Summary of Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese
“Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese” is a travel book by the English writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, based on journeys he made through Mani in the 1950s. The Mani Peninsula, the central of the three southern peninsulas of the Peloponnese, was at the time one of the most remote and least visited regions of Greece. Beginning in Kalamata, Leigh Fermor explores the rugged coastline, villages and mountains of Mani, combining travel writing with accounts of the region’s history, culture, customs and traditions. The book offers a fascinating portrait of the Maniots and their place within Greek society.
Reasons to read Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese
Patrick Leigh Fermor was a renowned English author and polyglot, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest travel writers of the twentieth century. He is best known for “A Time of Gifts”, the first volume of his memoir describing the journey he undertook on foot across Europe at the age of eighteen, travelling from the Netherlands to Istanbul. Leigh Fermor spent much of his later life near Kardamyli in Mani, Greece, where he built a house overlooking the sea. “Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese” is an ideal introduction to the landscapes, history and culture of the Mani Peninsula. Readers who enjoy it may also appreciate his later book “Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece”.
Setting: Mani Peninsula, Peloponnese (Greece)
Original title: Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese
Year of publication: 1958
Nr of pages: 376
