Gerenia ( grc, Γερηνία), or Gerena (τὰ Γέρηνα), or Gerenus or Gerenos (Γέρηνος), was a town of ancient Messenia, where, according to Greek mythology,

Nestor Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...

was said to have been brought up after the destruction of

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is th ...

, and whence he derived the surname Gerenian, which occurs so frequently in the '' Iliad'' of Homer. There is, however, no town of this name mentioned in Homer, and many of the ancient critics identified the later Gerenia with the Homeric Enope. Under the Roman Empire, Gerenia was the most northerly of the

Eleuthero-Laconian The League of Free Laconians () was established in southern Greece in 21 BC by the Emperor Augustus,Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos. ''Deep into Mani: Journey to the southern tip of Greece'', 21 giving formal structure to a group of cities that had been ...

towns, and was situated on the eastern side of the

Messenian Gulf The Messenian Gulf (, ''Messiniakós Kólpos'') is a sea that is part of the Ionian Sea. The gulf is circumscribed by the southern coasts of Messenia and the southwestern coast of the Mani peninsula in Laconia. Its bounds are Venetiko Island t ...

, upon a mountainous promontory. Pausanias says that in the district of Gerenia there was a mountain called

Calathium ''Calathium'' is an extinct genus of organism found in marine beds of Ordovician age. Its classification is enigmatic: It has long been placed among the receptaculites, but it has also been described as a quasi-sponge Sponges, the members ...

, upon which there was a sanctuary of Claea (an Oread), and close to the latter a cavern, of which the entrance was narrow, though within there were many things worthy to be seen. Its site is located near the Zarnata, аbove the modern village Kampos. Two very ancient inscriptions discovered at Gerenia are published by

August Böckh August Böckh or Boeckh (; 24 November 1785 – 3 August 1867) was a German classical scholar and antiquarian. Life He was born in Karlsruhe, and educated at the local gymnasium; in 1803 he left for the University of Halle, where he studied th ...

, ''Corp. Inscr.'' nos. 13, 42.

References

Populated places in ancient Messenia Populated places in ancient Laconia Former populated places in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece {{AncientLaconia-geo-stub