Do you live permanently in the Peloponnese? Discover the area tips: Ancient Messene

It doesn’t matter if you live permanently in the Peloponnese or if you are here just for one summer: here is always something to discover! Welcome to Ancient Messene!

Ancient Messene one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Greece

Elias and I work from Monday to Friday. Every working day eight hours at the desk but we try to go on short or long excursions on the weekends. This time we want to advise you to visit Ancient Messene (Messini). We visited AM three times and I am confident that more visits will be made!

Ancient Messene: the political, economic, social, religious and artistic centre of the free Messenians

The city was founded in 369 BC by the Theban general Epaminondas (after the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, which resulted in Spartan defeat and the establishment of the Theban Hegemony). It became the capital of the free Messenian state following a long period (about four centuries) of occupation of the Messenian territory by the Spartans.

In size, form and preservation, Messene is one of the most important cities of antiquity, and one which still has a great deal to offer. It boasts not only religious and public buildings, but also imposing fortifications, houses and funerary monuments.

The city has the rare advantage of not having been destroyed or covered by later settlements and of being situated in an untouched Mediterranean natural environment par excellence.

The archaeological site and monuments of Ancient Messene constitute an exceptional testimony to the urban environment and living conditions of an ancient Greek city, preserving all those elements that make up the ancient Greek way of life in an ancient Greek city (secular, religious, political, administrative, residential, funerary).

Ancient Messene was in antiquity the greatest and most dynamically growing centre of an anthropogenic whole that, based on its mythological, religious and heroic past, was able to evolve into an independent political entity and shape its own national identity. The source: UNESCO

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