Elafonissos

Η Elafonissos is a small island located five hundred meters from the Vatoiki mainland (Naples) and is known mainly for its twin beaches of Simos and Sarakinikos which are considered among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean.

Elafonissos, with its 700 inhabitants, until 2011 belonged to the Community of Kampos Voion, of the municipality of Monemvasia, but since then, despite its tiny size, it is an autonomous municipality, with the current mayor, as of 2019, the active and progressive educator Efstathia Liarou . Although Elafonissos is now administratively autonomous, we include it in the attractions of the Municipality of Monemvasia because it is a shame for the visitors of the municipality not to make a 10-minute sea crossing to reach this unique destination.

In ancient times, today's Elafonissos was not an island, but the "Onou gnathos" peninsula, as the shape at that time referred to the appearance of a donkey, according to the historian Pausanias, who in his tour places the city in the area of ​​the island that is now flooded Pavlopetri. The ancient settlement "Pavlopetri" is located in the underwater area between the beach of Pounta and the island of Pavlopetri and hides a rare prehistoric city with a residential plan (buildings, streets, squares) and a cemetery with 60 graves in its northeast. The city was discovered in 1967 by Nicholas Fleming and his team, who were impressed by its structure. It had two-story houses, roads, and even a water management system and is believed to have been inhabited since 2800 BC, at the beginning of the Bronze Age.

Elafonissos owes its current name to rich hunting which existed in the area since ancient times, as, as mentioned by Pausanias, there were many sanctuaries of Artemis in the area and more specifically from the existence of a multitude of small red deer. After all, the famous statue of the Goddess Artemis in the Louvre Museum, holding such a deer, has been found in the wider area.

The island existed stronghold of pirates and corsairs in the 16th and 17th centuries, as the Strait of Elafonisos is located at a strategic point in the main passage for ships just before Cape Malia and the passage in the Aegean sea towards Hellespont and Constantinople.

During the Greek Revolution of 1821, Elafonisos was unofficially included in the then free state, although formally it belonged to the sovereignty of the "Eptanesian State" of Great Britain, and after various political and diplomatic episodes (the Parker events), in April 1850, it became the Greek Voula and began to be inhabited by its current inhabitants.

Elafonissos is an ideal destination for those who want it on their vacation serenity, The αυθεντικότητα far from the crowds and over-tourism (during the period of the Fifteenth of August things are difficult, just like everywhere else), with the protagonists being the beaches of Simos and Sarakiniko with their emerald blue-green waters, high sand dunes and rare sea cedars.

On the coastal road of the settlement that passes in front of the small port of Elafonisos, the fish taverns are lined up, one side of the other, and on the two sidewalks on either side visitors have the pleasure of enjoying the rocking of dozens of fishing boats. And this pleasure is accompanied by the certainty that if you don't eat here fresh fish, thanks to the 180 coastal fishing boats, you will not be able to anywhere else.

Lobsters, crayfish, crabs, cuttlefish and octopus grilled or in vinegar are the main dishes. From fresh fish, the grouper, the flounder, the roach, the swordfish, and the mullets. THE the specialty of the island is the kakkavia, the local fish soup, with a velvety taste and aroma of herbs, while the Elafonisi lobster pasta and shrimp pasta are not missing.

Another characteristic link is the tea, a traditional pie from Vatika in Laconia made by shepherds with fresh goat cheese and mint.

The traditional sweets of Elafonisos, as well as of Monemvasia, are samosas (a type of baklava), syrupy confections made in a pan and lamps like those found in the Aegean islands.