Scene A: January 1821 — Kardamyli
It was raining that night in Kardamyli. A small vessel approached the dark shore, and from it descended a man with heavy hair and a heavier gaze. Theodoros Kolokotronis was returning secretly to the Peloponnese from Zakynthos.
They led him to the Mourtzinos Tower — one of the distinctive stone towers that still stand in the lanes of Kardamyli. There, by candlelight, the Maniot chieftains planned the Revolution. A few months later, the struggle that changed history had begun.
Today, the same path from the beach to the tower is walked by hikers on the Kardamyli Loop of the Mani Trail.
Scene B: 12–13 May 1821 — Valtetsi, Mainalo (1,050m)
On the southern slopes of Mount Mainalo, at an altitude of 1,050 metres, the village of Valtetsi became the site of the Revolution's first great victory.
Kolokotronis, Nikitaras, Plapoutas and other commanders had established a camp there since April, tightening the noose around Tripolitsa. On 12 May, a strong Ottoman force attacked uphill toward the village. The battle lasted two days. Greek losses: 4 killed and 17 wounded. The road to Tripolitsa opened.
Valtetsi today lies within the Menalon Trail network — on the very same slopes where a hiker arrives with a sweat-drenched brow and looks down across the Arcadian plain.
Scene C: 26 July 1822 — Dervenakia
"Men, today we either die or we are freed."
Kolokotronis said something like this that morning — or so tradition holds. Before him came an army of 30,000 men under Dramalis, who had marched down from Thessaly to crush the Revolution. Kolokotronis had just 2,500. But he had something Dramalis did not: knowledge of the terrain.
The Dervenakia — the narrow mountain passes between Argolis and Corinthia — offered only one route. Kolokotronis blocked the passages. The cobblestone road that was "very commonly used at that time" became a trap. More than 3,000 Ottoman soldiers fell in the narrows. The Revolution was saved.
These cobblestone roads belong today to the Hercules Trail.
Connected Trails
Mani Trail: Kardamyli, Mourtzinos Tower, coastal path.
Menalon Trail (Section 4): Valtetsi–Magouliana, southern slopes of Mainalo.
Hercules Trail: Dervenakia–Nemea, ancient cobblestone kalderimi paths.
Sources
Wikipedia — Battle of Dervenakia
ellinismos.gr — Valtetsi
travel.gr — MORIAS 21
stelexi.army.gr — Kolokotronis 1821