Kalamata agapi mou!
Vasiliki Kouzina,
September 2025
“Anything in Greece absorbs you and rewards you. There is no rock or stream without a battle or a myth, a miracle, a superstition. Words and events, almost all strange or memorable, swell at every turn around the traveler’s army.”— Patrick Leigh Fermor
Kalamata, my love: Aristocratic and alternative!
There, where the Ionian meets the Aegean and the Greek mainland melts into the sea in its greenest form, in its sweetest soul. There, right there, you find Kalamata — my city! Allow me to carry you into my “first” homeland, into the anarchic drawers of my childhood, under the protection of the emblematic Mount Taygetos.
My name is Vasiliki Pierrakea, and I am a girl from Kalamata, the city of black olives. The heart of the Messenia region, a blessed land. The alternation of its natural landscapes, its unique aesthetics compose a singular mosaic. Famous trails and unspoiled beaches. A city moving between dance, citrus fruits, figs, olives, and the unpredictable beauty of the Mani peninsula.
It has been more than twenty years since I left Kalamata, a longer time than I have lived anywhere else. And although Milan has now become my second homeland, Kalamata remains my home. Not in the sense of the place where daily existence unfolds, but as the soul’s point of reference, the place one always returns to — because, whether we like it or not, our origins define us.
The tastes and smells of Kalamata and its market are my mother tongue. They populate my imagination, my dreams, my truth and my tears, my daily awareness. And even if, over the years, I have adopted new languages — perhaps more sophisticated, urban, even solitary wonders — this city still means comparison, joy, excitement, and serene bliss. Everything I taste, rethink, and recreate today is filtered through those childhood experiences. The food my grandparents prepared, the wild herbs, the scent of silence on summer days in the katoi (the cellar) after lunch. The goats and sheep grazing on the slopes, the freshly baked spanakopita, the traditional spinach pie.
Most of my food memories lie well beyond the sphere of consciousness. I cook, eat, and serve by obeying impulses that lean toward what feels right, appears beautiful, and tastes authentically delicious. In my childhood I already had around me all the causes, all the reasons for life: the sea and Mount Taygetos, places that marked my path and forged my dual personality, my exaggerated, doubtful, and anarchic soul.
A sad yet magical image: my father standing outside our home’s door, ready for another journey, the farewell at the port. A painful goodbye, a tearful embrace, and the next instant, the departing ship. It all ends mixed together, nothing separate, everything one. No matter if it hurts — it is still magical to watch a ship leaving the port. After the whistle, I feel the end approaching, the ship sinking into the vast horizon. And when the horizon is vast, the farewell is long. A feeling as strong as iron.
Kalamata is one of the most beautiful cities in Greece, with a vast and striking beach. With 70,000 inhabitants at the southern tip of Greece, surrounded by unspoiled nature, mild climate, and endless sunshine. The city enjoys ideal temperatures, with summers lasting almost all year round. Swimming from April to late October, cycling along the city’s bike paths, strolling by the sea, mild winters with refreshing rains and crisp nights, the mountain air so clear at sunrise behind the imposing Taygetos.
Perhaps the fact that I grew up here, in a place immersed in nature, gave me the freedom to roam everywhere like the gypsies, and above all to understand many different lives. Life here begins early in the morning, 3 km from the beach, when in the haze of the first light fishermen sell the Spartan fish of the day and the first joggers trace their routes along the crystal-clear water of the sea.
Its beach is one of the largest in Greece. Its flat morphology makes it ideal for long bike rides as well. Sea and mountain in a harmonious embrace. And then there is the food — which gives meaning to everything. Famous specialties include Kalamata’s pasteli, the chylopites noodles, lalangia, kourabiedes, diples, spoon sweets, as well as olives, figs, grapes, balsamic vinegar, sphela, talagani, syglino, tsipouro, and wine. Kalamata is also culture. It is a city that offers emotions through the multiple facets of its neoclassical architecture and the noble families’ beautiful homes, built between 1880 and 1920, following the European styles of the time. One must dedicate time to discover every aspect.
What to see?
The old town is full of charming shops and little restaurants hidden in the heart of narrow pedestrian streets. Stop for a coffee on a sunny terrace in this lively quarter, always a must for anyone visiting Kalamata! In the old town you will also find handmade sandals at Giannis Papatheoridis’ “Sandals in Galleria” shop and the famous artisanal silk scarves at the historic Gonos workshop, founded in 1895, and at the Kalograion Monastery of the nuns.
