In Mani (1958) Patrick Leigh Fermor wrote of ‘the tall spike of Vatheia entirely crowned with towers’ and praised the hospitality he received there. Founded in the 18th century, it flourished in the 19th and declined 20th as people left for larger towns and cities in the area. Now largely a ghost town of stone towers, houses, churches with breath-taking views to the Gulf of Messenia, tourism and the magic of the Mani has brought some restoration and repopulation.
Photo: Vathia, Mani, Greece, July 2007