The
Laconian Gulf , is a gulf in the south-eastern
Peloponnese, in
Greece. It is the southernmost gulf in Greece and the largest in the Peloponnese. In the shape of an inverted "U", it is approximately 58 km wide east-west, and 44 km long north-south. It is bounded to the west by the
Mani peninsula, which separates it from the
Messenian Gulf, and to the east by the
Cape Maleas peninsula (also known as the Epidavros Limira peninsula), which separates it from the
Aegean Sea. To the south it opens onto the
Mediterranean Sea. The Mani and Cape Maleas peninsulas are dry and rocky, but the northern shore, fed by the
Evrotas River, which empties into the gulf at its apex, is fertile farmland. The island of
Elafonissos lies in the Laconian Gulf, with the island of
Kythira directly to the south. The main ports and settlements on the gulf are
Gytheio and
Neapolis.