Cape Matapan

On the hill situated above the cave, lie the remnants of an ancient temple dedicated to the sea god Poseidon (Νεκρομαντεῖον Ποσειδῶνος).

A naval battle occurred there on 19 July 1717, between the Venetian navy of the Republic of Venice, supported by a mixed squadron of allied ships from Portugal, the Papal States and Malta, and the Ottoman fleet, under Kapudan Pasha Eğribozlu İbrahim Pasha.

At Cape Matapan, the Titanic's would-be rescue ship, the SS Californian, was torpedoed and sunk by German forces on 9 November 1915.

The encounter's main result was to drastically reduce future Italian naval activity in the Eastern Mediterranean.

As the second southernmost point of mainland Europe, the cape is on the migration route of birds headed to Africa.