page_title: Pylos
section_title: Events
hierarchical_section_title: Pylos / Events
caption_attribution_description: English: Navarinia 2018, Pylos, Messinia, Greece
context_page_description: Pylos, historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It was the capital of the former Pylia Province. It is the main harbour on the Bay of Navarino. Nearby villages include Gialova, Pyla, Elaiofyto, Schinolakka, and Palaionero. The town of Pylos has 2,345 inhabitants, the municipal unit of Pylos 5,287. The municipal unit has an area of 143.911 km².
  Pylos has been inhabited since Neolithic times. It was a significant kingdom in Mycenaean Greece, with remains of the so-called "Palace of Nestor" excavated nearby, named after Nestor, the king of Pylos in Homer's Iliad. In Classical times, the site was uninhabited, but became the site of the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. After that, Pylos is scarcely mentioned until the 13th century, when it became part of the Frankish Principality of Achaea. Increasingly known by its French name of Port-de-Jonc or its Italian name Navarino, in the 1280s the Franks built the Old Navarino castle on the site.
context_section_description: Since 2017, every year around October 20, the “Navarinia” are organized in memory of the battle of Navarino (20 October 1827) by the municipality of Pylos-Nestor and the volunteers of the local association who is in charge to organize the event. Spread over a period of several days, the celebrations culminate on the anniversary of the battle in the port of Pylos, with the participation of the Hellenic Navy and diplomatic and military representatives of the three Allied countries. Frigates of the Hellenic, British, French and Russian navies, as well as many old sailing ships take part in the reenactment of the famous battle organized with an impressive sound and light show. The evening most often ends with the firing of a reconstructed ship that supposedly took part in the battle and with an impressive fireworks display fired from the port.
  The celebrations are also accompanied on previous days by various cultural events that take place in parallel in other parts of the city (ceremonies and tributes to the dead on the various memorials of Pylos and of the region, national and international conferences, parades in the streets of Pylos, traditional musical and dance performances, etc.). Although organized at the end of the touristic season, these celebrations generally attract a large crowd of spectators. In 2019, the demonstrations, which took place in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, gathered more than 10,000 visitors. In 2020, the Navarinia have been awarded the Gold Tourism Award 2020 in the category Cultural Tourism.
caption: The “Navarinia” 2018 in the port of Pylos
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