The Archaeological Museum of Kalamata
A beautiful museum retraces the different historical eras that have shaped Greece as we know it today. Very educational and interactive, it is perfect for visiting with children. It hosts beautiful sculptures, ceramics, mosaics, and extraordinary pieces from the surrounding archaeological sites.
The Victoria G. Karelias Museum
This unique museum is perhaps the museum not to miss in Kalamata! Here you will find many traditional Greek costumes, splendid jewelry, and other everyday objects from all over Greece. Bring your passport or ID card to borrow a tablet for free, which will guide you through your visit. To appreciate the full potential of this museum, allow at least an hour.
The Church of the Holy Apostles
This 12th-century Byzantine church is famous as the starting point of the revolt against Turkish occupation in 1821. Inside, you will find sumptuous 14th-century paintings.
It is hard to visit Kalamata without stopping here — one of the city’s icons!
The Wednesday and Saturday Market
As many know, I am a great lover of the laiki, the fresh produce and food market! I’ve visited many, searching for them in every city, in every corner of Greece. But this one cannot be compared to any other. Countless small producers offering authentic ingredients: spices unique in the world, black olives, fresh prickly pears, tomato varieties, buffalo heart, herbs from Mount Taygetos, local garlic in pink and dark hues, mountain fruits with marvelous taste — good for the body and soul. A trip to the market is one of Kalamata’s treasures and essential for immersing yourself in the city’s atmosphere. A friendly vibe reigns, and the producers are always happy to exchange words — and fresh products — with travelers. After strolling among the colorful stalls and buying your goods, stop in one of the tavernas that line the market for a good drink.
The International Dance Festival
Kalamata is dancing. And it dances magnificently. It dances in the squares, in the ballroom, in its castle. It dances everywhere. And the public warmly embraces these dances, with inspiration, with movement itself, with life itself. Because everything that moves participates in life.
The Municipal Railway Park
This park is in fact the city’s former railway station, transformed by the municipality into an open-air museum. Strolling here is one of the most original things to do in Kalamata. In a green environment, it is fun to walk among the remains of old locomotives and carriages that have ended their service.
The 8:20 Train, the Train of Scars…All the marks upon me.The railway of Kalamata’s trains, silent for years now, seems like a lost gypsy song without tears. Dry… bronze-colored… Abandoned trains that once carried our dreams, and within their tracks lie my naked memories. A golden drop, a blue island, a star, and a hand holding a taper with soutzoukakia smyrneika.
Those trains… those…
Kalamata, my love: Aristocratic and alternative!
There, where the Ionian meets the Aegean and the Greek mainland melts into the sea in its greenest form, in its sweetest soul. There, right there, you find Kalamata — my city! Allow me to carry you into my “first” homeland, into the anarchic drawers of my childhood, under the protection of the emblematic Mount Taygetos.
My name is Vasiliki Pierrakea, and I am a girl from Kalamata, the city of black olives. The heart of the Messenia region, a blessed land. The alternation of its natural landscapes, its unique aesthetics compose a singular mosaic. Famous trails and unspoiled beaches. A city moving between dance, citrus fruits, figs, olives, and the unpredictable beauty of the Mani peninsula.
It has been more than twenty years since I left Kalamata, a longer time than I have lived anywhere else. And although Milan has now become my second homeland, Kalamata remains my home. Not in the sense of the place where daily existence unfolds, but as the soul’s point of reference, the place one always returns to — because, whether we like it or not, our origins define us.
The tastes and smells of Kalamata and its market are my mother tongue. They populate my imagination, my dreams, my truth and my tears, my daily awareness. And even if, over the years, I have adopted new languages — perhaps more sophisticated, urban, even solitary wonders — this city still means comparison, joy, excitement, and serene bliss. Everything I taste, rethink, and recreate today is filtered through those childhood experiences. The food my grandparents prepared, the wild herbs, the scent of silence on summer days in the katoi (the cellar) after lunch. The goats and sheep grazing on the slopes, the freshly baked spanakopita, the traditional spinach pie.
Most of my food memories lie well beyond the sphere of consciousness. I cook, eat, and serve by obeying impulses that lean toward what feels right, appears beautiful, and tastes authentically delicious. In my childhood I already had around me all the causes, all the reasons for life: the sea and Mount Taygetos, places that marked my path and forged my dual personality, my exaggerated, doubtful, and anarchic soul.
A sad yet magical image: my father standing outside our home’s door, ready for another journey, the farewell at the port. A painful goodbye, a tearful embrace, and the next instant, the departing ship. It all ends mixed together, nothing separate, everything one. No matter if it hurts — it is still magical to watch a ship leaving the port. After the whistle, I feel the end approaching, the ship sinking into the vast horizon. And when the horizon is vast, the farewell is long. A feeling as strong as iron.
