The little village of Marathopoli on the west coast is a great spot for day trips around the countryside. It is a popular tourist area with little cafes, restaurants, a grocery store and two bakeries. We went to the Palace of Nestor, the Archaeological Museum of Chora and then drove down to the Voidokilia beach all in a day.
The Palace of Nestor dates back to circa 1300 BC with a mention in Homer’s The Iliad. Nestor was the wise old King of Pylos who went with Agamemnon as an advisor to fight at Troy. He spent most of his time trying to gain peace with Achilles and Agamemnon.
Spread out over a lush hill with fruit trees a modern shell protects the site as visitors walk on a suspended bridge platform. Unlike other sites where you can touch everything this one is controlled so that it will be preserved for the future.
The Archeological Museum of Nestor
A short drive up the road (2 km) is the town of Chora where the Museum is located. It is a small old building (old as in 1950s/60s not Greek old). The musty rooms contain treasures from the Palace and surrounding countryside. Definitely, it is worth a visit. The descriptions are mainly in Greek so are interpretations are a bit limited.
Off to the Beach
After a quick lunch in Chora we headed south to the Caves of Nestor which is in an a very shallow bay that has warm water (not DaNang warm … not even close). We walked along the beach enjoying the view of the pristine water and then headed back after getting sand off our feet.
The Esperides in Marathopoli
The little apartments (five of them) are very cute and have amazing view of the Aegean Sea. They provide all the essentials but no laundry which is a downer when you are doing long term travel. The best way to describe it is a weekend camping/cottage site. The main living area was big enough, barely, for the three kids to sleep and the shower was heated with solar panels (Spoiler – the solar panels didn’t heat the water at least for morning showers). But the views and the proximity to town made it worthwhile.
Parting Thoughts
The whole coast is a sleepy little tourist area and is beautiful in the Springtime. Although we found the Esperides a little tiny it was a beautiful place to use as a base of operations. Our next adventure will take us to Gandalf’s Castle. Wait? What? Okay Tolkien experts – I know Gandalf doesn’t have a castle but if he did it would be in Methoni.
Nice pics. I think you are right that is the way to preserve a site. How small were they? I could get my feet in there, hey are you sure it wasn’t a foot bath? What was colleen doing to Bens feet?
How did they move that 5 foot vase? I bet they stored wine in it for parties on the weekend.
Very cool place indeed. Look forward to hearing more about your trip.
They were pretty small. Colleen was brushing the sand off so he could get his shoes on.
The vase was in pieces. They moved it very carefully. I think it was for oil.
Great site to visit.