The Peloponnese. which is linked to Attica by the Isthmus of Corinth, now breached by the Corinth Canal, is a vast and mountainous peninsula also known in the Middle Ages as Morea.

The landmass is made up of high peaks, inland basins caused by subsidence and irrigated coastal plains.

The eastern coastal plain, the Argolid, which is dominated by the citadels of Argos and Mycenae, is devoted to cereals, as well as orchards and market gardens.

In the north lies a fertile coastal strip divided into Corinth (east) and Achaia (west). The vines which are cultivated to produce wine and raisins often alternate with rows of vegetables or fruit trees (oranges).

Patras, which is the third largest town in Greece and an important centre for wine merchants, is also a port where many tourists disembark.

Down the west coast extends the monotonous plain of Elis (Ilia), partially composed of the alluvion deposited by the River Alpheios, which has been successively reclaimed since the Middle Ages.

Small-scale enterprises are engaged in cereal cropping, market-gardens, orchards and vineyards; their products are processed in local factories: canning plants, fruit juice extractors, etc.

The southern coast is split into three promontories; the longest, an extension of the Taygetos massif, is Mani , a wild limestone region inhabited by people of spirit.

Taygetos is flanked by alluvial plains, free from winter frost: Lakonia round Sparta and Messinia round Kalamata. The smiling fields produce grain and early vegetables while the figs and olives of Kalamata are well known for their quality.

At the centre of the Peloponnese, round Tripoli, between 600m and 800m - 1 968ft and 2625ft above sea level, lie the pasturelands of Arcadia.