Mani: Tenaro

Trail Kokkinogia-Cape Tenaro

Cape Tenaro, the middle of the three southern spines of the Peloponnese, is an exceedingly solitary place, almost an extra-terrestrial spot, an element mostly of the Mediterranean than of the mainland. Just this feeling inspired ancient Lakons to built here an important temple of Poseidon Tenarios. Near the sanctuary there was a sacred chasm that was believed to be the Gate of Hades, from which Hercules entered the Underworld and arrested its restless guardian, the Cerberus. The chthonic dimension of Neptune was emphasised through the operation of the sanctuary as an oracle, which lasted well after the classic period, as evidenced by the Roman mosaics found near the sanctuary. Later and ancient buildings in Tenaro, but also a large incision in the bedrock suggest that the bay was used repeatedly as an, obviously forced, anchorage for sailors of all the ages of primitive navigation.

The Cape Tenaro, which was mapped as Cape Matapas the years of Frankish occupation, bears the importantTenaro Lighthouse, built on a tower of 16m high by the French Lighthouse Society in 1882. The path that comes from Kokinoghia up here it was obviously made at that time to serve the construction and supply of the lighthouse. It is a pleasant hike in a wild rocky, yet quit level, terrain.