Mani Peninsula

thumb|Landscape in Mani

The Mani Peninsula is a geographical and cultural region of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. It is often referred to as Mani () or "the Mani". The inhabitants of Mani are known as Maniots (, ). Mani and the Maniots played a key role in the Greek War of Independence that began in 1821.

The Mani is the central of the three peninsulas extending southwards from the Peloponnese into the Mediterranean Sea. To Mani's east lie the Laconian Gulf and the peninsula of Cape Maleas, and to its west, the Messenian Gulf and the peninsula of Messenia. The Mani Peninsula is the southern extension of the Taygetus mountain range. It is about long, with a rocky, rugged, interior bordered by scenic coastlines. Mani terminates at Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of continental Greece.

In ancient times, Mani was considered part of Laconia, a region dominated by the powerful city-state (polis) of Sparta. Its administration is now divided between the municipalities of East Mani in modern Laconia, and West Mani in Messenia. Mani's towns include Areopoli, Gytheio, and Pyrgos Dirou. Notable sites in Mani include the ruins of the ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Matapan, the Monastery of Panayia Yiatrissa, and the Apidima Cave with its Neanderthal fossils.

thumb|Lying due south of [[Sparta, Laconia|Sparta (Spárti), Mani is the central of three peninsulas extending into the Mediterranean Sea.|alt=Map of Greece showing major cities, parts of surrounding countries, and water bodies]]

Mani was known as () for its numerous tower-houses. From 1978 onwards, the Greek state decreed many settlements with tower-houses "traditional", setting restrictions on construction. In 2003, the whole peninsula was designated a "cultural complex of international importance".

Name

The origin of the name "Mani" is uncertain. The earliest known record is a reference to the bishop of a diocese (, )in a hierarchical list of dioceses deposited in the archives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 907. Compiled during the reign of Emperor Leo VI, it shows Maïna's bishop as subordinate to the metropolitan of Corinth. In around 950, Constantine VII mentioned the inhabitants of a "city of Maïna" in his treatise De Administrando Imperio (On Administering the Empire). which is part of a biome known as Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub.

Governance

The southern part of the peninsula, covering about , is a Special Protection Area (SPA) within the Natura 2000 network. This SPA was designated in 2010 under the Birds Directive of the European Union; it protects 72 bird species. The protected area is an important habitat for migrating raptors, notably Bonelli's eagle, the short-toed snake eagle, the lanner falcon, and the rare eastern imperial eagle.

Geology

Landforms

The Mani is a peninsula with Cape Matapan forming its southern tip. The massif of the Taygetus range, about long, extends from the centre of the Peloponnese to Cape Matapan. The tallest mountan is Mount Taygetus. Its summit, ( ), stands at , and is the highest in the Peloponnese. Some historians identify with the "Taletum, a peak of Taygetus" mentioned by Pausanias.

Soils

The peninsula is composed of Mesozoic-era carbonate rocks, predominantly limestone, which erode to form karst caves such as the one at Alepotrypa. Shallow lithosols and rendzina soils, with a low capacity for holding water, dominate on limestone bedrock. Terra rossa (Italian for 'red soil'), a water-retentive, clayey soil with a deeper profile, is common in cultivated areas. Alluvial soils are found in river valleys, and saline soils in coastal environments. Due to erosion, the soils of Mani are at high risk of desertification.

Land cover and vegetation

Vegetation in the Mani occupies a range of natural, semi-natural and human-made habitats with a high diversity of species.

Mani's rocky shores and sandy beaches, a specific habitat, feature plants such as Matthiola sinuata (sea stock), Limonium sinuatum (sea lavender), and Pancratium maritimum (sea daffodil). and the Mani is one of several biodiversity hotspots within it.

Reptiles and amphibians

thumb|[[Greek rock lizard in basking stance]]

The marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) is densely distributed throughout Mani;

Mammals

Wild boar (Sus scrofa), extinct in the Peloponnese by , were reintroduced by hunting associations between 1988 and 2004, and recorded in many parts of Mani from 2000. Several incidents involving themsuch as traffic accidents, attacks on people, and beach invasionshave been reported.

thumb|[[Golden jackal]]

Beech martens (Martes foina) are common around villages.

The main bat species occurring in Mani are the greater horseshoe (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), Mediterranean horseshoe (Rhinolophus euryale), lesser mouse-eared (Myotis blythii), Natterer's (Myotis nattereri), and Schreiber's (Miniopterus schreibersii).