Kalamata is one of the most beautiful cities in Greece, with a vast and striking beach. With 70,000 inhabitants at the southern tip of Greece, surrounded by unspoiled nature, mild climate, and endless sunshine. The city enjoys ideal temperatures, with summers lasting almost all year round. Swimming from April to late October, cycling along the city’s bike paths, strolling by the sea, mild winters with refreshing rains and crisp nights, the mountain air so clear at sunrise behind the imposing Taygetos.
Perhaps the fact that I grew up here, in a place immersed in nature, gave me the freedom to roam everywhere like the gypsies, and above all to understand many different lives. Life here begins early in the morning, 3 km from the beach, when in the haze of the first light fishermen sell the Spartan fish of the day and the first joggers trace their routes along the crystal-clear water of the sea.
Its beach is one of the largest in Greece. Its flat morphology makes it ideal for long bike rides as well. Sea and mountain in a harmonious embrace. And then there is the food — which gives meaning to everything. Famous specialties include Kalamata’s pasteli, the chylopites noodles, lalangia, kourabiedes, diples, spoon sweets, as well as olives, figs, grapes, balsamic vinegar, sphela, talagani, syglino, tsipouro, and wine. Kalamata is also culture. It is a city that offers emotions through the multiple facets of its neoclassical architecture and the noble families’ beautiful homes, built between 1880 and 1920, following the European styles of the time. One must dedicate time to discover every aspect.
What to see?
The old town is full of charming shops and little restaurants hidden in the heart of narrow pedestrian streets. Stop for a coffee on a sunny terrace in this lively quarter, always a must for anyone visiting Kalamata! In the old town you will also find handmade sandals at Giannis Papatheoridis’ “Sandals in Galleria” shop and the famous artisanal silk scarves at the historic Gonos workshop, founded in 1895, and at the Kalograion Monastery of the nuns.
The Archaeological Museum of Kalamata
A beautiful museum retraces the different historical eras that have shaped Greece as we know it today. Very educational and interactive, it is perfect for visiting with children. It hosts beautiful sculptures, ceramics, mosaics, and extraordinary pieces from the surrounding archaeological sites.
The Victoria G. Karelias Museum
This unique museum is perhaps the museum not to miss in Kalamata! Here you will find many traditional Greek costumes, splendid jewelry, and other everyday objects from all over Greece. Bring your passport or ID card to borrow a tablet for free, which will guide you through your visit. To appreciate the full potential of this museum, allow at least an hour.
The Church of the Holy Apostles
This 12th-century Byzantine church is famous as the starting point of the revolt against Turkish occupation in 1821. Inside, you will find sumptuous 14th-century paintings.
It is hard to visit Kalamata without stopping here — one of the city’s icons!
The Wednesday and Saturday Market
As many know, I am a great lover of the laiki, the fresh produce and food market! I’ve visited many, searching for them in every city, in every corner of Greece. But this one cannot be compared to any other. Countless small producers offering authentic ingredients: spices unique in the world, black olives, fresh prickly pears, tomato varieties, buffalo heart, herbs from Mount Taygetos, local garlic in pink and dark hues, mountain fruits with marvelous taste — good for the body and soul. A trip to the market is one of Kalamata’s treasures and essential for immersing yourself in the city’s atmosphere. A friendly vibe reigns, and the producers are always happy to exchange words — and fresh products — with travelers. After strolling among the colorful stalls and buying your goods, stop in one of the tavernas that line the market for a good drink.
The International Dance Festival
Kalamata is dancing. And it dances magnificently. It dances in the squares, in the ballroom, in its castle. It dances everywhere. And the public warmly embraces these dances, with inspiration, with movement itself, with life itself. Because everything that moves participates in life.
The Municipal Railway Park
This park is in fact the city’s former railway station, transformed by the municipality into an open-air museum. Strolling here is one of the most original things to do in Kalamata. In a green environment, it is fun to walk among the remains of old locomotives and carriages that have ended their service.
The 8:20 Train, the Train of Scars…All the marks upon me.The railway of Kalamata’s trains, silent for years now, seems like a lost gypsy song without tears. Dry… bronze-colored… Abandoned trains that once carried our dreams, and within their tracks lie my naked memories. A golden drop, a blue island, a star, and a hand holding a taper with soutzoukakia smyrneika.
Those trains… those…