Messenia

American  

[muh-see-nee-uh, -seen-yuh] / məˈsi ni ə, -ˈsin yə /

noun

1. a division of ancient Greece, in the SW Peloponnesus: an important center of Mycenaean culture.

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Messenia British  

/ məˈsiːnɪə /

noun

1. the southwestern area of the Peloponnese in S Greece

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Example Sentences

As they say in Messenia, a perfect dinner calls for three things: good friends, old wine, and always fresh EVOO.

From Salon

During the summer of 1999, Michael Cosmopoulos, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, was conducting an archaeological survey with colleagues and students through the rugged and hilly terrain of Messenia, a region along Greece’s southwest coast.

From New York Times

By 1400 B.C., half a century after the warrior’s death, that power had been extended to the province of Messenia and 20 district capitals, all paying taxes to their Mycenaean overlords, who ruled in Pylos from the so-called Palace of Nestor, named after the Homeric hero.

From New York Times

I’m lucky: My boyfriend’s father presses olives in Messenia in the Peloponnese, a region known for its excellent oil.

From The Wall Street Journal

The two met in Messenia at Ortilokhos’ table, on the day Odysseus claimed a debt owed by that realm— sheep stolen by Messenians out of Ithaka in their long ships, three hundred head, and herdsmen.

From Literature