Cape Maleas

The headland of Cape Maleas, known for its treacherous weather, with the lighthouse in the foreground to the right.

Cape Maleas (also Cape Malea; Greek: Ακρωτήριον Μαλέας, colloquially Καβομαλιάς, Cavomaliás), anciently Malea (Ancient Greek: Μαλέα)[1] and Maleae or Maleai (Μαλέαι),[2][3] is a peninsula and cape in the southeast of the Peloponnese in Greece. To distinguish it from the cape, the peninsula is sometimes referred to as "Epidavros Limira" peninsula, after the most prominent ancient city located on it. It separates the Laconian Gulf in the west from the Aegean Sea in the east. It is the second most southerly point of mainland Greece (after Cape Matapan) and once featured one of the largest light-houses in the Mediterranean. The seas around the cape are notoriously treacherous and difficult to navigate, featuring variable weather and occasionally very powerful storms.

  1. ^ E.g., Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
  2. ^ Herodotus. Histories. Vol. 1.82.
  3. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p.368. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.