Perioeci social caste.<ref name=Saïtas-1990> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Classical

Gytheio, Template:Convert from Sparta, became Mani'sTemplate:Sndand Sparta'sTemplate:Sndmajor port. It was captured by Athenian forces in 455 BCE during the First Peloponnesian War, a power struggle between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies fought, in part, to establish supremacy over the Peloponnese.Template:Citation needed

The damaged city and docks were rebuilt; by the end of the war, Gytheio was the main shipyard for the new Spartan fleet.<ref>Xenophon. Hellenica, 1.4.11 Template:Webarchive.</ref> Spartan hegemony in the Peloponnese lasted until 371 BCE, when the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra.<ref name=Shipley-2018> Template:Cite book</ref>

Hellenistic

Throughout much of the Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE) the Mani Peninsula remained subject to Spartan hegemony. This era proved turbulent for Mani and Laconia, marked by frequent military engagements and shifting political allegiances. Taenarum became a mercenary headquarters in the late 4th century.<ref name=WilsonAM-2012> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Competition between rival powers resulted in a series of wars that eventually drew in the Kingdom of Macedon and the expanding Roman Republic: the Cleomenean War (229–222 BCE); the Social War (220–217 BCE); the Macedonian Wars (214–148 BCE); and the Laconian War (195 BCE). Gytheio, as a major port, remained an especially sought-after prize for all parties.

In 219Template:Ndash218 BCE, during the Social War, Philip V of Macedon invaded Mani as part of his campaign in Laconia. His forces besieged Gytheio and Las but failed to capture them.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:RpTemplate:Dubious

Nabis ascended to the Spartan throne in 207 BCE; he expanded Gytheio, transforming it into a naval base.<ref name=Green-1990> Template:Cite book</ref> Rome, allied with the Achaean LeagueTemplate:Snda confederation of Sparta's Greek rivalsTemplate:Sndcaptured Gytheio in 195 BCE after a prolonged siege; Sparta was the next target of the allies. The Romans placed several coastal settlements, including Gytheio and many others in Mani, under the protection of the Achaean League. Their inhabitants, formerly second-tier citizens of Sparta (periokoi), were known as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss).<ref name=Welwei-2006> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Determined to retake Gytheio, Nabis advanced on and recovered the port in 192 BCE. The Romans soon recaptured it. Nabis was assassinated, and Sparta was incorporated, on lenient terms, in the Achaean League. In 189 BCE, the Spartans, still seeking access to a port, seized Las, prompting the Achaeans to abolish the Spartan constitution, end social institutions such as the [[agoge|education and training system (Template:Transliteration)]] and mess halls, and absorb Sparta outright.<ref name=Cartledge-2002> Template:Cite book</ref>

Roman

According to Pausanias, a Greek geographer writing in the 2nd century CE, the Free Laconians had 18 cities;<ref name=Pausanias>Template:Cite book</ref> most were coastal settlements in the Mani Peninsula.

With the victory of the Romans over Corinth and the Achaean League at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BCE, all of Greece became part of their empire.<ref name=Rhodes-2007> Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Derow-1989> Template:Cite book</ref> The Peloponnese was administered as the province of Achaia. The Eleutherolakōnes were allowed to unite to form a Lacedaemonian League. In 21 BCE, under Augustus, the first Roman emperor, this became the League of Free Laconians.<ref name=Welwei-2006 /> In 375 CE, a massive earthquake devastated Gythium and submerged much of its ruins under the sea.<ref name=Scoufopoulos-1985> Template:Cite book</ref>

In 395 CE, mainland Greece and the Peloponnese became part of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire), bringing over 500 years of centralized rule from Rome to an end. Mani would nominally be administered by the new government in Constantinople for over a millennium, with periodic interruptions due to unrest and foreign invasions. Mani's remoteness would limit Constantinople's influence.

