back in time: The ancient village of . Right, Cape Tainaron on the Peninsula.

Greece’s Best-Kept Secret Unspoiled Mani, rich in beauty and ancient history, takes its first steps into the luxury arena. Discover this gem before the word gets out.

BY ANDREW SESSA PHOTOGRAPHY BY Christos Drazos

icking through scrubby ground cover and avoiding limestone rocks cropping up like petrified coral or bleached lava, I know I Pshould keep my eyes on the narrow cliff-side path marked only by the footprints of those who have come before me. But I can’t help sneaking peeks at the view: A long arm of land thrusts forward, sheering down to deep-blue waters on either side. Above, skies just lighter than the sea blur the horizon, and behind me, pale-green hills cut by a winding road disappear in the distance. I’m making my way to the 19th-century lighthouse crowning the Peloponnese Peninsula’s Cape Tainaron — the southernmost point in mainland Greece — in

L antern) the largely unknown region of Mani. The ruins of an early Christian church, reputedly built atop a temple to Poseidon, rise beside the trailhead, and nearby I spy fragments of Roman mosaics. Carved into the

k ( M illi c k Joanna ), cliffs below, I’ve been told, lies a sea cave the ancients believed was an entrance to Hades. For long stretches of the windy, two-hour walk, not a sign of civilization, ancient or modern, scars the cinematic scenery. Mention Mani to even the most well-traveled of Mediterranean-lovers, and they’ll likely have little

ROATIA (C p erry S A nne Jo idea what you’re talking about. But those who do

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know it will have one word to describe it: wild. It’s the sort of Into the has started to go luxe — as authentic devoted to her native Greece. With her kohl-rimmed eyes, high past and where guests gather on cool nights wild that intrigues and captivates, seducing you with the magic blue: The island and surprising as Sicily at its most cheekbones, and dark hair, Elena resembles a Byzantine icon, present: around a fire and chat about the day. of Elafonisos, Clockwise from of its unspoiled, untamed scenery and the legends of its storied which features unadulterated. And just as Sicily was but her iPhone, iPad, and digital Rolodex of insider contacts give left, lunchtime Eumelia has expanded its offerings past. For a long while, it was also the kind of wild that kept some of the long separated from Italy, so too was her away as decidedly 21st century. She similarly mixes old and in Monemvasia; of late, welcoming visitors for yoga most luxury-minded folks away. There just wasn’t anything Peloponnese’s Mani disconnected from Greece, by new for our itinerary, intercutting stops at ancient ruins and “Froutalia,” a local retreats, working farm forays, or just here for them. These days, however, Mani’s many wonders are best beaches geography, history, and, even, choice. primordial caves with stays in such of-the-moment spots as the comfort food R&R. Its vines now turn out a light-red made with eggs, becoming more accessible to sophisticated travelers than ever Protected to the north by the Taygetos enlightening, eco-conscious agritourism-focused Eumelia and potatoes, cheese, blend, and its 1,000 olive trees produce a before, as the first stylish stays in and around the region have Mountains, and on all other sides by the boutique hotel Citta dei Nicliani. Both host an international and siglino; inside sweet, grassy oil. Frangiskos also cures slowly opened up and come into their own. the sea, it inhabits the bottom of the array of in-the-know sybarites and culture-seekers who have a Mystras church; olives, makes tapenade, and preserves When I finally reach Tainaron’s tip, I descend a few steps to central finger of the glove-shaped recently tuned in to the area’s surprising delights. a sign reading fruit, selling it all from a just-opened “café” in Greek the lighthouse terrace and stare