Tsiakalakis

Vatheia (Greek: Βάθεια also Vathia) is a village on the Mani Peninsula, in south-eastern Laconia. The local community of Vatheia is named after this village. The aforementioned local community is a subdivision of the municipal unit of Oitylo. It is known for its tower-houses built on a hill dominating the surrounding countryside. Vatheia is linked by road north to Areopoli and Kalamata and south to Cape Matapan also known as Tenaro. In the northern and eastern direction, the southern reaches of the Sangias mountain range overlook the village. Farmland and maquis shrubland cover the hill slopes. On the hills and mountain sides around Vatheia proper are clusters of abandoned houses, towers and chapels known as the perichora, meaning environs. Currently, Vatheia is a tourist attraction during spring and summer due to the abundance of wild flowers that cover the nearby hills and its scenic views. Moreover, it is an iconic example of the south Maniot vernacular architecture as it developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. The nearest villages are Kyparissos, Alika and Gerolimenas to the north-west and Lagia to the north-east.

Peuko or Bala is a small village of Messinia you will walk in beautiful stone-built alleys and you will see traditional houses with manicured and well-made courtyards. On Mount Gouvala and just outside Pefko, is the so-called Fairy Garden. This is a strange and at the same time impressive location. A place that folklore and word of mouth have associated with strange stories and legends about elves and fairies. The mysterious hole and the legends that accompany it There, then, is the infamous hole for which many tales of fairies appearing at night have been heard.

Cape Tainaron or Taenarum (Greek: Ακρωτήριον Ταίναρον), or Cape Tenaro, is situated at the end of the Mani Peninsula, Greece. Cape Matapan is the southernmost point of mainland Greece, and the second southernmost point in mainland Europe. It separates the Messenian Gulf in the west from the Laconian Gulf in the east. Cape Taenarum in classical antiquity was the site of the city of Taenarum, (Ancient Greek: Ταίναρον) now in ruins. In ancient Greek mythology the eponymous ctistes — the founder-hero of the city — was Taenarus, (Ταίναρος) who was credited with establishing the city's important temple of Poseidon. Greeks used the proverb Tainarian evil (Ancient Greek: Ταινάριον κακόν), meaning a great and unlawful evil affecting suppliants, for the Spartans killed the Helots who had fled into Tainaron and were suppliants in the temple of Poseidon. Cape Matapan has been an important place for thousands of years. Near Taenarum, there is a cave that Greek legends claimed was the home of Hades, the god of the dead. The ancient Spartans built several temples there, dedicated to various gods. On the hill situated above the cave, lie the remnants of an ancient temple dedicated to the sea god Poseidon (Νεκρομαντεῖον Ποσειδῶνος). Under the Byzantine Empire, the temple was converted into a Christian church, and Christian rites are conducted there to this day. Cape Matapan was once the place where mercenaries waited to be employed. A naval battle occurred there in 19 July 1717, between the Venetian navy of the Republic of Venice, supported by a mixed squadron of allied ships from Portugal, the Papal States and Malta, and the Ottoman fleet, under Kapudan Pasha Eğribozlu İbrahim Pasha. It is known as the Battle of Matapan and its results were indecisive. At Cape Matapan, the Titanic's would-be rescue ship, the SS Californian, was torpedoed and sunk by German forces on 9 November 1915. In March 1941, a major naval battle, the Battle of Cape Matapan, occurred off the coast of Cape Matapan, between the Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina, in which the British emerged victorious in a one-sided encounter. The encounter's main result was to drastically reduce future Italian naval activity in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Agia Theodora Vasta is a small Byzantine church and has 17 holly and maple trees growing from its roof. Most of them are taller than 30 metres and it’s phenomenal as there is only one root about the thickness of an arm that is visible beside the entrance. Even more amazing is its tiny barrel vaulted interior where, except for one wispy bit of green there is not one sign of the trees or roots. Another fascinating fact about the location is that a river runs beneath this church and irrigates the trees. Agia Theodora’s church has become a popular pilgrimage site for Greeks and her feast day is today, September 11, where thousands and thousands of people from all across Greece will travel here to pray. Agia Theodora Vasta is known to have performed many miracles for those who pray to her. The Holy Virgin Martyr Theodora of Vasta grew up in a village where the family would send the sons to fight in the army against the enemy. Having no boys in the family, Theodora decided to join the army to save her father from having to do so. Disguising herself as the soldier Theodore, she soon became one of the most valiant and brave soldiers. A woman soon developed lustful feelings for “Theodore” and claimed that he had impregnated her. Theodora was commanded to either marry the woman or be condemned to death. Doing nothing to prove her innocence (as easy as this would be) Theodora placed her hope in God. Being condemned to death, before her execution, she prayed, “Let my body become a church, my blood a river, and my hair the trees.” On the spot where she was martyred, a spring gushed forth which flooded to become a river which still exists today. The church of Agia Theodora Vasta The faithful built a small church over her spot of martyrdom where soon 17 enormous trees (some weighing over 1 tonne) began growing on the roof of the church. The 17 trees symbolised her age when she was martyred. Countless scientific studies have taken place to uncover the mystery of 1) how the small church continues to support such enormous trees and 2) how these trees grew and continue to survive with no evidence of any root system reaching the ground. Scientists have taken x-rays of the church walls, which show no signs of any root formation anywhere. High frequency geo-radar also indicated that the roots are all hair thin and somehow thread their way inside the walls of the church to get their nourishment from the spring underneath it – quite a miracle all in itself.