Foinikounda

Foinikounta (Greek, Modern: Φοινικούντα, Ancient/Katharevoussa: Φοινικούς) is a small village in the southwest tip of the Peloponnese, Greece located 10 km east of Methoni and about 15 to 20 km west of Koroni off the main road. It is most notable for its beautiful beaches which attract mostly Greek and other European visitors during the summer months. Foinikounta is mentioned for the first time in Pausanias' Messiniaka (4, 34, 12) as a port after Cape Akritas. It is believed that it was a small commercial port where the fishers of murex frunculus (a porphyry shell from where the known dye is produced) could trade their product. The origin of the name also has to do with the ancient Phoenicians whose trade routes came through this...