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town in Peloponnese, Greece
Europe > Greece > Peloponnese > Messenia > Pylos

Pylos is a city in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece.

View of Pylos

Understand

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The area of Pylos has a variety of landscapes to visit, with their own marvelous geomorphological history.

  • The western limestone-ridge
    • The city of Pylos is built on a limestone-ridge which goes north-south. It starts in the south at the town of Methoni, runs to the west of the road Methoni-Pylos where it creates one of the highest hills in the region, Ayos Nikolaos, before it dips to the city of Pylos.
    • To the north of Pylos, the limestone-ridge is interrupted creating a set of connections between the bay of Navarino and the Ionian sea. Also the amazing bay of Voidokilia is such an interruption in the limestone ridge. It is here that the waves of the Ionias sea created one of the most spectacular beaches of Greece. The breaking up of the limestone ridge caused the creation of the uninhabited island of Sphacteria.
    • The island of Sphacteria has a very steep eastern cliff. This is because there is a north-south fault-line running here, and you are looking at a fault-mirror. This means that the island was lifted and the area, which is now the bay of Navarino, dropped. This happened during the creation of the Alpine mountains (Tertiary era).
    • The limestone ridge is not very fertile, and is covered by bushes, low grasses and herb vegetation (maquis). A great place to see snakes. It is mainly used to let sheep and goats graze.
    • Although limestone is known for karst phenomena such as caves and dolines, the number of this kind of phenomena is very limited. Nevertheless, there is a nice cave to visit, just south of Voidokilia. It is now called the Cave of Nestor.
  • The eastern limestone-horst.
    • To the east of Pylos, a massive limestone bock, is sticking out above the landscape, and forms a plateau.
    • When you take the road from Kalamata to Pylos, you will notice you come down a few hundred meters before you reach the bay of Navarino
    • When you take the road from Methoni to Pylos, you will see on the left (west) the western limestone ridge and to the right (east) the limestone horst.
    • It is in this limestone horst you find the quarry of Paleochori, where you can find some great calcite-minerals.
  • The marl-area between Pylos-Kalithea
    • In the tertiary, a sea was covering the whole area around Pylos, with a few exceptions of the highest hill-tops (actually, the land was much lower, and got uplifted later on, rather than the sea being much higher)
    • If you take the road from Pylos to Kalithea, you will see to the south a flat area, mainly covered with olive-groves. This is a marl-plateau, and it was one the bottom of a tertiary see where fine sand and clay were deposited. You can still find a large collection of seashells in the deposits: mainly old forms of oysters.
  • The Flysch area to the east of Methoni
  • The Plateau of Paleonero

Get in

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Voidokilia Bay
Glossa beach
  • There are good bus connections from and to the nearby towns of Methoni,Kalamata and Kiparissia. Connections from these towns can get you further to Patras and Athens
  • You can get to Kalamata airport from several European countries.
  • The taxi services in Pylos (departing from the taxi rank in the main square) are much used. Don't hesitate to ask the price to get to and from Kalamata or Methoni.

Get around

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  • 50cc scooters are for rent from Martin's shop in Gialova. You will need to get a bus to Gialova from Pylos to reach the shop.
  • There is a taxi stand at the main square.
  • There is a bus-stop at the main square. From there you get to the main towns around Pylos.

Top 10 things to see in and around Pylos:

  • 1 Bay of Voidokilia. (updated Mar 2016)
  • 2 "New" (Turkish) Castle of Pylos (at the w-part of town). (updated Mar 2016)
  • 3 "Old" (Frankish-Venetian) Castle of Pylos (Palaiokastro) (on the hill to the north of Sphacteria and south of Voidokilia). (updated Mar 2016)
  • 4 Lagoon of Gialova. A Natura 2000 site with unique fauna and flora. (updated Mar 2016)
  • 5 Cave of Nestor (south of bay of Voidokilia). Mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. (updated Mar 2016)
  • Bay of Navarino. (updated Mar 2016)
  • 6 Palace of Nestor (10 km north of Pylos, on the way to Kiparissia). Palace of Nestor (Q2047396) on Wikidata Palace of Nestor on Wikipedia (updated Mar 2016)
  • The Tholos (beehive). Tombs nearby. (updated Mar 2016)
  • Harbour of Pylos. (updated Mar 2016)
  • Sunset over the Bay of Navarino and Sphacteria or at Gargaliani beach.
  • Boat tour around the area of Sphacteria. Boattrips are offered in the harbour of Pylos. The boat trips bring you to the lighthouse at the entrance of the bay of Navarino or Sphacteria.


  • Olives This is the area for olives and olive-oil.
  • Grapes The area is also known for its grapes, used for raisins and wines. You can get local wines in most of the bars, but check out especially the wine-bar ""Number 9" (see Drink).
  • Honey Bee-keepers put their beehives on the limestone ridges around Pylos, covered with an abundance of Mediterranean flowers. You will find plenty of signs for honey, put there by the local bee-keepers in the villages around Pylos.

Drink

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  • 1 Platanos Cafè (on Three Admirals Square), ☏ +30 2723 022342. Relaxing place where you can take your coffee or grab a bite. (updated Jun 2021)
  • 2 Desire, ☏ +30 2723 028277. Another little tranquil cafe with various drinks and desserts, not to mention sea views. (updated Jun 2021)
  • 3 Restaurant Natura (part of Zoe's Resort, in Gialova). Nice lounge/bar fronting beach, and restaurant, too. (updated Jun 2021)

Sleep

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Budget

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Mid-range

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Splurge

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Go next

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Routes through Pylos
Patras ← Olympia ←  N  S  → Methoni
Pylos ←  W  E  → Kalamata → Sparta


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