Climate

The Mani peninsula, like much of southern Greece, has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa) featuring mild to cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The Messenian, or Outer, Mani receives more rainfall than the Laconian, or Inner and Lower, Mani, which is in a rain shadow; as a consequence, Outer Mani is more agriculturally productive. Locals call Messenian Mani and Laconian Mani .

Local government and services

thumb|right|West Mani () lies in Messenia, and East Mani () in Laconia.

Local government is provided by the municipalities of West Mani (, ), and East Mani (, ). Each municipality is headed by a mayor, who governs with the aid of a municipal council.

West Mani, with its administrative seat in Kardamyli, is part of the regional unit of Messenia; East Mani, whose administrative seat is Gytheio, is in Laconia.

Messenia and Laconia are within the Peloponnese administrative region.

Traditional regions

The three traditional regions of Mani are:

• Outer Mani (, ) in the northwest, corresponding approximately to West Mani;
• Lower Mani (, ) in the east, corresponding approximately to northern East Mani;
• Inner Mani (, ) in the southwest, corresponding approximately to southern East Mani.

thumb | right|The traditional regions of Mani: Exo (Outer); Kato (Lower); Mesa (Inner)

Cranae, an island just off the coast of Gytheio in Lower Mani, was linked to the mainland by a causeway in 1898.

Media

Local newspapers covering events in Mani include:

• Lakonikos, an online newspaper focused on Laconia;
• Messinia Press, an online newspaper with a section on West Mani;
• Notos Press, an online newspaper covering the Peloponnese Region;
• Θάρρος ( ), a daily print and online newspaper focused on Messenia, with a section on West Mani.

Transport links

Roads

A winding road with coastal stretches links Kalamata, via Kampos, Kardamyli and Stoupa, to Oitylo, from where a cross-peninsular road runs northeast to Gytheio. From Oitylo, the road continues south towards Cape Matapan via Areopoli, Gerolimenas and Vatheia, looping back north to Gytheio along the east coast via Kokkala, Kotronas and Skoutari. Another cross-peninsular road runs southeast from Areopoli to Kotronas.

From Gytheio, National Road 39 (European route E961) runs north to Sparta. Gytheio can be reached from Kalamata from the north by using the toll road motorways A7 and A71; the A7 connects with National Road 39.

Paths

The Peloponnese section of the E4 European long-distance path runs via Sparta and Kastania to Gytheio in northeast Mani, and then continues, via ferry, in Crete.

Ferries

Ferries connect Gytheio to Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, and Piraeus, the port of Athens.

Airport

Kalamata International Airport is near Kalamata, which is adjacent to West Mani.

Towns and settlements

Modern

Ancient

Notable sites and features

History

Prehistory

Palaeolithic to Neolithic

thumb|Excavations at [[Kalamakia Cave, a Neanderthal site]]

Mani has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Apidima Cave on the west side of the peninsula has yielded Neanderthal and Homo sapiens fossils from the Palaeolithic era. , a Homo sapiens skull recovered from Apidima, dating to at least 210,000 years before present, is the earliest evidence of modern humans in Europe. Neolithic remains have been found on Mani's coast in the Alepotrypa Cave, a major settlement, cemetery and ceremonial site, and human and Neanderthal remains in the Kalamakia Cave, a Middle Palaeolithic site. The Lakonis I site, a collapsed Middle Palaeolithic cave on the coast near Gytheio, contains evidence of Neanderthals' use of fire to dispose of bones and other food refuse.

Evidence of extensive Neolithic and early Bronze Age occupation and activity extending north and south of the Bay of Oitylo has been found at many other cave sites.

Mycenaean

The Mycenaean civilization (1900–1100 BC) dominated Mani and the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age. Mani flourished under the Mycenaeans. A temple dedicated to Apollo was erected at Cape Matapan. It was later re-dedicated as the Temple of Poseidon. Homer refers to a number of towns in the Mani region. The "Catalogue of Ships" in the Iliad names Messa, Oetylus, Kardamyli, Gerenia, Teuthrone, and Las. Mani features in many myths and legends, with one describing a sea-hollowed cavern near Cape Matapan (ancient Taenarum) as a portal to Hades, the underworld.