out at the crystal-blue sea, now Peloponnese, clear across the country gourmet boutique and posh little tasting nearly surrounding me. I imagine diving in and “swimming from the artifice of the cookie-cutter e begin in Sparta, slightly north of Mani, and then room in the property’s barrel-vaulted through the heart of a colossal sapphire,” as the late Sir Patrick blue-and-white villages of the eastern explore the finger of the Peloponnese just east, to 15th-century stone cistern. Leigh Fermor — one of Greece’s great 20th-century chroniclers Aegean’s oft-overcrowded Cyclades Wwitness the wonders one finds along the way: the Over a farm-to-table dinner of local — described it in his 1958 travelogue, Mani, which serves as islands. The region’s proud people trace palaces, frescoed churches, and ruins of the 13th-century specialties — sauteed wild greens, my literary companion for this trip. But I content myself to their lineage to the notoriously tough hilltop Byzantine city of Mystras, a UNESCO World Heritage orange-spiced pork sausage, and fava stand still, simply absorbing the vibration of this place: a spot ancient Spartans and the Byzantines Site; Elafonisos, a small island off the finger’s tip where the bean puree — Frangiskos whets my where sky, sea, and earth seem to meet, where the characters who came after, and they stand among white sand and turquoise waters at Simos make for some appetite for my trip’s main course, of ancient mythology are said to have once walked on the same the only Greeks who achieved some of the best beaches in the Peloponnese; and Monemvasia, a which begins the next day: “Mani striking landscapes still seen here today. independence during Turkish rule. mind-bogglingly steep fortified monolith jutting up from the is very peculiar,” he entices, “full of “This deviation from the main flow sea, where restored terra-cotta-roofed, golden-stoned buildings extreme, rugged beauty.” ramatically rocky and dry in its desertlike southern of Greek history has produced many climb the rust-colored cliffs. stretches, more lush toward its north, Mani brims with divergent symptoms,” Fermor observed, We have also taken this slightly circuitous path en route to he following morning, we drive Drolling hills and precipitous cliffs, expanses of silver- from Mani’s harsh but beautiful Mani proper in order to stay at Eumelia, an organic farm and south toward Mani’s Kotronas green olive forests and fuchsia cactus fruit, ancient abandoned landscapes to the specific characteristics guesthouse that has ushered a new era of agritourism into the TBay, hugging the white-and- ruins and centuries-old villages of towering stone houses. Its of its people, architecture, and food. On area. Athens-born, New York-raised Johns Hopkins graduate gold seaside cliffs. The beauty of the powdery sand beaches — a Mediterranean rarity — open onto this trip, I experience it all. Frangiskos Karelas lovingly established this 50-acre vineyard sweeping waterfront vistas, while coves whose warm aquamarine waters lap gently at the shore, My guide — besides Fermor’s Mani — and olive grove a few years back, on land once owned by his indeed often rugged, rivals that of the teeming with the abundant seafood you will find cooked to is Elena Papanicolaou, a 40-something great-grandfather, quietly opening this eco-chic stay. It has now Amalfi Coast or Pebble Beach. Placid perfection at casual tavernas up and down the coast. former corporate executive who last become one of the area’s most special, with ultrasoft, all-natural inlets dig into the landscape like While many Med destinations can seem indistinguishable year founded Fly Me to the Moon, mattresses from the sought-after Greek bedding company fjords; low, red-roofed stone villages from each other, Mani remains true to itself — even as it a luxury bespoke travel company Coco-Mat, and a modernist barnlike living and dining room scurry up from the sea, dotted with