Middle Ages

Byzantine rule

The Mani Peninsula had a turbulent history during the long period of Byzantine Greece (395–1453), as various powers fought over it and the whole Peloponnese (known for much of this time as "Morea"). Between 396 and 397, the Visigoths under Alaric I raided the Peloponnese.<ref name="Kulikowski-2006"> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In 468, the Vandals under Gaiseric invaded Mani as a first step in their planned conquest of the Peloponnese, but were thwarted by a Maniot counter-attack at Caenepolis near Cape Matapan.<ref name=Fermor-1958 />Template:Rp

In the late 6th century, Avars and Slavs invaded Greece, reaching much of the Peloponnese.<ref name=Gregory-1991> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=Whitby-2012> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The chronology, extent, and duration of invasions and subsequent occupations, the reliability of written,Template:Refn toponymic and archaeological evidence, the pace of Byzantine recovery, and the degree of lasting cultural influence, are all topics of academic dispute.<ref name=Fine-1983> Template:Cite book</ref> The particular theory of Fallmerayer, a 19th-century German historian, that Avar, Slavic, and other peoples replaced the Greek population of the Peloponnese in this period has been tested by the genetic analysis of samples of modern populations: a 2017 paper found that "Peloponneseans are clearly distinguishable from the populations of the Slavic homeland and are very similar to Sicilians and Italians".<ref name=Stamatoyannopoulos-2017> Template:Cite journal</ref>

Over the subsequent centuries, Mani was fought over by the Byzantines, the French, and the Saracens. In the wake of the Early Muslim conquests, Arabs captured the island of Crete in the 820s and established an emirate there. Arab pirates then began to raid Mani and the coastal cities of the Peloponnese; this ceased when the Byzantines retook Crete in 961.<ref name=SavvidesBées-1993> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=Gregory-1991 />Template:Rp

Christianization

Christianity was firmly established on mainland Greece, the Balkans, and Anatolia—the core territories of the Byzantine Empire—by as early as the 5th century. The Peloponnese, and Mani in particular, were quite late to adopt Christianity relative to these core regions, likely owing, at least in part, to the peninsula's isolation and foreboding terrain.

The 9th-century church of Saint Prokopios (Template:Lang near Koita (visible on the brow of the hill), viewed from the east

The monk Nikon the Metanoeite (Template:Langx) (c. 930 – 998) was commissioned by the Greek Orthodox Church to Christianize the areas of Mani and Tsakonia still practicing paganism. It was only after his efforts that most traces of the Ancient Greek religion and its traditions were eradicated from Mani. Nikon was canonized by the Greek Orthodox Church and, as St. Nikon, became the patron of Mani and Sparta.

Constantine VII in his De Administrando Imperio (c. 952) describes the Maniots thus:<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Patrick Leigh Fermor wrote of the Maniots and the tradition of their conversion:<ref name=Fermor-1958 />Template:Rp

Crusader states

After the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, the Mani Peninsula became part of the Principality of Achaea (1205Template:Ndash1432), a Crusader state, though it retained a degree of autonomy due to its largely inaccessible mountain terrain.<ref name=Bon-1969> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In Template:Circa, Jean de Nully, a French knight, was appointed to the Barony of Passavant, the last of Achaea's baronies to be established.<ref name=Bon-1969 />Template:Rp His castle of Passavas overlooked the route from Gytheio to Tsimova (modern Areopoli).<ref name=Bon-1969 />Template:Rp

The Slavic Melingoi tribe thenTemplate:As of? began raiding Laconia from the west, while in the east native Tsakonians agitated against French rule. In 1249, the new prince of Achaea, William II of Villehardouin, invested on the fortress of Monemvasia to keep the Tsakonians at bay. To contain the Melingoi, he built a castle at Mystras, in the Taygetus, overlooking Sparta. And—according to the 14th-century Chronicle of Morea—he built the castle of Grand Magne to stop Maniot raids. The castle was described as "at a fearful cliff with a headland above", and has been associated with the name "Mani" and variations since its construction.Template:Citation needed Despite its notoriety, the site has never been positively located; one possibility is Tigani.