Ancient Mani

thumb|Mani (left peninsula) in [[ancient Laconia, showing settlements, natural features, and carriage roads (in red) mentioned by Pausanias in his Description of Greece, composed in the 2nd century AD. Modern names are in italic. This map is part of James Frazer's commentaries on his 1898 translation of the work.]]

Dark Ages

In the early Greek Dark Ages (c. 1050–800 BC), the inhabitants of Laconia were leading producers of Tyrian purple from the murex sea snail, still plentiful in the waters off Gytheio and Kythera. Production is thought to have been established by the Phoenicians.

Archaic

With the onset of the Archaic Period (480 BC), Mani and much of the Peloponnese came under the sway of the powerful city-state of Sparta. Under Spartan rule, the inhabitants of Kardamyli, Thalamae, Gythium, and other poleis in Laconia and Messenia, were second-tier citizens known as , .

Classical

Gytheio, from Sparta, became Mani'sand Sparta'smajor port. It was captured by Athenian forces in 455 BC during the First Peloponnesian War, a power struggle between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies.

The damaged city and docks were rebuilt; by the end of the war, Gytheio was the main shipyard for the new Spartan fleet. Spartan hegemony in the Peloponnese lasted until 371 BC, when the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra.

Hellenistic

Throughout much of the Hellenistic period (323–30 BC), the Mani Peninsula remained subject to Spartan hegemony. This era proved turbulent for Mani and Laconia, marked by frequent military engagements and shifting political allegiances. Taenarum became a mercenary headquarters in the late 4th century.

Competition between rival powers resulted in a series of wars that eventually drew in the Kingdom of Macedon and the expanding Roman Republic: the Cleomenean War (229–222 BC); the Social War (220–217 BC); the Macedonian Wars (214–148 BC); and the Laconian War (195 BC). Gythium, as a major port, remained an especially sought-after prize for all parties.

In 218 BC, during the Social War, Philip V of Macedon invaded and overran Laconia. In the process, he laid waste the east coast of the Mani Peninsula as far south as Taenarum, though he failed to capture Asine. Reversing course northwards, he headed for Gythium, and then made for Helos and the Malea peninsula, which he devastated as far south as Boeae.

Nabis ascended to the Spartan throne in 207 BC; he expanded Gythium, transforming it into a naval base. Rome, allied with the Achaean Leaguea confederation of Sparta's Greek rivalscaptured Gythium in 195 BC after a prolonged siege; Sparta was the next target of the allies. The Romans placed several coastal settlements, including Gythium and many others in Mani, under the protection of the Achaean League. Their inhabitants, formerly second-tier citizens of Sparta (periokoi), were known as ( ).

Determined to retake Gythium, Nabis advanced on and recovered the port in 192 BC. The Romans soon recaptured it. Nabis was assassinated, and Sparta was incorporated, on lenient terms, in the Achaean League. In 189 BC, the Spartans, still seeking access to a port, seized Las, prompting the Achaeans to abolish the Spartan constitution, end social institutions such as the education and training system () and mess halls, and absorb Sparta outright.

Roman

thumb| According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias, a Greek geographer writing in the 2nd century AD, the Free Laconians had 18 cities; most were coastal settlements in the Mani Peninsula.]]

With the victory of the Romans over Corinth and the Achaean League at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC, all of Greece became part of their empire. The Peloponnese was administered as the province of Achaia. The Eleutherolakōnes were allowed to unite to form a Lacedaemonian League. In 21 BC, under Augustus, the first Roman emperor, this became the League of Free Laconians.--> devastated Gythium and submerged much of its ruins under the sea.

In 395 AD, mainland Greece and the Peloponnese became part of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire), bringing over 500 years of centralized rule from Rome to an end. Mani would nominally be administered by the new government in Constantinople for over a millennium, with periodic interruptions due to unrest and foreign invasions. Mani's remoteness would limit Constantinople's influence.

Middle Ages

Byzantine rule

The Mani Peninsula had a turbulent history during the long period of Byzantine Greece (395–1453), as various powers fought over it and the whole Peloponnese (known for much of this time as "Morea"). Between 396 and 397, the Visigoths under Alaric I raided the Peloponnese. According to Procopius, a Greek historian writing in the 6th century, the Vandals under Gaiseric () unsuccessfully assaulted Taenarum.

