The Laconian Gulf ( el, Λακωνικός Κόλπος, translit=Lakonikos Kolpos), is a gulf in the south-eastern
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
, in
Greece. It is the southernmost gulf in Greece and the largest in the Peloponnese.
In the shape of an inverted "U", it is approximately 58 km wide east-west, and 44 km long north-south. It is bounded to the west by the
Mani peninsula
The Mani Peninsula ( el, Μάνη, Mánē), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (Μαΐνη), is a geographical and cultural region in Southern Greece that is home to the Maniots (Mανιάτες, ''Maniátes'' in Greek), who cla ...
, which separates it from the
Messenian Gulf, and to the east by the
Cape Maleas peninsula (also known as the Epidavros Limira peninsula), which separates it from the
Aegean Sea. To the south it opens onto the
Mediterranean Sea. The Mani and Cape Maleas peninsulas are dry and rocky, but the northern shore, fed by the
Evrotas River, which empties into the gulf at its apex, is fertile farmland. The island of
Elafonissos lies in the Laconian Gulf, with the island of
Kythira directly to the south. The main ports and settlements on the gulf are
Gytheio and
Neapolis.
Gulfs of Greece
Landforms of Laconia
Gulfs of the Mediterranean
Landforms of Peloponnese (region)
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