By the mid-13th century, the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty had shifted the balance of power in Greece. In the 1250s the Pope appointed a "Latin," i.e., Roman Catholic, bishop to Mani, provoking resentment among the Orthodox Greeks, who soon removed him. In 1259, Byzantine forces captured Prince William at the Battle of Pelagonia. In 1262, William surrendered three fortresses to Emperor Michael VIII to obtain his release: Mystras, Grand Magne, and Monemvasia.<ref name=Setton-1976> Template:Cite book</ref>

Byzantine Despotate

Maniots had maintained a significant degree of autonomy during the Principality of Achaea's existence. From the mid-14th to mid-15th centuries, control over the region gradually shifted to a semi-autonomous province of the Byzantine Empire called the Despotate of the Morea (1349–1460), when successive despotes governed the province.

Ottoman rule

The Ottoman Empire succeeded in capturing Constantinople in 1453; by 1460 the Ottomans completed their conquest of the Morea.Template:Efn According to local tradition, members of noble Byzantine families such as the Palaiologoi fled to Mani following the fall of Constantinople.<ref name=Fermor-1958 />Template:Rp

The Ottomans remained nominal rulers of Mani until the outbreak of the Greek revolution in 1821, with a brief interlude of Venetian control. Mani was first administered by the Ottoman Eyalet of the Archipelago and then by the Morea Eyalet. Due to its remoteness and isolation, Mani in particular retained a degree of autonomy not present in other regions of Ottoman Greece.Template:Citation needed

Ottoman-Venetian wars

The Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice frequently clashed over control of the Morea, with the Mani Peninsula emerging as a major site of contestation during a series of conflicts that began in 1396Template:Sndabout sixty years before the Ottoman conquest of GreeceTemplate:Sndand ended in 1718. A significant shift in the balance of power occurred with the Treaty of Constantinople (1479), a Venetian-Ottoman peace settlement ending the First Ottoman–Venetian War, which had begun in 1463. The treaty restored territorial boundaries to their pre-1463 status. This meant that lands held by Greek rebels under Venetian protection returned to Ottoman control, including the Mani Peninsula.<ref name=Trombley-2009 />Template:Rp

Krokodeilos Kladas (1425Template:Ndash1490) had led bands of warriors called stratioti against the Ottoman Empire, with Venice providing support.<ref name=Trombley-2009> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp He contested the outcome of the 1479 treaty, and led stratioti from the Venetian territories in a revolt against the Ottomans in the Mani. This rebellion caused a diplomatic crisis between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, as the Ottomans held Venice responsible for the damage caused by the Greek insurgents.<ref name="Burghartz">Template:Cite book</ref> Hoping to avoid another war, both Venetians and Ottomans put a bounty on Kladas. After initial successes, in 1480 an Ottoman army drove him to take refuge in the fortress of Kastania, from whence he escaped, with fifty men, on ships sent by King Ferdinand of Naples.<ref name=Trombley-2009 />Template:Rp

Around 1568, the Ottomans built a small castle to defend the harbour of Porto Kagio, which they were using as a base for galleys patrolling the Kythira Strait between the Peloponnese and Crete. They abandoned it in 1570 after a Venetian attack. Certain 17th- and 18th-century cartographers refer to the castle as "Maina"; some later authors identified this as the 13th-century Grand Magne, though medieval portolan charts do not show a castle there.<ref name=Wagstaff-1991> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

1612 Ottoman incursion

In 1612, the Mani Peninsula became the focal point of another Ottoman military incursion, this time triggered by the actions of Charles Gonzaga (1580–1637), who claimed descent from the Palaiologos dynasty. Charles sought to establish a new Byzantine state with himself as emperor in Constantinople, viewing his endeavor as a new crusade. The Maniots caught wind of Charles's ambitions and negotiated an alliance, with church leaders addressing him as "Constantine Palaeologus".<ref name=Miller-1904> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

Upon discovering Charles's plans and the Maniots' support, the Ottoman authorities launched a large-scale punitive expedition into the region. A force of 20,000 soldiers and 70 ships was deployed to invade Mani. The Ottomans devastated the peninsula and imposed punitive taxes on the Greeks. Charles's further attempts at his crusade failed, and he later became Duke of Mantua and Montferrat. His failure left the Maniots to continue their struggle against the Ottomans without external support. The Maniots' resistance remained a persistent challenge to Ottoman authority.<ref name=Sainty-2018> Template:Cite book</ref>