In the late 6th century, Avars and Slavs invaded Greece, reaching much of the Peloponnese. The chronology, extent, and duration of invasions and subsequent occupations, the reliability of written, toponymic and archaeological evidence, the pace of Byzantine recovery, and the degree of lasting cultural influence, are all topics of academic dispute. The particular theory of Fallmerayer, a 19th-century German historian, that Avar, Slavic, and other peoples replaced the Greek population of the Peloponnese in this period has been tested by the genetic analysis of samples of modern populations: a 2017 paper found that "Peloponneseans are clearly distinguishable from the populations of the Slavic homeland and are very similar to Sicilians and Italians".

Over the subsequent centuries, Mani was fought over by the Byzantines, the French, and the Saracens. In the wake of the Early Muslim conquests, Arabs captured the island of Crete in the 820s and established an emirate there. Arab pirates then began to raid Mani and the coastal cities of the Peloponnese; this ceased when the Byzantines retook Crete in 961. Around 950, Emperor Constantine VII wrote a manual of statecraft in which he mentions that Mani had remained pagan till the reign of his grandfather, Basil I, who ruled in the late 9th century.

thumb|The 9th-century church of [[Procopius of Scythopolis|St. Prokopios ( near Koita (visible on the brow of the hill), viewed from the east]]

According to Seifried (2021), Constantine's statement, cited in the works of modern historians, led archaeologists conducting the initial studies of Mani's Byzantine churches to mistakenly conclude that the earliest were built in the 10th century. Seifried considers that because archaeological research undertaken since the 1960s into churches in southern Mani has tentatively dated several to the Early Byzantine period (330717), the process of Christianization can be pushed as far back as the 5th century. Seifried notes that the pace of church building in Mani increased between the 10th and 15th centuries, with an average of 35 built per century compared to two per century in the Early Byzantine years. In , Jean de Nully, a French knight, was appointed to the Barony of Passavant, the last of Achaea's baronies to be established. Living in fortified settlements in northwest Mani, they followed a pastoral, transhumant way of life, moving their livestock to pastures up and down the mountain range according to the season. The Greek-text version of the Chronicle of Morea describes how William of Villehardouin, the fourth prince of Achaea (), built the three castles of Mystras, Grand Magne, and Beaufort in order to control them.

By the mid-13th century, the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty had shifted the balance of power in Greece. In the 1250s the Pope appointed a "Latin," i.e., Roman Catholic, bishop to Mani, provoking resentment among the Orthodox Greeks, who soon removed him. In 1259, Byzantine forces captured Prince William at the Battle of Pelagonia. In 1262, William surrendered three fortresses to Emperor Michael VIII to obtain his release: Mystras, Grand Magne, and Monemvasia.

Byzantine Despotate

Maniots had maintained a significant degree of autonomy during the Principality of Achaea's existence. From the mid-14th to mid-15th centuries, control over the region gradually shifted to a semi-autonomous province of the Byzantine Empire called the Despotate of the Morea (1349–1460), when successive despotes governed the province.

Ottoman rule

In 1453, the Ottoman Empire besieged and captured Constantinople; by 1460, the Ottomans had completed their conquest of the Morea.

The Ottomans remained nominal rulers of Mani until the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, with a brief interlude of Venetian control. Mani was first administered by the Ottoman Eyalet of the Archipelago, and then by the Morea Eyalet. As an area with a challenging topography, a demanding environment, and on the margins of the empire, imperial control of Mani was limited; this allowed some local independence in determining social structures and political arrangements.

Ottoman-Venetian wars

The Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice frequently clashed over control of the Morea, with the Mani Peninsula emerging as a major site of contestation during a series of conflicts that began in 1396about sixty years before the Ottoman conquest of Greeceand ended in 1718. A significant shift in the balance of power occurred with the Treaty of Constantinople (1479), a Venetian-Ottoman peace settlement ending the First Ottoman–Venetian War, which had begun in 1463. The treaty restored territorial boundaries to their pre-1463 status. This meant that lands held by Greek rebels under Venetian protection returned to Ottoman control, including the Mani Peninsula. He contested the outcome of the 1479 treaty, and led a group of Albanians, together with stratioti from the Venetian territories, in a revolt against the Ottomans in the Mani. This rebellion strained relations between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, with disputes over who was responsible for the activities of the insurgents. Hoping to avoid another war, both Venetians and Ottomans put a bounty on Kladas. After initial successes, in 1480 an Ottoman army drove him to take refuge in the fortress of Kastania, from where he escaped, with fifty men, on ships sent by King Ferdinand of Naples.

