The Mani
The Mani
Grey rocky mountains, mottled with defiant clumps of green scrub, characterise the inner Mani region of the Peloponnese. The people of the Mani claim to be direct descendants of the Spartans, the fierce warriors who chose to withdraw to the mountains rather than serve under foreign masters.
Until independence, the Maniots lived in clans led by chieftans. With fertile land scarce, blood-feuds were a way of life, so families constructed towers to use as refuges. To this day Maniots are regarded by Greeks as fiercely independent, royalist and right-wing.