« Between Mount Evan and Cape Tainaron,
The sea bathes the walls of sad Coron ;
Coron, unfortunate, modern and barbaric name,
And which from Colonis dethroned the beautiful name.
The Greeks lost everything: the language of Plato,
The palm of the battles, the arts and their wonders,
Everything, till the divine names that charmed our ears. »
– Casimir Delavigne, Messenian News
Koroni (Κορώνη) is today far from being as sad as Delavigne imagined at the beginning of the 19th century. On the contrary, it is one of the busiest and most authentic fishing ports in the Peloponnese. Located at the western entrance to the Gulf of Messenia, the village has about 1,500 inhabitants and enjoys a view of the Mani peninsula and the Taygetos massif. The many stairs and alleys that run down the promontory on which a Venetian citadel is perched give it a definitive charm.
