Mani Peninsula in the context of "Taygetus"

Cargèse (French: [kaʁʒɛz]; Corsican: Carghjese [karˈɟɛzɛ] or Carghjesi [karˈɟɛzi]; Italian: Cargese [karˈdʒeːze, eːse]; Greek: Καργκέζε, romanized: Kargkéze) is a village and commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 27 km north of Ajaccio. As of 2017, the commune had a population of 1,325.

The village was established at the end of the 18th century by the descendants of a group of immigrants from the Mani Peninsula of the Greek Peloponnese who had first settled in Corsica a hundred years earlier. The economy of the village is now based around tourism. Cargèse is noted for having two 19th-century churches that face one another across a small valley overlooking the harbour and the sea. One was built by the descendants of the Greek immigrants and the other by native Corsicans.

The vast majority of the territory of present-day Greece was at some point incorporated within the Ottoman Empire. The period of Ottoman rule in Greece, lasting from the mid-15th century until the successful Greek War of Independence broke out in 1821 and the First Hellenic Republic was proclaimed in 1822, is known in Greece as Turkocracy (Greek: Τουρκοκρατία, romanized: Tourkokratia, lit. 'Turkish rule'). Some regions, like the Ionian islands and various temporary Venetian possessions of the Stato da Mar, were not incorporated in the Ottoman Empire. The Mani Peninsula in the Peloponnese was not fully integrated into the Ottoman Empire, but was under Ottoman suzerainty.

The Eastern Roman Empire, which ruled most of the Greek-speaking world for over 1100 years, had been fatally weakened since the Fourth Crusade of 1204. Having defeated the Serbs, the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 and soon advanced southwards capturing Athens in 1456 and the Peloponnese in 1460. By the early 16th century, all of mainland Greece and most of the Aegean Islands were in Ottoman hands, excluding several port cities that were still held by the Venetians (notably Nafplio, Monemvasia, Parga and Methone). The mountains of Greece remained largely untouched and were a refuge for Greeks who desired to flee Ottoman rule and engage in guerrilla warfare. The Cyclades islands were annexed by the Ottomans in 1579, although they had been under vassal status since the 1530s. Cyprus fell in 1571, and the Venetians retained Crete until 1669. The Ionian Islands were never ruled by the Ottomans, with the exception of Kefalonia (from 1479 to 1481 and from 1485 to 1500), but remained under the rule of the Venice. It was in the Ionian Islands that modern Greek statehood was born, with the creation of the Republic of the Seven Islands in 1800.

Gytheio (Greek: Γύθειο [ˈʝiθio]) or Gythio, also the ancient Gythium or Gytheion (Ancient Greek: Γύθειον), is a town on the eastern shore of the Mani Peninsula in the Peloponnese of southern Greece, in the historical and administrative region of Laconia. It is the largest and most important town in Mani. Gytheio is the seat of the municipality of East Mani. Gytheio is significant in the history of Mani and the Maniots.

Ancient Gytheio was the seaport of Ancient Sparta, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) north. Gytheio continued to be a major port until its destruction in the 4th century CE, possibly by an earthquake. Its strategic location made it a coveted possession for foreign powers into the 20th century.

East Mani (Greek: Ανατολική Μάνη - Anatolikí Máni) is a Greek municipality in the Peloponnese administrative region, in the regional unit of modern Laconia. Its seat of administration is the town of Gytheio. It covers the southern portion of the mountainous and rocky Mani Peninsula, a geographic and cultural region long considered distinct and isolated relative to the rest of Greece. The neighboring municipality West Mani to its northwest encompasses the remainder of the Mani Peninsula. Both municipalities were established in 2011 following reforms to Greek administrative divisions.

The Maniots (/ˈmæniəts/) or Maniates (Greek: Μανιάτες) is the traditional name for the native Greek inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula in the southern Peloponnese region of Greece. They have historically been known as Mainotes, and the peninsula as Maina.

In the early modern period, Maniots gained a reputation as fierce and proudly independent warriors, who engaged in piracy and blood feuds. They lived mainly in fortified villages and "tower houses" built as defenses against "Frankish" (see Frankokratia) and Ottoman invaders.

West Mani (Greek: Δυτική Μάνη, romanized: Dytiki Mani) is a municipality in the Messenia regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Kardamyli. The municipality has an area of 402.809 km.

It comprises the northwestern part of the geographic and historical region of the Mani Peninsula, also known as Messenian Mani (Μεσσηνιακή Μάνη) or Outer Mani (Έξω Μάνη), in juxtaposition with the southeastern part of Mani (Laconian Mani or Inner Mani), which is covered by the municipality of East Mani.

Kampos (Greek: Κάμπος) is a village and a community in the Mani Peninsula, in Messenia in southern Greece. Kampos had 367 inhabitants in 2021. It is on the provincial Kalamata-Areopoli road, 22 km. away from Kalamata.

In the village there is the Byzantine Church of Saints Theodores which is known for its frescoes. Also, there is the small Church of St. John with 13th-century frescoes, and the tower house of the Koumoundouros family, in which Alexandros Koumoundouros (a 19th-century politician and prime minister of Greece) was born. Near this tower-house there is the arched Mycenaean tomb of Machaon, son of Asclepius. Above the village is the castle of Zarnata.

Kardamyli (Greek: Καρδαμύλη, variously transliterated as Kardamyle, Cardamyle, Kardhamili, and Kardamili) is a village in Greece on the Mani Peninsula in the southern Peloponnese. It is the seat of the municipality of West Mani in the regional unit of Messenia. It was commonly labelled "Skardamoula" on older maps.

In the Iliad (Book 9), Homer cites Kardamyli as one of the seven cities offered by Agamemnon to Achilles as a condition to rejoin the fight during the Trojan War. The village preserves its ancient name.

Cape Matapan (Greek: Κάβο Ματαπάς, Maniot dialect: Ματαπά), also called Cape Tainaron or Taenarum (Greek: Ακρωτήριον Ταίναρον), or Cape Tenaro, is situated at the end of the Mani Peninsula, in the Peloponnese in Greece. Cape Matapan is the southernmost point of mainland Greece, and the second southernmost point in mainland Europe. It separates the Messenian Gulf in the west from the Laconian Gulf in the east. Cape Matapan the second-southernmost point of mainland Europe; it is on the migration route of birds headed to Africa.

Cape Taenarum in classical antiquity was the site of the city of Taenarum (Ancient Greek: Ταίναρον), now in ruins. In ancient Greek mythology the eponymous founder-hero of the city was Taenarus (Ταίναρος), who was credited with establishing the city's important temple of Poseidon.