Neapoli Lakonias

 It’s easy to get carried away using superlatives to describe the small towns you’ll find in Greece.
But, really, you need words like stunning, picturesque, scenic and beautiful in your descriptions.
Anything else, just doesn’t do these small villages justice.
From sun-kissed beaches in the south to mountain villages in the north, the small towns in Greece emerge as memorable places you’ll want to visit again. And again.
One of this small towns is Neapoli Lakonias – The unexplored nautical town of Southern Greece
It is located in the bay between Elafonisos and Cave Maleas  and it is the last southeastern continental city of Greece and Europe.
Neapoli is a quiet place that exudes positive energy.
The older white houses with the tiled roofs, the secret alleys, the noisy seafront road with restaurants, cafes and the unforgettable ouzeris, but most of all its hospitable inhabitants, compose an unforgettable image for every visitor.
The nautical tradition is evident and the relationship of the town with the sea has shaped its character. The city’s fishing boats once travelled throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Witnesses of this nautical tradition is the small but important Nautical Museum.
The authentic beautiful villages, with the rich vegetation along with the small old houses built on hills in an amphitheatrically way create an impressive landscape.
The simple image of the small simple taverns does not betray the richness and quality of the flavors hidden in its food.
I borrow the local’s words in one of this small taverns: “Exactly as it still happens in a lot of households in our area, likewise in our tavern we bake our bread and we produce the olive oil and the wine… in general, all the ingredients we use are always the best possible”. It is exactly that philosophy that is evident in every small place in this area, especially when as you are strolling around, suddenly you meet an old lady who offers you to taste the local desert that comes from Byzantine Era and they call it ‘samousades” a sweet that made by handmade phyllo, many nuts, spices and sesame. Just delicious!!
South of the town the restless traveler will find the magical world of the Petrified Forest with a huge number of paleontological finds.
There are fossils of starfishes, mussels, shells and snails, as well as trunks of millions of years old palm trees.
Experts believe that the forest was covered by volcanic lava, sank in the sea and came to the surface again.
Another interesting phenomenon is the round holes in the rocks through which the sound of the sea can be heard. That is why the locals also call the area Kanatakia, which could be translated as small jugs.
And the most impressive and unknown to the crowd is the cave of Kastania a little further out the little town.
In its 1500 square meters, the visitor can see the dense and spectacular work of nature, created over a period of three million years.
Nature has carved gigantic white and red “waterfalls”, impressive stalagmite and stalactite columns, and multifaceted “curtains”.
Up to this time, this small town which is very close to Monemvasia Castle city, it is still not very popular among international travelers, probably because it is not reachable fast from Greece’s top destinations, this area is surprisingly filled with are-these-really-real?