Cape Matapan
(Redirected from
Tainaron
)
Cape Matapan (
mainland Greece, and the second southernmost point in mainland Europe. It separates the Messenian Gulf in the west from the Laconian Gulf
in the east.
Cape Taenarum in classical antiquity was the site of the city of Taenarum (Ancient Greek: Ταίναρον), now in ruins. In ancient Greek mythology the eponymous founder-hero of the city was Taenarus (Ταίναρος), who was credited with establishing the city's important temple of Poseidon.
Greeks used the proverb Tainarian evil (
Spartans killed the Helots who had fled into Tainaron and were suppliants in the temple of Poseidon.[1][2][3]
History
Cape Matapan has been an important place for thousands of years. Near
mercenaries
waited to be employed.
A naval battle occurred there on 19 July 1717, between the
Ottoman fleet, under Kapudan Pasha Eğribozlu İbrahim Pasha. It is known as the Battle of Matapan
and its results were indecisive.
At Cape Matapan, the
Titanic's would-be rescue ship, the SS Californian, was torpedoed and sunk by German forces on 9 November 1915. In March 1941, a major naval battle, the Battle of Cape Matapan, occurred off the coast of Cape Matapan, between the Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina
, in which the British emerged victorious in a one-sided encounter. The encounter's main result was to drastically reduce future Italian naval activity in the Eastern Mediterranean.
General info
In 1892 a lighthouse was constructed, but it is now in disuse.
As the second southernmost point of mainland Europe, the cape is on the migration route of birds headed to Africa.
See also
- Taenarus (mythology)
- Alepotrypa cave
- Battle of Matapan
- Battle of Cape Matapan
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cape Matapan.
36°23′06″N 22°28′58″E / 36.38500°N 22.48278°E
| National | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
