''Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese'' is a travel book by English author

Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greates ...

, published in 1958. It covers his journey with wife

Joan Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...

and friend

Xan Fielding Alexander Wallace Fielding (26 November 1918 – 19 August 1991) was a British author, translator, journalist and traveller, who served as a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent in Crete, France and the East Asia during World War II. The pu ...

around 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 ...

in southern Greece.

Travel

The book chronicles Leigh Fermor's travels around the

in southern mainland Greece. The region is typically viewed as inhospitable and isolated from much of the remainder of Greece due its harsh geography. The

Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus ( el, Ταΰγετος, Taygetos) is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet ...

mountains run down the middle of the peninsula, limiting most settlements to small villages on or near the coast. They begin near

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia reg ...

, and then proceed south along the Mani coastline (mostly by boat or caique), ending the book in the town of Gytheon. Leigh Fermor's book almost never mentions his travelling companions, and only rarely delves into first-person experiences. Much of the book concentrates on the history of the

Maniots The Maniots or Maniates ( el, Μανιάτες) are the inhabitants of Mani Peninsula, located in western Laconia and eastern Messenia, in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as ''Maina''. ...

and of their larger place in Greek and European history; the middle portion of the book contains lengthy digressions on art history,

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s, religion, and myth in Maniot society. His future wife Joan accompanied him on the trip and took a number of photographs for the original version of the book.

Reception

''Mani'' is sometimes listed as a companion volume to Leigh Fermor's book ''Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece''.

Translation

It was translated into Greek by future prime minister

Tzannis Tzannetakis Tzannis Tzannetakis ( el, Τζαννής Τζαννετάκης) (13 September 1927 – 1 April 2010) was a Greek politician who was briefly Prime Minister of Greece during the political crisis of 1989. Biography Tzannetakis was born in Gytheio ...

while in internal exile imposed by the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

. The translation was revised after his release with Leigh Fermor who added a further chapter on olives.Cooper, Artemis ''Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure'' (John Murray, 2012) p349-50

Later life

Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor later settled in the Mani peninsula, living in a house near

Kardamyli Kardamili ( el, Καρδαμύλη, variously transliterated as ''Kardamyle'', ''Cardamyle'', ''Kardhamili'', and ''Kardamyli'', and sometimes called "Skardamoula", especially on old maps) is a town by the sea thirty-five kilometers southeast of ...

that the two designed and built.

References

1958 non-fiction books British travel books Mani Peninsula Books about Greece English non-fiction books NYRB Classics {{Travel-book-stub