Peloponnese
No other region of the Greek mainland has as varied a landscape as that of the Peloponnese. The peninsula measures almost 160 kilometers across at its widest point, is 190 kilometers long, and covers a land area of 21,440 square kilometers. The natural beauty and variety of the Peloponnesian landscape is enhanced by the legacy of ancient Greece, which left behind a wealth of ancient monuments and ruins that is unmatched anywhere else.
The peninsula is called the Peloponnese (Island of Pelops) after the mythical King Pelops, son of Tantalus, grandson of Zeus, and father of Atreus, the first king of Mycenae. As a Roman province it was known as Achaea. Its Byzantine name, Morea, was used from medieval until relatively recent times.
Today, the Peloponnese region is divided into seven districts: Corinth, Argolis, Arcadia, Laconia, Messenia, Elis and Achaea. The natural boundaries of these districts largely correspond with those of antiquity, however, the district of Corinth was once part of the ancient region of Achaea.
