SIMOS (FRANC) - SARAKINIKO beach in ELAFONISSOS LAKONIAS ^Featured

A piece of Paradise on earth! Simos - Sarakiniko is one of the most beautiful beaches of the Mediterranean. Long, exotic with golden sand and unbeleivably transparent turquoise waters. It reminds you the Carribean beaches. The only dissadvantage is that it is usually crowded in high season. Furthermeore, in some areas its coloured umbrellas and sunbeds spoil the exotic flair. In any case though it is a must!

About Elafonissos island: Elafonisos is a small island that has a lengthiness of about 19 square miles and constitutes the Elafonisos' community of Lakonia. The communal compartment of Elafonisos includes Elafonisos village , the Capari housing estate , Kato Nisi , Leyki and Pounta. Eastward of Elafonisos there is Neapoli which along with the remaining villages located in the south-east end of Peloponnesus comprise Vatica.

Elafonisos is located in the Vatica bay. Its story goes way back and according to the archaeological excavations' findings people lived there since ancient times. The island took its name from its enriched wild life that attracted hunters from aeons ago to the more recent years. Pausanias has stated that there were several monuments devoted to Artemis , goddess of hunting , that were founded because of the large numbers of red colour deers (CDERVI) that lived on the island. As the legend goes , they firstly appeared on the island when a ship loaded with deers anchored there. A pregnant female managed to escape and in a few years the place was storming with deers.We shouldn't forget to mention that before named Elafonisos the island was known as "Onou Gnathos". Venetian maps of the 15th century include Elafonisos named as "Tservi" and Kithira as "Tserigo" (a term that is used to the recent day by the locals).The island was inhabited by the ancestors of the current residents of Elafonisos in 1850 with its final annexation to Greece after the English -Greek dispute on the matter. The first residents came from the surrounding villages, Vatica, when the Greek side took advantage of the fact that Elafonisos along with another island Sapient