Piracy

Maniot piracy was observed by the Turkish explorer Evliya Çelebi (1611–1682), who visited Mani with an Ottoman expedition. He said of the Maniots, "they capture the Frank and sell him to us, they capture us and sell us to the Franks."<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Migrations to Corsica

In October 1675, some 730 Maniots fleeing Ottoman rule embarked from Oitylo on a Genoese ship for Corsica, which was then Genoese territory. After a short stop in Genoa, they arrived in Corsica in March 1676, eventually settling in the area of Paomia (modern Cargèse). These settlers, led by the Stephanopoulos family and accompanied by clergy, were the first wave of a significant Greek migration to the island.<ref name=Nicholas-2005> Template:Cite journal</ref> A lengthy process of assimilation lasted well into the 20th century.<ref name=Nicholas-2006> Template:Cite journal</ref>

Beys of Mani

In the late 17th century, the Ottomans began appointing Maniot chieftains, deemed beys, to rule Mani on their behalf. The rule of the Beys of Mani concluded with the onset of the Greek War of Independence in 1821.

The first such bey was the Maniot Limberakis Gerakaris (c. 1644 – 1710), installed c. 1669. A former galley oarsman in the Venetian fleet who became a pirate, Limberakis was captured by the Ottomans and condemned to death. The grand vizier pardoned him on condition that he manage Mani as an Ottoman vassalage or client state.

Limberakis accepted the offer and used his new position to pursue his standing feud with the powerful Maniot Stephanopouloi family. His forces besieged the compound of the Stephanopouloi at Oitylo,Template:When? captured 35 of them, and had them all executed. During his twenty-year reign,Template:Citation needed Limberakis shifted allegiances between the Republic of Venice and the Ottomans.<ref name=Fermor-1958 />Template:Rp

Limberakis eventually fell out of favor with the Turks for his piracy and he was captured by Ottoman forces in 1682.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp With the Ottomans preoccupied with their wars against the Habsburgs, the Venetians saw an opportunity to seize Turkish-held territories in the Peloponnese, sparking the Morean War of 1684–1699.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp

Venetian conquest and withdrawal

The Morean War of 1684–1699 was the sixth Ottoman–Venetian war and part of the wider conflict known as the "Great Turkish War". Military operations ranged across southeastern Europe and the Aegean; the war's major campaign was the Venetian conquest of the Morea.

The Battle of Kalamata in 1685 ended with a Venetian victory. Venice went on to conquer the Mani Peninsula, solidifying their foothold in the southern Morea. Venice's expansionist revival would be short-lived, as its gains were reversed by the Ottomans in 1718.

Russian influence and Orlov revolt

The Ottomans faced a rival to the east in the expanding Tsardom of Russia and subsequent Russian Empire, which fueled twelve Russo-Turkish Wars that began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and which, in the 18th century, spilled over into the Mani Peninsula.

By the late 17th century, Russian influence had begun to spread among Maniots and other Christians under Ottoman rule. Prophecies began circulating in the 1690s, at the height of the third Russo–Turkish War, of a "blonde nation" that would destroy the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=Vakalopoulos-1975>Template:Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους Template:Oclc.</ref>Template:Rp This hope was fueled by the war and by Greek Orthodox patriarchs who sought Russian support to regain privileges lost in an earlier Franco-Ottoman alliance.<ref name=Vakalopoulos-1975 />Template:Rp The presence of a Russian ambassador at the Ottoman court since 1700 allowed direct contacts between Russian officials and Ottoman Christians who began to seek refuge in Russia. These included Greek refugees who established communities in Russia.<ref name=Vakalopoulos-1975 />Template:Rp

Wishing to weaken the Ottoman Empire and establish a pro-Russian independent Greek state, Russia sent emissaries to Mani in the mid-1760s to enlist local military leaders;<ref name=Jelavich-1978> Template:Cite book</ref> at the same time, notable Greeks approached various Russian agents to discuss plans for the liberation of Greece.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Russian artillery captain Grigorios Papadopoulos (or Georgios Papasoğlu<ref name=Gallant-2015> Template:Cite book Note: page numbers are screenview (PT) numbers in the Google Books preview.</ref>Template:Rp), a Greek, was dispatched to Mani.<ref name=Jelavich-1978 /> Georgios Papazolis, another Greek officer of the Russian army, cooperated with the brothers Grigory and Count Alexei Orlov in preparations for a Greek insurrection in the Morea during the Russian military operations against the Ottoman Empire in 1769.<ref name=Dakin-1973> Template:Cite book</ref> The organization of the Greek rebellion was charged to the Orlov brothers,<ref name=Jelavich-1978 /> with Alexei as fleet commander.<ref name=Gallant-2015 />Template:Rp

