Kardamyli is a sleepy fishing village about a one hour pretty, and at times, hair raising drive south of Kalamata. It is the administrative capital of the municipality of Lefktro. Kardamyli has a long and varied history, too much in fact for this article so here is a very brief potted history.
There is plenty more online to keep the history buff going.
First mentioned in Homer’s epic poem the Iliad, written about 1200bc, it was offered to Achilles by Agamemnon to tempt him back to the siege of Troy. At this time it was the main port of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta.
Many of the building in Old Kardamyli or “upper village” were built in the Venetian style. You can also see tower houses built by the Niklian clans. At the back of the old town you will find the tombs of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. Pausanias wrote that from the seashore here the Nereids came out to admire the sons of Achilles.
In more modern times it was the jumping off point for the declaration of Greek independence from the Turks, when Kolokotroni and other captains from the Mani marched towards Kalamata on 23rd march 1821. At another time it was known as a base for foreign pirates.
