View source for Cape Maleas

{{Short description|Peninsula and cape in Greece}}
{{for|the cape of Lesbos|Cape Agrilia}}
[[File:Kaap Malea.JPG|thumb|right|300px|The headland of Cape Maleas, known for its treacherous weather, with the lighthouse in the foreground to the right.]]
'''Cape Maleas''' (also ''Cape Malea''; {{langx|el|Ακρωτήριον Μαλέας}}, colloquially Καβομαλιάς, ''Cavomaliás''), anciently '''Malea''' ({{langx|grc|Μαλέα}})<ref>''E.g.'', {{Cite Stephanus|''s.v.''}}</ref> and '''Maleae''' or '''Maleai''' (Μαλέαι),<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|1.82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Strabo|viii. p.368}}</ref> is a [[peninsula]] and cape in the southeast of the [[Peloponnese]] in [[Greece]].  To distinguish it from the cape, the peninsula is sometimes referred to as "Epidavros Limira" peninsula, after the most prominent ancient city located on it.  It separates the [[Laconian Gulf]] in the west from the [[Aegean Sea]] in the east. It is the second most southerly point of mainland [[Greece]] (after [[Cape Matapan]]) and once featured one of the largest [[lighthouse|light-houses]] in the [[Mediterranean]].  The seas around the cape are notoriously treacherous and difficult to navigate, featuring variable weather and occasionally very powerful storms.

==Geography==
[[File:Topographic map, Cape Malea, Peloponnese, Greece.jpg|thumb|right|Cape Maleas topography.]]
Cape Maleas is in the [[regional units of Greece|regional unit]] of [[Laconia]]. The municipality of [[Monemvasia]] covers the entire peninsula and part of the eastern coast. The municipal unit of [[Voies]] ({{Langx|el|Βοιές}}) is located in the southern extremity of the peninsula, with [[Neapoli, Vatika|Neapoli]], the largest town on the peninsula.

To the west of the peninsula lies the island of [[Elafonisos]], known for its long, light-coloured sandy beaches.

==History==
In [[Ancient Greece|ancient]] times it was a busy shipping lane, and one of the major routes for crossing from the northeast [[Mediterranean]] to the west. The cape was notorious for its bad weather at the time as well, most famously as recounted in the ''[[Odyssey]]'', and much later by [[Xenophon]] in ''Hellenica.'' [[Homer]] describes how [[Odysseus]] on his return home to [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]] rounds Cape Maleas only to be blown off course, resulting in his being lost for up to 10 years by some people's{{whose|date=November 2025}} reckoning. Xenophon records the occasion when [[Callicratidas]] camped his sailors for dinner before attacking the Athenians in Arginusae, when a thunderstorm delayed Callicratidas's embarkment.<ref>''Hellenica'' 1.6.26-28</ref>

The Cape's importance declined with the opening of the [[Corinth Canal]], which allowed ships to bypass the [[Peloponnese]] rather than circumnavigating it. However, it still has significant amounts of sea traffic as the Corinth Canal can only accommodate ships less than 21m in width.

In [[World War II]], the [[Germany|German]] occupying forces began construction of a military tower for defense and surveillance of the major shipping lane. The construction was halted with the end of occupation in 1944.

In 2025, the cape was designated as a [[World Network of Biosphere Reserves|biosphere reserve]] by [[UNESCO]].<ref>{{cite web|date=27 September 2025 |title=26 new Biosphere Reserves: UNESCO’s continues unprecedented expansion of its global network |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/26-new-biosphere-reserves-unescos-continues-unprecedented-expansion-its-global-network |access-date=9 October 2025 |website=UNESCO |language=en}}</ref>

{{Coord|36|26|17|N|23|11|55|E|region:GR_type:landmark|display=title}}

==References==
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[[Category:Peninsulas of Greece|Malea]]
[[Category:Headlands of Greece|Malea]]
[[Category:Landforms of Laconia|Malea]]
[[Category:Landforms of Peloponnese (region)]]