Cave of Poseidon or Hades

On the rugged tip of the Mani Peninsula, where the Peloponnese reaches toward the sea, a cave was long linked with Poseidon and Hades. This was sacred ground of the Tainarians, whose sanctuary and city stood about 1.5 kilometers northeast of Cape Tainaron and were documented in a survey of the region. The site saw use across the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Late Antique, and Byzantine periods. Nearby stood a sanctuary of Poseidon at Tainaron, honored in his aspect of safety, a reminder that the same powers who stirred the deep could also guard those who sailed it.