Lakonía , the ancient territories of the Spartans, covers the area between the high ridges of Mount Taïyetos and Mount Párnonas and everywhere to the south. Exclude the lush Evrótas valley, with Spárti itself and Mystra, and you are left with a dramatic and underpopulated landscape of harsh mountains and poor, dry, rocky soil. Landforms apart, the highlights here are the extraordinarily preserved Byzantine town of Monemvasiá - an essential visit for any tour of the southern Peloponnese - and the aridly remote Máni peninsula, with its bizarre history of violence and piety, of feuds and unique tower-houses and frescoed churches with barrel roofs. Monemvasiá is a regular stop for Flying Dolphin hydrofoils from Pireás and the Argo-Saronic islands, and would make a superb entry point to the peninsula. In summer, the Maniot port of Yíthio (Gythion), and Neápoli , south of Monemvasiá, are additional stops on the hydrofoil and provide the easiest links to Kythira , technically an Ionian island under the administration of Pireás, but covered - due to its Peloponnesian access - in this section of the guide.