Gytheio

The ancient seaport of Sparta, Gytheio sits on the eastern shore of the Mani Peninsula in the southern Peloponnese, its waterfront lined with cafés and restaurants well beyond what its size would suggest. A pocket-sized island just offshore — Cranae, where myth places Paris and Helen's first night together before they sailed for Troy — is connected to the town by a short causeway and holds a tower, an octagonal lighthouse, and a little church of Saint Peter.

• Population4,279
• Nearest water0.7 km
• Nearest mountain0.5 km
• UNESCO within 50 km1