With the onset of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 (the sixth conflict between the empires), Russia saw an opportunity to seize territory from its Ottoman rival.<ref>Shaw, S.J. (1976) History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press. pp. 253–255.</ref> The Russians, aiming to weaken the Ottomans from within, planned to incite Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire to revolt, and sent agents to strategic points in the Balkans and Greece, including the Morea.<ref name=Gallant-2015 />Template:Rp Another Orlov brother, Fyodor, was sent to coordinate rebels in Morea, deemed the most important strategic area of mainland Greece due to its ports.<ref name=Gallant-2015 />Template:Rp Greeks prepared to revolt with the expectation of massive Russian aid.<ref name=Jelavich-1978 />

Russia assembled a war fleet that landed Fyodor Orlov at Kalamata in February 1770.<ref name=Gallant-2015 />Template:Rp This expedition of four ships, a few hundred soldiers, and inadequate arms supplies, greatly disappointed the Greeks. Nevertheless, Orlov's arrival in Mani sparked a Maniot uprising, the Orlov revolt.<ref name=Jelavich-1978 />

An initial force of 1,400 men was raised. The Maniot forces were organized into "legions" with the help of Russian officers.<ref name=Pappas-1982> Template:Cite thesis</ref> The Greek rebels were initially successful, defeating Ottoman forces in Laconia and eastern Messenia. They captured the fortress of Mystras and established a local government there,<ref name="Kalligas">Template:Cite book</ref> but the revolt failed to spread effectively.<ref name=Pappas-1982 />

The Ottomans responded with an invasion force, and by June 1770 the revolt had been suppressed, three months after it had begun. The Ottomans' Albanian troops massacred Greek civilians and destroyed property.<ref name=Jelavich-1978 /> After several years of plundering, they were curbed by Turkish troops, and order restored, in 1779.<ref name=Gundogdu-2012> Template:Cite thesis Gundogdu cites Finlay, George (1856). The History of Greece under Othoman and Venetian Domination. London & Edinburgh: Blackwood.</ref>

French influence and Ottoman invasions

After the failed revolt of 1770, the Ottomans sought to control Mani through the appointment of a new bey. In 1784, Tzanetos Grigorakis, a member of the powerful Grigorakis clan, accepted the position. In 1798, the Ottomans learned he was conspiring with French agents sent by Napoleon to orchestrate a revolt, and deposed him. He continued to cause trouble from his fortified island home on Marathonisi (modern Cranae).Template:Citation needed

In 1803, the Ottomans discovered that Grigorakis had received a shipment of French weapons, and resolved to eliminate him. In the Ottoman invasion of Mani in 1803, the Kapudan Pasha, a high-ranking Ottoman naval commander, led a large force of Albanians into Mani. The Ottoman army set up base at Gytheio, directly across from Marathonisi.Template:Citation needed Equipped with the French weapons, Grigorakis, with his sons and followers, prepared for a siege. The Ottoman fleet blockaded the island, and their artillery inflicted significant damage. After a brief siege, Grigorakis and his men slipped out of the fort during the night and fled inland. With their target gone, the Ottomans abandoned the siege. Grigorakis continued to organize raids until his death in 1808.Template:Citation needed

During the 1803 invasion, the Ottomans removed bey Panagiotis Koumoundouros because he had allowed Zanetos Grigorakis to receive weapons from the French. They replaced him with Antony Grigorakis, a cousin of Zanetos.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp The Ottomans invaded Mani in 1807 and again in 1815; they were repulsed each time.

