Kalamáta

Kalamata stands near the head of the Messenian Gulf, below a castle overlooking the Nedon River. The fortress occupies the site of the ancient city of Pharae and became a seat of the Villehardouin family after the Frankish conquest of the Morea. Its walls look across the fertile Messenian plain towards the passes of Mount Taygetus.

During the Venetian assault of 1685, Ottoman troops destroyed their powder stores in the castle as they retreated from a force of Venetians, Saxons and Maniots. Venice held Kalamata until 1715, when the Ottomans returned. Greek revolutionary forces took the town in March 1821, at the beginning of the War of Independence. Four years later Ibrahim Pasha's army inflicted heavy damage on both the town and its castle.