Fort Neokastro and Methoni Castle

This Kalamata shore trip introduces you to medieval Greece with visits to the Castle of Methoni and the Neokastro Fortress in the town of Pylos.

After meeting your guide, your first stop is the Castle of Methoni, one of the most important Venetian fortifications in the Mediterranean, a walled city with its own natural harbor. The Venetians seized Methoni in 1206 and built up its defenses over the following centuries; despite later sieges, its walls remain impressive today. Within the fortified grounds you'll see the remains of noble Venetian houses, Ottoman baths, the Byzantine Church of Hagia Sophia, and the Church of the Transfiguration.

From Methoni you drive to the town of Pylos to see the Neokastro Fortress, built starting in 1573 by the Ottoman admiral Ulug Ali Reis, two years after the Battle of Lepanto, to control the southern entrance to the Bay of Navarino. Like much of the region, Neokastro changed hands repeatedly between Ottoman and Venetian control before its garrison was finally handed over to French troops in 1828. Inside the fortress you'll see preserved structures including a water tank and the ruins of the Gothic Cathedral of the Transfiguration. The fortress was fully restored by 1987 and today houses Greece's National Center for Underwater Archaeology.