In 1810, bey Grigorakis resigned in favor of his son-in-law, Konstantis Zervakos. The Maniots were hostile to Zervakos and deposed him.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp Clans in Gytheio elected Theodoros Zanerakos, nephew of Grigorakis, as their leader.Template:When During the 1815 Ottoman invasion of Mani, Zanerakos was removed from power and replaced by Petros Mavromichalis. Known as "Petrobey", he was the first bey from Mesa Mani (Inner Mani).<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp In 1819, he joined the Filiki Eteria, a 19th-century Greek secret society opposing Ottoman rule, which by 1821 was prepared to revolt.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp

Bands of brigands known as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang, Template:Gloss), led by Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang, Template:Gloss), had been operating in mountainous areas of Greece for generations.<ref name=Skiotis-1975> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp They were countered by the Ottomans with groups of irregular soldiers or militia known as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang). Many armatoloi were former klephts granted amnesty in return for serving the Ottoman authorities. Roles became blurred over time, and a change from brigand to militiaman, or militiaman to brigand, was common for captains and their bands. Their armed formations would form the backbone of Greek forces in the coming War of Independence.<ref name=Batalas-2009> Template:Cite book Template:Twlac</ref>Template:Rp

Modern Greece

Greek War of Independence

Template:Main On 17 March 1821, 12,000 Maniots gathered in Areopoli and declared war against the Ottoman Empire, an act which preceded the rest of Greece by about a week.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp The secret society of Filiki Eteria had sent representatives to organize the Maniots.<ref name=Paroulakis-1984> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp From his base in Kalamata, Maniot leader Petros Mavromichalis titled himself "Commander in Chief of the Spartan Forces" and wrote letters to European heads of state announcing the Greek revolution. He then directed Maniot forces to attack Turkish positions in Messenia and Laconia.<ref name=Paroulakis-1984 />Template:Rp On 23 September 1821, after a long siege, Maniot fighters were part of the Greek forces under Theodoros Kolokotronis that captured and sacked the Ottoman regional capital, Tripolitsa.<ref name=Mazower-2021/>Template:Rp

Egyptian invasion

In 1825, with the Greek revolution faltering, Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II enlisted the help of Muhammad Ali of Egypt to subdue the rebellion. Ali's son, Ibrahim Pasha, landed at Methoni with a large force and quickly recaptured much of the Peloponnese, but was unable to take Nafplio and the Mani Peninsula.Template:Citation needed

Ibrahim's forces launched a two-pronged attack on Mani in the joint Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani in 1826. At the Battle of Verga, 2,000 Maniots and 500 Greek refugees successfully defended a fortified wall, repelling the Egyptian advance. Simultaneously, a smaller Egyptian fleet attempted a surprise landing at Areopoli to disrupt Maniot communication lines, where they were met by 300 Maniot defenders. The Egyptians suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat, ruining Ibrahim's invasion plan.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp The women who fought in this battle were later dubbed the "Amazons of Diros".<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp

Republic and kingdom

Map of Mani published in 1926

Assassination of Kapodistrias

After Ioannis Kapodistrias became the first governor of Greece in 1831, he came into conflict with the Mavromichalis clan, as the Maniots refused to pay taxes to the new government.<ref name=Paroulakis-1984 />Template:Rp Kapodistrias arrested and imprisoned Tzanis Mavromichalis, the brother of Maniot leader Petros Mavromichalis. Subsequently, Petros was also arrested and charged with treason.<ref name=Paroulakis-1984 />Template:Rp

On 27 September 1831, in retaliation for Petros's arrest, Petros's brother, Konstantinos Mavromichalis, and his brother's son, Georgios Mavromichalis, assassinated Kapodistrias as he was entering a church in Nafplio. Konstantinos was killed by Kapodistrias's bodyguard, and Georgios was later executed.<ref name=Paroulakis-1984 />Template:Rp

Monarchy and subjugation

In 1833, Otto von Wittelsbach was appointed King of Greece. His Council of Regency took action to subdue the Maniots and dismantle their defensive towers.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp In 1870, a Maniot vendetta was halted by the efforts of a regular army with artillery support.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp

World War II, civil war, and reconstruction

The violence of World War II in the Balkans and the Greek Civil War that followed severely affected the region and engulfed the Peloponnese and Mani. The Axis occupation of Greece and the ensuing conflicts brought widespread hardship. Mani was devastated by the wars, and many of its young people left for Athens or to join the Greek diaspora in the United States and Australia.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp

Fascist Italy invaded Greece in October 1940, starting the Greco-Italian War. The Italians soon encountered major difficulties and turned to Nazi Germany for assistance. Germany invaded Greece in April 1941. The Axis occupation lasted from 1941 to 1944.

