Kyparissi - Vrysi

By car

From Athens, 297 km (4 hours and 8 minutes)

From Kalamata, 145 km (3 hours)

From Patra, via Korinthos, 341 km (4 hours and 48 minutes)

Kyparissi is 23 km from Riechia, which is approached either from Molai via Metamorphosi or from Monemvasia via Gerakas.

There is plenty of parking space in the centre of the settlement of Paralia.   

LEGENT

Legend has it that Babola was a winged monster that emerged from its cave in the cliffs behind Vrysi, in Kyparissi, to descend on the villagers’ livestock and eat them, but it would also attack young girls and boys. No matter what the villagers did to try and exterminate the beast, their efforts were in vain. One day they collected a large number of branches which they placed in a circle, in the midst of which they hung a live sheep on a stick. The bleating of the sheep caught the attention of the monster, but as soon as it swooped down to grab the animal, the villagers, who had been hiding in the bushes nearby, set fire to the branches and burnt Babola’s wings. Unable to fly, it plunged into the sea and drowned.That is how the village rid itself of a terrible scourge. Since then the mountain where it once had its lair has been known as Babala, and the cave as Babola.

Source: www.monemvasia.gr