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cacti whose pinkish-red prickly pears glow like rubies; endless olive groves climb rolling hills, growing not in organized rows but a scattered array. Over lunch on the shores of Kotronas, at Gefseis En Plo, an upscale nautically inspired spot Citta dei Nicliani Gefseis En Plo run by chef, cookbook author, and TV personality Mary Panagakou, we savor signature dishes typical of the area, salads topped with the regional cured-pork called siglino, say, and other specialties, including tender roasted goat with wilted fennel fronds and artichoke hearts. We talk of old Maniot ways, By the Sea: country-house-inspired furnishings, most now changed with the times: Clockwise from with Guy Laroche linens covering above, a fresh women who wore black because catch in Limeni; the deeply comfortable beds. they lost sons or husbands in a seaside table family feuds; locals who left for at Takis; the he next day begins with Athens and then set down roots deserted, but that spellbinding walk preserved in the most challenging terrain to Tainaron’s lighthouse, towered town T Chromata Eumelia they could find there — because it of Vathia but rather than descending to its felt like home. sea cave, we depart for nearby Later that day, we visit a Diros instead. There, a boatman- Essentials hauntingly beautiful vestige of guide paddles us through water- those feuds: Vathia, a now-empty filled caverns whose impressive, GETTING HERE Beyond Mani hosts casual diners looking hilltop village that’s among the best otherworldly white-stone formations Mani begins about 175 Eumelia Organic for the freshest of fish.Limeni miles southwest of Athens’ Agrotourism Farm & Port; 011-30-27330-51327 preserved of Mani’s towered towns. look like the arching entrances to Guesthouse: This family international airport, or Beyond Mani During the feuds, these hamlets, tower-houses in some places, its about 50 miles southwest friendly stay near Gouves 1 Chromata: Just outside of ’s. offers as much immersion Fermor wrote, came to be “scattered stalactites like crystal chandeliers in Mystras, with views of the as you’d like on its organic across the mountains like scores others. We emerge into the light of ruins, this indoor-outdoor SLEEP farm, and the wonders of of hornets’ nests,” built higher and day soon enough, for a late lunch in In Mani the southern Peloponnese. restaurant makes elevated higher, not only to compete with harbor-side Limeni. At the seafood Citta dei Nicliani: Owned Its five modern, cozy versions of local delights neighbors but to provide strategic taverna Takis, whose tables sit on by the charming Sepsas bungalows, with kitchens such as kagianas — scrambled family, the seven French eggs topped with tomato and vantage. Approaching at golden a stone terrace overlooking the and fireplaces, easily sleep country-chic rooms here four, and 70 percent of its local smoked-pork siglino. hour, we find Vathia just as Fermor clearest turquoise cove I’ve ever occupy centuries-old hearty food is grown on-site. 011-30-27310-23995; estiatorio described it, its towers poking out seen, a cook lightly fries our just- tower-houses in Kitta. From $105. 011-30-21303- chromata.blogspot.com from a ridge “like the spikes along caught red mullet after cleaning it Breakfast features fresh 69814; eumelia.com 1 Matoula: This 65-year- old taverna proves most an iguana’s back.” Before leaving, we in a bucket of saltwater pulled right cheese, omelets, and creamy yogurt; and dinner EAT popular among those that look back at the city, now set aglow from the bay. We savor the fish’s is highlighted by youvetsi, In Mani line cliff-side Monemvasia’s in sunset’s amber-hued light. I think pure flavor along with marinated a traditional Greek dish 1 Gefseis En Plo: This main path. Fried fish, of Fermor again, writing that these anchovies, garlicky tzadiki, and a of tomato, beef, and orzo. maritime-feeling spot marinated anchovies, and tower-towns “had the hallucinating feta-filled salad, then return to Citta The extensive wine list on Kotronas Bay turns saitia (phyllo stuffed with offers 300-plus choices, out perfect local fare greens) pair perfectly with improbability of a mirage.” dei Nicliani once more. 80 percent of them Greek (savory pies, fava topped vintages from the local Here, he referred to Kitta, where For our final day in Mani, and the rest international with charred octopus) Monemvasia winery, whose we now head to stay at the 3-year- Elena has arranged a series of vintages, with some from celebrity chef Mary nearby tasting room is called old boutique hotel Citta dei Nicliani. special-access entrees. We begin procured at Sotheby’s. Panagakou, a Greek hybrid Byron’s Wine Kamara. 011- Nearby, a tower-house with of the Barefoot Contessa 30-27320-61660; matoula.gr Its rooms occupy a series of these in Kardamyli, where we visit the a private pool can be rented and Ask Heloise. Kotronas towers, all with stunning views of a former home of Fermor himself. as a vacation villa with Beach; 011-30-27330-22900 HOW TO BOOK valley filled with olive trees, villages, Upon his death in 2011, the famed bedrooms sleeping four 1 Takis: Perched against Custom Fly Me to the and limestone cliffs. The oldest of author left the grand waterfront and lofted sleeping nooks the aqua waters of Limeni’s Moon itineraries in and to accommodate more. port, this simple seafood around Mani start from the hotel’s buildings date back 1,000 stone villa he built here to Athens’ From $85 (hotel), $425 tavern bedecked with plaid- $3,700 per person for five years, but they hardly look their Benaki Museum, which now plans (villa). 011-30-27330-51827; cloth-covered wooden days. 011-30-21068-28926; age, plushly appointed in French to create a research and cultural cittadeinicliani.com tables and off-white chairs, flymetothemoontravel.com

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center. Walking among his books and maps, looking out to sea through the property’s cypress and olive trees, I feel his presence intensely, half expecting the copy of Mani I’ve been constantly carrying to start crackling like a literary Geiger counter. A few hours later, we leave our final stop, the sprawling, remarkably well- restored ancient city of Messene, where the site’s chief archaeologist led us on a private tour. Sunlight glints off the ruins’ columns, porticos, and pediments, all nestled in the low bowl of a mountain-

rimmed valley opening REMAINS to the Ionian Sea, and I’m OF THE DAY: Ruins in the reminded of Fermor one ancient city final time. of Messene. “A spell of peace lives in the ruins of ancient Greek temples,” he wrote. “As the traveler leans back among the fallen capitals and allows the hours to pass, it empties the mind of troubling thoughts and anxieties and slowly refills it, like a vessel that has been drained and scoured, with a quiet ecstasy.” In Mani, not just the ruins, but their setting in one of the world’s most natural, untouched areas, heightens the majesty of these moments. As Fermor observed of the local landscape in his book’s last pages, “Nature becomes supernatural; the frontier between physical and metaphysical is confounded.” Of Mani, I think, truer words could never be written.