Legend

Legend has it that Mezapos was the stronghold of the cruel pirate Nikolos Sassaris or Katzos, originally from Sardinia and Greece. The pirate acted in the second half of the 18th century in the Mediterranean, Italy, Peloponnese, Crete and the Aegean. Historically, he became known as the legendary “One-eyed Pirate” because a Turkish pirate stabbed him in the eye in a dispute on the island of Andros. In the caves of Mezapos was his booty and he hid his ships and treasures. There was also his impregnable Mani tower, which reached 16 meters and hid secret passages to the sea. Today there are its ruins. Legend has it that the dying pirate left behind an untold treasure, still hidden today in an unknown cave in Mezapos. The legendary pirate was killed in a battle with Turkish ships, as he was returning to Mani with his booty, a worn-out French ship. Legend has it that the sea of Mani took his lifeless body, unburied, as befitted a notorious pirate of the time.