Cape Tenaro

Cape Tenaro, also called Matapan, is the end of the mainland, a stony finger of the Mani reaching into the sea where the Ionian and the Aegean meet, and it feels like an edge: no trees, no houses, wind, and water on three sides. The walk from the road end takes about forty minutes over rough ground past the mosaic floor of a Roman building, still visible in the open, and the ruins of a sanctuary of Poseidon that was an inviolable refuge in antiquity. Beside it a sea cave was identified in myth as one of the entrances to Hades, the place through which Herakles dragged Cerberus. The path ends at the lighthouse of 1882, still working, on the last rock.

Highlights

• The lighthouse - the 1882 tower on the southernmost point.
• The Roman mosaic - a floor lying open beside the path.
• The death oracle cave - the sea cave linked in myth to the underworld.
• The Maniot landscape - treeless stone, wind and open sea on three sides.

When to go

Spring and autumn; there is no shade at all on the walk and summer afternoons are brutal. Wind is common year-round and can be strong enough to make the exposed sections uncomfortable.

Practical notes

The final road is rough and the walk is over loose stone with no facilities, water or shelter beyond a seasonal cafe at the trailhead. The ruins are slight. Getting there from anywhere takes a long drive on winding Mani roads.

Nearby

Vathia's tower village lies north; Gerolimenas and the Diros caves are up the peninsula.

Key facts