In Mani, the British had begun to evacuate their troops from Porto Kagio ahead of the 1941 German invasion.<ref name=Greenhalgh&Eliopoulos />Template:Rp During the occupation, Mani became a stronghold for the Security Battalions, Greek collaborationist paramilitary groups formed to support the German and Italian occupation troops. With the end of the occupation in 1944, Greece began to slide into the 1946Template:Ndash1949 civil war.<ref name=Liakos&Doumanis-2023> Template:Cite book</ref>

Mani's population declined and continued to fall as emigration continued beyond the post-war decades. Mani was considered a backwater until the 1970s, when the government started to build roads which made the peninsula more accessible by car. A tourist industry took hold, with ensuing population and economic growth.Template:Citation needed

Wildfires

This NASA satellite image shows the impact of the 2007 wildfires, with vegetation displayed in bright green, and burnt areas in red; Mani is the central peninsula.

In 2007, widespread wildfires caused significant damage and loss of life in Mani, particularly around Areopoli.<ref name=Kath-20070825> Template:Cite news</ref> Wildfires in 2021 again devastated much of the Peloponnese:<ref name=Gdn-Aug21> Template:Cite news</ref> East Mani was badly affected, with an area of Template:Cvt burnt.<ref name=GeoH-2023> Template:Cite journal</ref>

Administrative reform

The municipalities of East Mani and West Mani were established in 2011 by the Kallikratis Programme, a sweeping administrative reform that resulted in mergers of regional and local governments in the Peloponnese and across Greece.

Economy

Mani's economy is oriented towards agriculture, tourism, and maritime activity.Template:Citation needed

According to Wagstaff (1965), the economy of Mani for the period Template:Circa can be reconstructed in outline by analysing the travelogues of west European writers,<ref name=Wagstaff-1965> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp though he points out that apart from one source,Template:Refn their accounts are descriptive, patchy, and do not cover the whole peninsula.<ref name=Wagstaff-1965 />Template:Rp

Wheat, barley, and sorghum were widely cultivated, and maize grown in water-retentive soils. In the early 19th century, olive oil was produced in large quantities north of Oitylo; cultivation further south became extensive some decades later. Lupins are mentioned as a crop cultivated in rotation with barley and wheat. The production of beans and chickpeas was enough, in abundant years, to support exports to Italy. Pigs (feeding on lupins) were probably reared more than cattle; sheep and goats are not mentioned in travellers' descriptions, "possibly because they were being grazed away from the main routes".<ref name=Wagstaff-1965 />Template:Rp

Exports included honey and beeswax, quails, olive oil, and two products extracted from the holm-oak: from its acorn-cups, a substance known as valonea, used in tanning; and from its galls, Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang), a scarlet dye. Some cloth was produced from wool or cotton, and one account mentions a small export trade. The plantations of mulberry trees observed in the northeast, including near Skoutari, were the basis of a silk industry.<ref name=Wagstaff-1965 />Template:Rp

Many Maniots were engaged in producing sea salt in the 19th and early 20th centuries, largely on the west coast of the peninsula. There were four types of salt harvesting or production sites: natural salt pans formed in existing rock depressions along the shore (sites near Gerolimenas and Mezapos, for example); small artificial evaporation ponds excavated above sea level (such as a site near Artsi); large artificial ponds with associated temporary housing for workers (near Koukouri); and major saltworks built with significant technical infrastructure and permanent worker accommodation (on the Tigani peninsula). Salt was traded for foodstuffs such as barley, wheat, maize, cheese, and dried figs.<ref name=Saitas-2006> Template:Cite book</ref>