1612 Ottoman incursion

In 1612, the Mani Peninsula became the focal point of another Ottoman military incursion, this time triggered by the actions of Charles Gonzaga (1580–1637), who claimed descent from the Palaiologos dynasty. Charles sought to establish a new Byzantine state with himself as emperor in Constantinople, viewing his endeavor as a new crusade. The Maniots caught wind of Charles's ambitions and negotiated an alliance, with church leaders addressing him as "Constantine Palaeologus".

On discovering Charles's plans and the Maniots' support, the Ottoman authorities launched a large-scale punitive expedition, with a force of 20,000 soldiers and 70 ships deployed to invade Mani. The Ottomans devastated the peninsula and imposed punishing taxes on the Greeks. Charles's further attempts at his crusade failed, and he later became Duke of Mantua and Montferrat. His failure left the Maniots to continue their struggle against the Ottomans without external support. The Maniots' resistance remained a persistent challenge to Ottoman authority.

Migrations to Corsica

In October 1675, some 730 Maniots fleeing Ottoman rule embarked from Oitylo on a Genoese ship for Corsica, which was then Genoese territory. After a short stop in Genoa, they arrived in Corsica in March 1676, eventually settling in the area of Paomia (modern Cargèse). These settlers, led by the Stephanopoulos family and accompanied by clergy, were the first wave of a significant Greek migration to the island. A lengthy process of assimilation lasted well into the 20th century.

Beys of Mani

In the late 17th century, the Ottomans began appointing Maniot chieftains, designated beys, to rule Mani on their behalf. The rule of the Beys of Mani ended with the onset of the Greek War of Independence in 1821.

The first such bey was the Maniot Limberakis Gerakaris (1710), installed . A former galley oarsman in the Venetian navy who became a pirate, he was captured by the Ottomans and condemned to death. The grand vizier pardoned him on condition that he manage Mani as a vassal state.

Limberakis accepted the offer. He used his new position to persecute the Stephanopoulos clan of Oitylo, with whom he had been feuding. Limberakis eventually fell out of favour with the Turks, and was captured by Ottoman forces in 1682. Another bey was not appointed for over a century. Venice's expansionist revival would be short-lived, as its gains were reversed by the Ottomans in 1718.

Russian influence and Orlov revolt

The Ottomans faced a rival to the east in an expansionist Russiathe Tsardom and subsequent Empire. After an initial era of conflict via proxies, a series of Russo-Turkish wars began in 1568 (and continued, intermittently, till 1918). In the 18th century, the confrontation between the two empires spilled over into Mani.

By the late 17th century, Russian influence was spreading among Maniots and other Christians under Ottoman rule. Prophecies began circulating in the 1690s, at the height of the third Russo–Turkish War, of a "blonde nation" that would destroy the Ottoman Empire. This hope was fueled by the war and by Greek Orthodox patriarchs seeking Russian support to regain privileges lost in an earlier Franco-Ottoman alliance. at the same time, notable Greeks approached Russian agents to discuss plans for the liberation of Greece. Russian artillery captain Grigorios Papadopoulos, a Greek, was dispatched to Mani. The organization of the rebellion was charged to the Orlov brothers, Aiming to weaken the Ottomans from within, Russia planned to incite Orthodox Christians to revolt, and sent agents to strategic points in the Balkans and Greece, including the Morea. The Greek rebels were at first successful, defeating Ottoman forces in Laconia and eastern Messenia. They captured the fortress of Mystras and established a local government there, but the revolt failed to spread effectively.

French influence and Ottoman invasions

After the failed revolt of 1770, the Ottomans sought to control Mani through the appointment of a new bey. In 1784, Tzanetos Grigorakis from the powerful Grigorakis clan was induced to accept the position. In 1798, the Ottomans learned he was conspiring with French agents sent by Napoleon to orchestrate a revolt, and deposed him in favour of Panagiotis Koumoundouros. They were countered by the Ottomans with groups of irregular soldiers or militia known as (). Many armatoloi were former klephts granted amnesty in return for serving the Ottoman authorities. Roles became blurred over time, and a change from brigand to militiaman, or militiaman to brigand, was common for captains and their bands. Their armed formations would form the backbone of Greek forces in the coming War of Independence.

