municipal Railway park
The Kalamata Municipal Railway Park is the only open-air museum of its kind in Greece and popular among all Railway friends worldwide. . The main object of this park are the old trains that are exhibited here, which include old steam trains, the old passenger trains that served up into the ’80s and some old subway carriages, which used to connect Athens to Piraeus and are made of wood. I believe they were operational all the way into the 90s.
archeological museum
The Archaeological Museum of Messenia is located in Kalamata, the capital of Messenia in southern Greece.
The museum is built on the site of the city’s old market hall. Among else its collection includes the finds which were formerly kept in the Benakeion Archaeological Museum of Kalamata, a remarkable 1742 building of Venetian architecture which collapsed during the 1986 earthquake. The new museum holds antiquities from Messenia from prehistoric and Mycenaean times to the Byzantine and Latin eras, divided along the four geographic areas that traditionally made up Messenia: Kalamata, Messene, Pylia and Triphylia.
Town center
Kalamata, the capital and central port of Messinia, is situated at the site of ancient Farai. Following independence from the Turks and thanks to the exploitation of the fertile Messinian lands (producing olive oil, olives, raisins, figs, wine, etc), it developed into a wealthy urban centre and a significant port.
The point of reference par excellence in the city of Kalamata is the legendary “castle of Isabeau” where the renowned International Dance Festival and many other performances takes place annually during the Summer time. It is amphitheatrically constructed on the site of the Farai acropolis offering a bird’s eye view of the city. Constructed in the 13th century by William Villehardouin, it underwent subsequent additions and conversions by the Venetians and the Turks. Nowadays, it is an ideal open air venue for theatre, music and dance shows.