Piracy was also an important part of the Maniot economy.Template:Citation needed

Culture

Maniots maintain a unique heritage among the regional subcultures of their fellow Greeks. By tradition, they claim descent from the ancient Spartans, and to be heirs to Sparta's militaristic culture.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Maniot culture was based on clan or patrilineal kinship groups that valued traditional concepts of manhood and patriarchal family relations.<ref name=Karakatsianis-2010 />Template:Rp This way of life stemmed from Mani's geographical isolation from the more populated regions of Greece, and was further influenced by its history of foreign invasions; it persisted until the social upheavals of World War II.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite journal</ref> The stronger clans, the Template:Transliteration, held better-quality land on which they built high towers; they dominated the weaker clans, the Template:Transliteration.<ref name=Karakatsianis-2010 />Template:Rp

Architecture

Tower houses

Mani is known for its unique tower houses called Template:Transliteration.<ref name=Wagstaff-Dec1965> Template:Cite journal</ref> These towers were usually surrounded by other houses, family churches, and cemeteries, forming a fortified complex known as a Template:Transliteration which served as a clan-based compound.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Palaiomaniatika

A renovated palaiomaniatika house with dry-stone lower courses

Over 170 settlements in the peninsula contain architecture from the middle of the Byzantine periodTemplate:Sndroughly from the 8th to the 13th centuries. Known as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss) or Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss), these settlements are small (10 to 50 houses), with about half still inhabited and the rest abandoned.<ref name=Siefried-2021> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Their main feature are houses, towers, and cisterns.<ref name=Siefried-2021 />Template:Rp These structures were typically built with very thick dry-stone walls using large blocks of quarried limestone or limestone boulders.<ref name=Siefried-2021 />Template:Rp Their vernacular architecture is sometimes described as "megalithic" or "cyclopean", with some scholars surmising a building tradition stretching back to the late Hellenistic period.<ref name=Moschu-2004> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Evidence from historical documents indicates that people were living in most of the Template:Transliteration well into the Ottoman era.<ref name=Siefried-2021 />Template:Rp

Cuisine

Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss)

The distinctive ingredients of traditional Maniot cuisine include olive oil and olives; citrus fruits, especially oranges; Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss) and aromatic herbs; lupins, broad beans, and lentils; local cheeses such as the white, semi-hard Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang); cheese pies and other savoury pies; Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss); Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss); and pork products such as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss).<ref name=VP>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=GGG>Template:Cite web</ref>

Dialect

Phonologically, the traditional Maniot dialectTemplate:Refn has two distinguishing features: the historical /y/ (υ), which has shifted to /i/ in Standard Modern Greek, has been maintained as /u/ in Maniot, so that, for example, the standard Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang Template:Gloss) becomes Template:Transliteration; and Maniot exhibits a pronounced palatalisation of velar consonants.<ref name=Trudgill-2003> Template:Cite journal Trudgill takes the year 1900 as his reference point and draws on the fieldwork of Greek and English linguists.</ref>Template:Rp

Family names in Messenian Mani typically end in -eas, while those in Laconian Mani end in -akos or -oggonas.Template:Citation needed

Gallery

• 
  Pyrghóspita (tower houses) in Skoutari
• 
  Pyrghóspita in Vatheia
• 
  Port of Gytheio
• 
  Oitylo village
• 
  Diros Caves near Pyrgos Dirou
• 
  Port of Areopoli
• 
  The Church of St. Spyridon in Kardamyli
• 
  Saints Theodoroi Church in Kampos
• 
  1821 banner reading "Victory or Death"

See also

• Template:Annotated link and Template:Annotated link
• Template:Annotated link
• Template:Annotated link
• Template:Annotated link
• [[:Category:Wars_involving_Mani|Wars involving Mani (1460Template:Ndash1832)]]

Further reading

• Template:Cite web
• Template:Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους

External links

• Mani Portal [in Greek] (archived) by Alexakis Lefteris (2025), including "Form and evolution of Mani surnames"
• "Discover Mani" by T. Adamakopoulos (2014)
• Mani: A Guide and History (archived) by John Chapman (2011)
• Paintings and drawings of Mani from 1976 to 1997 by the artist Karl-Heinz Herrfurth (in German)