Mavrovouni (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μαυροβούνι, "the black mountain") is a village (population approximately 500) in the

Mani Peninsula The Mani Peninsula (), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (), is a geographical and cultural region in the Peloponnese of Southern Greece and home to the Maniots (), who claim descent from the ancient Spartans. The capital ci ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, south of

Gytheio Gytheio ( ) or Gythio, also the ancient Gythium or Gytheion (), is a town on the eastern shore of the Mani Peninsula, and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is par ...

town.

Geography

Mavrovouni is a village about 2 km south of the town of Gytheio, in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, Greece. It is located on a steep hill of dark rock between the hill of Kumaros above

and the alluvial plain of the Vardhounia river lies a belt of low sandy hills. The district is rich in wines, olives and oranges. The village's economy is based on olive oil production, fishing and tourism.

History

The hill of Mavrovouni was settled in the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, were

Early Helladic Helladic chronology is a relative dating system used in archaeology and art history. It complements the Minoan chronology scheme devised by Sir Arthur Evans for the categorisation of Bronze Age artefacts from the Minoan civilization within a his ...

ceramics were found here. Waterhouse & Hope-Simpson, pp. 114–118. (with map & plans of the graves) One sherd with a cable pattern is from a pithos of a micaceous fabric found at Mavrovouni. During the

Mycenaean period Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC.. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainla ...

( LHIII), seven chamber graves were carved into the rock on the slopes below the summit. South of it are remains of a tholos, a reference to a local prince. The Mycenaean settlement was on a hill 300 meters northeast of the graves. The sites are presented in a geographical order beginning with the

Eurotas In Greek mythology, Eurotas (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρώτας) was a king of Laconia. Family Eurotas was the son of King Myles of Laconia and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. The ''Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus), Bibliothe ...

valley in the north, through the Mavrovouni valley on the

Mani peninsula The Mani Peninsula (), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (), is a geographical and cultural region in the Peloponnese of Southern Greece and home to the Maniots (), who claim descent from the ancient Spartans. The capital ci ...

to the Maleas peninsula in the southeast. The modern village of Mavrovouni settled in 1782, when Tzanetos Grigorakis became

bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

and built the castle Goulades on the top of the hill. The villagers, like the other Mainotes in the area, did not become

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

till the 9th century.

Hugh Chisholm Hugh Chisholm ( ; 22 February 1866 – 29 September 1924) was a British journalist. He was the editor of the 10th, 11th and 12th editions of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Life He was born in London, England, a son of Henry Williams Chisho ...

, Maina and Mainotes, p. 432. From the 15th till the 17th century Mainotes recognized a family which claimed to belong to the Comneni of Trebizond as head chiefs. But the real power was in the hands of the chiefs of the different families and villages, who formed a turbulent and martial

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

. In the course of the 18th century the

Mavromichalis family The Mavromichalis family (, , ) is a Greek family from Mani Peninsula, which played a major role in modern Greek history. Origin According to the Maniot tradition, confirmed by the May 31, 1870 epitaph of Anastasios-Petros Mavromichalis (whi ...

established a general headship over the Mainotes, so during the

Greek war of independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

the Mainotes were chiefly led by

Petrobey Mavromichalis Petros Mavromichalis (; 1765–1848), also known as Petrobey ( ), was a Greek general and politician who played a major role in the lead-up and during the Greek War of Independence. Before the war, he served as the Bey of Mani. His family h ...

, known to his countrymen as the king of Mani, who undoubtedly cherished the hope of establishing a principality for himself. In 19th century, the area was still inhabited by autonomous

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

as well as the

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

tribe of Zapata; according to Thomas Gordon, this tribe inhabiting the woody hills of Mavrovouni which jut out into the promontory of Cape Pappas, and rejected every alliance proposition of Ibrahim Pasha, amidst their forests and obstinatery resisted the incursions of his troops.

Human activities

The beach of Mavrovouni is protected by an international project, as it is visited every year by the

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of sea turtle, oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around ...

s which commonly called ''Caretta-Caretta'' and at the beach they dig nests to lay their eggs. A loggerhead sea turtle nest roped off as part of the ''Sea Turtle Protection Project'' of

Archelon ''Archelon'' is an extinct marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous, and is the largest turtle ever to have been documented, with the biggest specimen measuring from head to tail and in body mass. It is known only from the Pierre Shale and ...

Sport activities

Mavrovouni is located right above the populated Mavrovouni beach, a place ideal for

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and known for its size, which is approximately 5 km in length. Campings and several rooms-to-let can be found by the beach within 50–100 meters from the sea. The place is appropriate for

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

, having strong winds blowing for several hours in the day (12:00–18:30

UTC+3 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, ...

) during the summer full season (July–August).''Mavrovouni: An endless sandy beach with clear waters''
in web-greece.gr

References

Sources

* * * * * ** {{Authority control Populated places in Laconia East Mani Protected areas of Greece Populated places in the Mani Peninsula Bronze Age sites in Greece