Modern Greece

Greek War of Independence

On 17 March 1821, 12,000 Maniots gathered in Areopoli and declared war against the Ottoman Empire, an act which preceded the rest of Greece by about a week. From his base in Kalamata, Maniot leader Petros Mavromichalis titled himself "Commander in Chief of the Spartan Forces" and wrote letters to European heads of state announcing the Greek revolution. He then directed Maniot forces to attack Turkish positions in Messenia and Laconia.

Republic and kingdom

thumb|Map of Mani published in 1926

Assassination of Kapodistrias

After Ioannis Kapodistrias became the first governor of Greece in 1831, he came into conflict with the Mavromichalis clan, as the Maniots refused to pay taxes to the new government.

Mani's population declined and continued to fall as emigration continued beyond the post-war decades. Mani was considered a backwater until the 1970s, when the government started to build roads which made the peninsula more accessible by car. A tourist industry took hold, with ensuing population and economic growth.

Wildfires

thumb|This NASA satellite image shows the impact of the 2007 wildfires, with vegetation displayed in bright green, and burnt areas in red; Mani is the central peninsula.

In 2007, widespread wildfires caused significant damage and loss of life in Mani, particularly around Areopoli. Wildfires in 2021 again devastated much of the Peloponnese: East Mani was badly affected, with an area of burnt.

Administrative reform

The municipalities of East Mani and West Mani were established in 2011 by the Kallikratis Programme, a sweeping administrative reform that resulted in mergers of regional and local governments in the Peloponnese and across Greece.

Economy

Modern

Mani's economy is oriented towards agriculture, tourism, and maritime activity.

Sea salt production

Many Maniots were engaged in producing sea salt in the 19th and early 20th centuries, largely on the west coast of the peninsula. There were four types of salt harvesting or production sites: natural salt pans formed in existing rock depressions along the shore (sites near Gerolimenas and Mezapos, for example); small artificial evaporation ponds excavated above sea level (such as a site near Artsi); large artificial ponds with associated temporary housing for workers (near Koukouri); and major saltworks built with significant technical infrastructure and permanent worker accommodation (on the Tigani peninsula). Salt was traded for foodstuffs such as barley, wheat, maize, cheese, and dried figs.

Early modern

According to Wagstaff (1965), the economy of Mani for the period can be reconstructed in outline by analysing the travelogues of west European writers, though he points out that apart from one source, their accounts are descriptive, patchy, and do not cover the whole peninsula. The acquisition of goods from merchant ships through piracy formed part of the Maniot economy from at least as early as the 13th century until well into the 19th.

Culture

Clans and family

Maniot culture was based on clan or patrilineal kinship groups that valued traditional concepts of manhood and patriarchal family relations. The stronger clans, the , held better-quality land on which they built high towers; they dominated the weaker clans, the .

Spartans

A tradition originating from outside the peninsula maintains that Maniots are direct descendants of the Spartans of classical antiquity. First proposed in accounts by British, French, and German travellers during the 18th century, this notion, states Gardner (2019), was "rooted in an external admiration for the toughness of Maniot society and the individuals therein, whose fierce independence and freedom was compared to that of classical Sparta." Accepted in western European educated circles, the idea entered Greek national consciousness via young Greeks sent to study in western European universities, where they became aware of the strong influence of Ancient Greece on the imaginations of the European intelligentsia.

thumb|Mani's flag has the revolutionary motto ( ) above a blue [[Greek cross on a white background, and below the cross, the words ( ): this was recorded as a "saying of Spartan women" by Plutarch, a Greco-Roman historian writing in the 1st century AD.]]

Maniots began to self-identify as "Spartan" in the years leading up to the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1821.

Shortly after the war began, Petros Mavromichalis, the Maniot leader, was referring in documents to his "Spartan Headquarters" in Kalamata and styling himself "Commander-in-Chief of the Spartan and Messenian Forces". These towers were usually surrounded by other houses, family churches, and cemeteries, forming a fortified complex known as a which served as a clan-based compound.

Palaiomaniatika

thumb|A renovated palaiomaniatika house with [[dry-stone lower courses]]

Over 170 settlements in the peninsula contain architecture from the middle of the Byzantine periodroughly from the 8th to the 13th centuries. Known as ( ) or ( ), these settlements are small (10 to 50 houses), with about half still inhabited and the rest abandoned.

Their main features are houses, towers, and cisterns. Evidence from historical documents indicates that people were living in most of the well into the Ottoman era.

Dialect

Phonologically, the traditional Maniot dialect