Cape Zonchio is the name given by the Venetian cartographers to the cape north of Pylos (Navarino) (called Zonklon or Zonchio in Venetian) on the western coast of

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...

on the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

, in present-day

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In antiquity, it was known as Coryphasium ().

Geography

The

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

that is Cape Zonchio, is just north of the island of

Sphacteria Sphacteria ( - ''Sfaktiria'') also known as Sphagia (Σφαγία) is a small island at the entrance to the bay of Pylos in the Peloponnese, Greece. It was the site of three battles: *the 425 BC Battle of Sphacteria in the Peloponnesian war. *th ...

(Sfaktiria in modern Greek), to the northwest of Navarino Bay (Ormos Navarinou in modern Greek). On the eastern side of Coryphasium is the Lagoon of Osman Aga (Limín Dhivári). Frazer, James George (1898) "36.I. Cape Coryphasium – Pylus" "Commentary on Book IV. Messenia" ''Pausanias's Description of Greece: Commentary on books II-V: Corinth, Laconia, Messenia, Elis'' (translated with a commentary by James George Frazer) Macmillan, New York
pages 456–457
To the south is Sikia Channel, 220 feet wide and only 18 inches deep, separating Cape Zonchio from Sphacteria. To the west is the Ionian Sea, and to the north it is connected to the mainland by a sand spit on the eastern side of Voidokoilia Bay.

History

The Venetians had a fortress (castle) on the headland built upon an ancient Greek fortress, it is known as Palaiokastron. The naval Battle of Zonchio took place off of Cape Zonchio from 12 to 25 August 1499.Norwich, John J. (2003) ''A History of Venice'' Penguin, London, pages 383–385, , reprint of the 1977, 2 volume, edition, entitled ''Venice: the rise to empire'' and ''Venice: the greatness and the fall''

Notes

External links

NGA Chart 54286
Scale: 1;10,000, edition 4, 20 April 1996,

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to support national se ...

Zonchio Landforms of Messenia Landforms of Peloponnese (region) {{Peloponnese-geo-stub