Cape Tenaro

The Mani


From the car park at the end of the road in Kokinogia, at the south of the Mani peninsula, it's a beautiful 2km walk along an uneven rocky path to one of Europe’s southernmost points, Cape Tenaro, where a restored lighthouse stands. The cape has been an important location for millennia and was first mentioned in Homer's 'Iliad'.

At the beginning of the path are the ruins of ancient Tainaron, once a thriving Roman city (the entire area is buried ruins; look out for the stunning wave-patterned, circular mosaic), while by the car park is a ruined church built on the foundations of a temple to Poseidon. Also nearby is a cave thought by ancients to be the entrance to Hades.