Area History
The history of Greece, the history of Messinia, is vast and everlasting, millions of volumes would scarcely suffice. Let’s mention some historical places and events concerning Pylos, today’s municipality of Pylos-Nestor: The Palace of Nestor, constructed in the 13th century BCE by King Nestor, who is referenced multiple times by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey, situated in the area of Ancient Pylos.

A few kilometers from the Palace of Nestor towards the sea, in a strategic location, lies the Acropolis of Pylos. Located on the peninsula of Coryphasium, where the Frankish castle of Paliokastro Navarino stands today, at the northern tip of the bay of Navarino opposite the northern tip of the historic island of Sphacteria, which essentially controlled the southern edge of the peninsula of Coryphasium – an extension of which is the island of Sphacteria. At this point, apart from part of the city, there was also the harbor of ancient Pylos. A small strait (nowadays navigable only by small boats), serving as the natural northern entrance of the bay of Navarino/Pylos, called Steno of Sykia, separates it from Sphacteria.

The promontory, naturally fortified by its rugged and rocky formation with the sea almost all around, is surrounded to the west and south by the Ionian Sea, to the north by the bay of Voidokilia, and partly to the east by the lagoon of Osmanaga or Divari or Navarino. From this strategic position of the Classical Acropolis of Pylos, the maritime space was supervised from the island of Proti to the Messenian Oinousses (Sapienza, Schiza – today’s shooting range of the Hellenic Air Force, Agia Mariani Messinias or Amariani, and the Venetian Messinias), while simultaneously controlling the northern entrance of the bay of Navarino and the port of present-day Gialova.
Finally, let’s mention the paramount modern Greek historical event of the Battle of Navarino. Within this bay that we love, where we work and sail countless times, during the period of the Greek Revolution against the Turkish-Ottoman yoke (1821-1832), on October 20, 1827, occurred the destruction and sinking of the Turkish-Egyptian fleet. 60 out of 89 Turkish-Egyptian ships sank within 4 hours by the tripartite Allied fleet of the British, French, and Russians, resulting in the death of 6,000 Turkish-Egyptian sailors.
In contrast, not a single ship from the Allied fleet was sunk, with relatively few human losses. According to testimonies of earlier residents of Pylos, in the bay of Navarino and near the island of Sphacteria, when the sunlight was appropriate and the sea calm, one could see the masts of the sunken Turkish-Egyptian ships by looking down from a boat towards the seabed!