Ancient Messene and Kalamata: inland Messinia

Stick to the coast and you miss half of Messinia. An hour and a half's drive inland from the house lies one of the most surprising archaeological sites in Greece; just over an hour away is the regional capital, with its old town and seafront. They make two very different days out, and both are worth it.

Ancient Messene

Ancient Messene, near the village of Mavromati, is not a site you can see in half an hour. It is an entire city: theatre, stadium, agora, the sanctuary of Asclepius, the fountains, the circuit walls with their towers. Above all, it is a city that has survived in exceptional condition, because after antiquity nobody built on top of it.

The city was founded in the 4th century BC by the Theban general Epaminondas, after his victory over the Spartans, with a clear political purpose: to give the Messenians, who had been subject to Sparta for centuries, a fortified capital. It was therefore planned from the outset, on a regular grid, and that is what makes it so easy to read today.

The stadium, with its tiers and the colonnade around it, is the part that makes the strongest impression: you walk along the track and really feel the scale of the place. The theatre too, restored in recent decades, is once again a working venue. Allow at least half a day for the visit, and expect plenty of walking.

Kalamata

Kalamata is the capital of Messinia, just over an hour's drive away on the gulf of the same name. It is a real city, with a city's daily life: the old town around the cathedral, the castle on the hill, the market, and a long, wide seafront with town beaches.

It is the right place for a change of scene: shops, busy cafés, a market where you can find just about anything, and the old quarter to explore on foot. Kalamata's name, after all, is known the world over for two things that come from right here: the elongated black olives of the variety of the same name, and the region's extra virgin olive oil.

Combining the two

Ancient Messene and Kalamata are fairly close to each other, and if you like you can fit both into one day: the archaeological site in the morning, while it is cool, and the city in the afternoon. It makes for a full day, though, with a fair amount of driving. Alternatively, give each its own day, perhaps with a beach day in between.

It is worth remembering that Kalamata airport is about an hour from the house: if you are arriving on a direct flight, it is the natural gateway to this part of the Peloponnese.

The stadium and the sanctuary

At Ancient Messene there are two spots that are worth the trip on their own. The first is the stadium, with its tiers cut into the hillside and the colonnade running along its side: walk down onto the track and your sense of its size changes completely compared with looking at it from above. At the far end of the stadium stands a monumental mausoleum, built into the structure in a way that has few parallels.

The second is the Asklepieion complex, the sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius, which here was not just a place of healing worship but the civic and religious heart of the city, with the temple at the centre of a large colonnaded courtyard. Around it you can still make out the halls that served public functions.

Kalamata beyond the centre

If you have a day in Kalamata, split it in two. In the morning, the old town, with the cathedral, the streets of the old quarter and the market, one of the best stocked in the region and the right place to buy oil, olives and local produce. In the afternoon, the seafront, several kilometres long, with the town beaches and the bars and restaurants looking onto the water.

It is a city that does not live off tourism, and you can feel it: it is simply the capital of a farming region, with the life that goes with that. If you are spending a week in the countryside, it makes a welcome change of pace halfway through your stay.