A reconstruction of Peloponnesos from satellite data, as it appears in Google Earth
Peloponnesos (in Greek: Πελοπόννησος, and in Latin: Peloponnesus) is the piece of land in the south of mainland Greece that looks like a four-fingered “Mickey Mouse hand”, and gives Greece its characteristic and easily recognizable shape. This “hand”, together with the thin strip of land to its north, which is called Sterea Ellada (Στερεά Ελλάδα) or Roumeli (Ρούμελη), and which includes Athens, were the only pieces of land that were freed from Turkish occupation immediately after the Independence War of the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire, in the years 1821-1830. So, Greece at that time was more or less what can be seen as well-focused in the image above. All the northern present-day prefectures, such as Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, and Western Thrace, were freed gradually (taken away from the crumbling Ottoman Empire) until well into the beginning of the 20th century (1913). Eventually the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist, forming present-day Turkey, in 1923. So, Peloponnesos is full of historical sites from events of the Greek Independence War, and another name by which it was known, especially in those times, is Moreas (Μωριάς).
So, between 1460 and 1821, Peloponnesos was under Ottoman rule (almost all of it, save for the tiny region of Mani (Μάνη), which is where the arrow labeled “Diros Cavern” points at in the image). Before 1460, parts of the region belonged to the Byzantine Empire, the capital of which was Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις, present-day Istanbul, Turkey), while other parts were under the rule of the Franks. A prince of Franks, Guillaume II de Villehardouin, built the beautiful fortified city on the hill of Mystras (Μυστράς) in 1249, shown on the image near Sparta (Σπάρτη). Anyone who visits the region should not miss the chance to walk up to the top of the hill of Mystras and enjoy the breathtaking view of the plain with Sparta in the east, surrounded by the imposing white peaks of Mount Taygetus (Ταΰγετος) in the north, west, and south.
But of course, Peloponnesos also has its ancient history. Its name in Greek is a combination of two words, Pelopos + nesos (Πέλοπος νήσος), which means “island of Pelops”, from Pelops (Πέλωψ), a mythological ancient hero. Technically, however, it was not a nesos (island) back then, because it was connected with the rest of the mainland through the isthmus of Corinth (Κόρινθος, see image), but was turned to an island artificially in 1893 with the construction of the Canal of Corinth. There are many interesting ancient sites to visit in Peloponnesos. One is Mycenae (Μυκήναι), capital of the ancient Mycenaean kingdom that dominated Greece from about 1600 BCE to about 1100 BCE. Agamemnon (Αγαμέμνων), the legendary leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War (as recounted in “The Iliad” by Homer), was a Mycenaean king. Today one can see the ruins of the ancient citadel at Mycenae. Another famous ancient site is Olympia (Ολυμπία), home of the original, ancient Olympic Games (left side on the image). One of the sports of the Athens 2004 Olympics was held in the ancient site of Olympia. One can visit the museum, walk among the various ancient Olympic buildings and temples, and even run in the ancient stadium. Olympia is also a little village, right next to the ancient site, where one can stay overnight if a one-day visit is not convenient. (It’s a first-class “village”, with hotels and restaurants for all sorts of budgets.) Last, but not least, in Peloponnesos there is also the site of the famous Sparta (Σπάρτη), the rival of ancient Athens, which it eventually beat in the Peloponnesian War that lasted 27 years (431-404 BCE). Going back to mythology, Helen (Ελένη), wife of Menelaus (Μενέλαος), king of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon (see above), was the woman for whose beauty, according to Homer, the Trojan War was started. Today Sparta has many beautiful Helens, since it is a small town (and Ελένη is a common Greek name). But the ancient site of Sparta has not yielded enough monuments yet to become a touristic attraction. It is a good idea to stay in the town of Sparta if one wants to visit either Mystras (see previous paragraph), or the unique cave of Diros, which is half-filled with water, and one goes around it with a small boat.
The largest city of Peloponnesos is Patra (Πάτρα, or Patras), the fourth largest city of Greece with a population of 172,000 (as of 2001). The so-called “Greek National Road” (i.e., best quality highway in Greece) passes through Patra and ends at Olympia on one end, leading to Corinth and Athens on the other. Very close to Patra, toward the east, one finds the bridge of Rio-Antirrio, which crosses the sea and connects Peloponnesos with Sterea Ellada.