The best running trails in Λουτσάκα-Χαμοσπηλιά-Πέρα Βρύση (Γυθείου-Λαγίου-Πυργίου)

However, at the very back there is also a protected area where sea turtles lay their eggs and which should therefore not be entered.

The Tzannetakis' Tower was built in 1829, on an area of ​​875 square meters, on the island of Kranai. It is the traditional stone, three-story tower of the chieftain and the third “beis” of Mani Tzannetakis Grigorakis (1785-1868). Tzannetakis Grigorakis took part in the Revolution of 1821, leading the siege of Monemvasia and was appointed its first guard-master. The ancestor of former Prime Minister Giannis Tzanetakis offered the building to the State in 1977. After being renovated by EOT, the Tower (designated a historical preserved monument) houses the Historical and Ethnological Museum. It is an excellent example of traditional Mani architecture. Since 1993, the permanent exhibition entitled "Travelers to Mani: 15th-19th Century" has been hosted at the Museum of History and Ethnology of the National Hellenic Research Foundation of Modern Greek Studies Center (ETF). The exhibition is about the trips of seventy foreign travelers to the region of Mani over five centuries. Vincenzo Maria Coronelli and Elvia Celebi, great geographers and travelers, were among them. Visitors can see a significant number of items, from manuscripts, historical relics, artworks, engravings, rare maps and old editions of various forms from the Renaissance to the 19th century. The museum also houses the work of the French Scientific Mission to Moria at a critical time for the newly established Greek state, between 1829-1832. In addition to the permanent exhibition, periodic thematic exhibitions are organised in connection with similar events in the area. Near the Tower of Tzannetakis are the old boatyard, the Lighthouse of Gythio and the chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, located at the small Halkitsa beach.

Beautiful pebble beach...at the very back there is fine sand...

If you're interested, the building contains a military museum.

Small local church but with deep ties to a formative period in orthodox history: The Three Hierarchs are: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen or Theologian. The Feast of the Three Hierarchs was instituted in the middle of the 11th century and in the years of Constantine I Monomachos or Alexios I Komnenos by Metropolitan Eucharist John Mavropodas who composed part of the Sequence for the Three Saints of the Church. In it Mavropos praises the importance of the work and the quality of their work and highlights the relation of the Triandria to the Most High God for the Orthodox Church. The beginnings of the Feast can be traced to a period of "mental upheaval" when Constantine I the Gladiator was reorganizing the Constantinople Law School, which trained the future executives of the Byzantine administration, staffing the School with scholars of non-aristocratic origin. The reforms that Constantine I was promoting forced aristocrats to resign. Indeed, the constant attacks on former Judge Ophridas were an expression of dissatisfaction with the way in which the day-to-day law workers, the notaries' guild, have been denied access to legal education. This caused the reaction of the Church which seeks to control education and rid it of any unnecessary elements. The Three Saints appear together in 1066 at Theodorou's Salon and throughout the 11th century more and more frequently in illustrated manuscripts. The Memory of the Three Hierarchs comes to symbolize metaphorically the Holy Trinity and the role of the Three Fathers in shaping the Triune Doctrine and to indicate the boundaries of approach to Greek philosophical reflection. https://www.newsbomb.gr/ellada/ekklhsia/story/954385/eorti-ton-trion-ierarxon

The most fragile arches are surprisingly the most outstanding surviving and still standing walls of this medieval Mani warlord castle. One room has been used until recently as a storage and still has a fairly flat floor and almost waterproof ceiling, useful on rainy winter days.

This lovingly maintained little church opens in the evenings. It's near the top of the hill next to the Κάστρο Γουλάδες Mavrovouni castle ruins with surround views of the sea around the peninsula.

Small castle ruin with well preserved round corner towers on the highest point in the small town, offering panoramic surround views of the sea to three sides, and the mountains towering to the west. Open 24/7, free. As there is unfortunately no information at the site, I learned the following history later in the evening on the internet: The castle of Goulades is a tower house (or rather a castle house) by Tzanetos Grigorakis. It is also known as "Goulades", Montenegro, or "Benika" or "Melissi". Characteristic are the arched gate, its towers and the two-storey residence. Tzanetos Grigorakis (or Tzanibeis) built the castle in 1795, during which time Beis was in Mani (1782-1798). Next to the castle he built a temple (Three Hierarchs - Ai Giannis) and a family cemetery that are still preserved. A new settlement, called Melissi or Tzanetoupoli, was developed around the Bybanika. The castle did not last long. It was destroyed by the cannons of the Turkish fleet in 1803 because Janebee (who had meanwhile lost his following and sought to ally with the French) had been supplied with gunpowder by French ships. https://www.kastra.eu/castlegr.php?kastro=goulades