History

  • Mani peninsula was occupied by the Dorians in about 1200 BC, and became a dependency of Sparta.
  • After some years the Spartan power was destroyed in the 3rd century BC, so Mani remained self-governing.
  • The Maniots (the name of the people in Mani) fought with the Byzantines, the Franks, and the Saracens.
  • After the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD, Italian and French knights (Franks) occupied the Peloponnese and built the fortresses of Mystras, Passavas and Gustema.
  • In 1640 a lot of villages in Greece were occupied by the Ottomans, except from Mani, that never was occupied again by nobody.
  • On March 17, 1821, there was one of the biggest wars in the history of Greece. It was the Greek Independence war. The Maniots contributed greatly to the struggle, but once Greek independence was won, they wanted to retain their autonomy.
  • The traditional costumes of Mani: