Traditions set in stone, from mountain to sea
ABOUT STOUPA
Stoupa is a village near the sea, which combine the mountains and sea. It is built under the shadow of Taygetou, just 45km east from the city of Kalamata. It is a proper destination for both winter and summer vacations.
It is named by the stoupia which are the fibers of flax that the locals collects and put them inside the sea in order to soften them to process them more easily.
The changing landscape will enchant you. The towering Taygetos, the traditional architecture of Mani, the bays, the Byzantine churches, the caves, the traditional villages with cobbled streets and beautifully stunning sandy beaches make a beautiful scene that charms every visitor. Of course the stunning scenery of Stoupa and the region is not devoid of history.
In 1917, the famous writer Kazantzakis lived in this area and this is where he met George Zorbas who worked in a nearby mine. Inspired by him, the novelist wrote the masterpiece “Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas’ which then became a famous movie, a ballet, and left the legacy of the most well known Greek music Syrtaki written by Theodorakis.
Homer is the one who makes the first mention in particular Kardamili as one of the cities that would give dowry Agamemnon to Achilles.
On the other hand Pausanias refers to the castle of Lefktro and says that he saw there a statue of Asklepios and Ino, but also Cassandra. It also says that he saw the temple of Athena and her statue.
Beside the above, in Byzantine times the area as it was under the dominion of Mystras, led to a declaration of revolution for the release of his country, and other regions of Greece. It states that on March 21, 1821 Petrobeis Mavromichalis reached Kardamili, having sworn an oath on the holy at Areopolis to start the race, joining forces with Kolokotronis, Mourtzinos and Mani. In Kalamata came on 23 March, released and continued the fight for “Resurrection of the Nation’.
