Cape Tainaron

Tainaron is the tip of the middle finger of the Peloponnese and the southernmost point of the Greek mainland, closer to Africa than to Thessaloniki. The path to the lighthouse begins at a small parking area and crosses roughly 45 minutes of stony ground past the ruins of a Roman settlement with a surviving floor mosaic lying open to the sky, and the sea cave that antiquity identified as an entrance to the underworld, where Hercules was said to have dragged out Cerberus. Above it are the foundations of the sanctuary of Poseidon Tainarios, later converted into a chapel. The lighthouse of 1882 stands on the final rock with sea on three sides, and the Mani cliffs run away north in a bare, treeless line.

History

In classical antiquity the cape held the city of Taenarum, said to be founded by the hero Taenarus, who established its important temple of Poseidon; a cave nearby was held to be the home of Hades, and the Spartans built several temples here, while the remains of the oracle temple of Poseidon stand on the hill above the cave. The phrase "Tainarian evil" recalled the Spartans killing Helots who had fled to the temple as suppliants. On 19 July 1717 the Venetian fleet, with allied ships from Portugal, the Papal States and Malta, fought the Ottoman fleet off the cape in an indecisive battle, and a lighthouse was later built at its tip (Wikipedia, Cape Matapan).

The landscape

• The lighthouse - the 1882 tower at the mainland's southern tip.
• The gate of Hades - a sea cave linked in myth to the underworld.
• The Roman mosaic - a floor lying uncovered beside the path.
• The Poseidon sanctuary - foundations reused as a small chapel.

When to go

Spring and autumn; there is no shade anywhere on the walk and the rock radiates heat in summer. Sunset from the cape is superb but means walking back in the dark, so carry a torch.

Before you go

The path is stony and uneven, taking about ninety minutes round trip, and there is no water, no cafe and no shelter. The final approach to the lighthouse is over rock. The cave is a low opening at sea level, unimpressive to look at and easy to miss.

Nearby

Vathia's tower village is on the road north; Areopoli and the Diros caves lie further up the Mani.

Key facts