Temenos: Change is a comin'

Early morning at Voidokoilia--nearly all to myself

Sfakteria--Where the Athenians beseiged the Spartans

There are places I remember, all my life,

though some have changed

Not for better but forever…

(John Lennon, “In My Life”)

This region, southern Messenia in the Peloponnese, is about to see an enormous change, wrought by the construction of a new four-lane highway linking Kalamata with Methoni—the latter just 12 km west of here. Parts on the Kalamata end are already complete.

The driver of this change is the Costa Navarino resort, a massive multi-billion-euro “project” that began multiple phases of construction just before my first visit here in 2007. It is the brainchild of a shipping magnate (since died) and his unbelievably wealthy family

The Palaiokastro ("old castle")

Worth the risk...

The Spartans held out here to the last man during the Peloponnesian War

Costa Navarino includes two premier PGA 18-hole golf courses; a full range of luxury hotels and villas; bottomless pockets on the part of the developers; a multi-millionaire clientele; and an iron grip on whatever happens in this region. The least expensive rooms are more than one thousand euros per night, and several are over 20,000 euros per night…Last year Yianni Antetokounmpo (of Milwaukee Bucks fame) was married there, and Jeff Bezos’s $400 million yacht, with Beyonce in tow, was anchored off shore. Sultans, kings, and other assorted royalty frequent this place.

The resort has swallowed up the once-lovely town of Yialova, on Navarino Bay, turning it into a bastion of extreme wealth and privilege. The developers, apparently not content with wrecking one pristine area, now have their eyes (and wallets) on other unscathed natural environments in our immediate neighborhood.

Alas, all things change. As my mother warned me on her deathbed: nothing ever stays the same. Get used to the idea.

Adventure Run: Voidokoilia, the Palaiokastro, and Nestor’s Cave

Voidokoilia--from whence the Greeks set sail for Troy

One of my great pleasures in life involves lacing up a pair of running shoes and heading out into the great unknown. I've done this almost daily for 53 years.

This morning I was out the door at 6 a.m., heading west. I drove past Pylos and Yialova (now utterly surrounded by the Costa Navarino development, including a heliport) and arrived at Voidokoilia and Navarino lagoon. It is a magical place--especially without the hordes-- totally serene and still empty in the early morning.

I ran around the cove, made famous in Homer’s Iliad, then approached the Palaiokastro--“the old castle,” which is all relative, because the “new” castle, in Pylos, dates from 14th century. I stopped at Nestor’s Cave on the descent. Homeric legend tells us that Nestor’s cattle were hidden in the cave from a wrathful Apollo, as the king led his armies to Troy.

Matt Daimon just finished shooting a full-length epic on site (Odysseus will be released in 2026)—and is it ever a site/sight.

Here are some photos and a few videos of today’s run.