Mt. Taygetos_

It is the highest mountain of Moria. Its 2.404-meter high  summit is called Prophet Elias and  it is the highest point of the Peloponnese. Its majesty covers an area of ​​2,500 square kilometres between Megalopolis, Evrotas and Messinia. A feature of the mountain range is its five peaks (because of which it was called Pentadaktylos in Byzantine times).

Rich in coniferous forests, ravines, plane trees, blessed with crystal-clear springs and equipped with a dense network of paths, the proud Taygetus was named after the nymph Taygetus, daughter of Atlanta, according to ancient Greek tradition. Taygeti was a local deity of the mountain range and of the company of the goddess Artemis. The myth has two variations. According to the first one, Lacedaemon, who was Zeus and Taygeti’s son as well as a hero of the region, named the mountain the after his mother. According to the second one, Lacedaemon was Taygeti’s husband and their child was Evrotas, after whom the river that flows into Taygetos was named.

The majestic mountain is first mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, with its highest peak then called Taleton. Like all mountain peaks it was considered a sacred place because it was the closest point to the sun and so people considered it to be the most fitting location for those wishing to have their prayers heard. Indeed, a unique natural phenomenon is observed at dawn right before sunrise, called “The perfect shadow of the pyramid” which is only visible from the top of the mountain. The shadow of the mountain creates an equilateral triangle in the Messinian Gulf. According to yet another legend, Lycurgus challenged a handful of young men to find the exact time when the sun rises in exchange for the princess’s hand. The eager candidates climbed to the top of Taygetos but all except one failed to answer. It was the one who identified sunrise with the time when the phenomenon of “The perfect shadow of the pyramid” occurs.