The Peloponnese: City of Pylos Messinia Prefecture Page One

Pylos is a nice medieval town you go through on your way up the west coast of the Peloponnese and was know in medieval times as Navarino but it was known in ancient times as Pylos so they renamed it Pylos again later.

Pausanius tells us that in the 2nd century AD the city had a temple to Coryphasian Athena and the   Tomb of Nestor, while nearby was a cave which was believed to have been used as the stable for Nestor's oxen.

In 1226, and by now called Navarino, it belonged to Nicholas II St. Omar who built its castle.

On October 20th, 1827 the famous sea battle of Navarino took place in which the combined fleets of Britain, France and Russia utterly defeated the Turkish and Egyptian fleet and put a big dent in Ottoman power over Greece. The town was eventually captured by the French and turned over to Greece while the French engineer Maison stayed on to help re-plan the town.

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