Mesochori is a small but historically rich settlement in southwestern Messenia. It is located approximately 6 kilometres southeast of Pylos.
The history of Mesochori is inextricably linked to that of Methoni and Pylia in general. In antiquity, this area was part of Nestor’s kingdom, the ancient city of Pylos. During the Second Venetian Rule (1683–1715), the settlement is referred to as Messoghori and is recorded in censuses of the time. In 1689, according to Corner’s census, Mesochori belonged to the province of Methoni (Territorio di Modon) and had 54 inhabitants.
Mesochori played a key role during the Greek Revolution. The Methoneans had set up a camp there, from where they launched operations to capture fortified positions and the siege of Turkish-held Methoni.
During the first decades of the 20th century, Mesochori formed the core of the emerging agricultural movement of Pylia. Due to the large number of raisin producers, the first section of a farming party with a clear anti-capitalist orientation and cooperation with the KKE was formed there in 1922–1923. The founding figures were Stavros (Loulis) Tsiklitiras, Tassis Koulampas and Zacharias Kouretas. Their ideas were expressed in a publication entitled “Exploitation of capitalists, victims of raisin producers” (1923). Mesochori was also a meeting point and decision-making point for the historic Raisin Conference of Gargaliani, which led to the extraordinary mobilisation of the summer of 1935.
A vital element of the village is the old one-room Primary School, which has operated since 1899 as an upgraded primary school, also serving the neighbouring villages of Hontzogli (Pidassos), Barakais (Varakes) and Kainourgio Chorio. The religious centre of the settlement is the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, under the jurisdiction of the Holy Metropolis of Messenia.
Remarkable monuments from the Byzantine period still survive in the area. The Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour stands out as a characteristic cross-roofed 13th-century church with ceramic decoration. In addition, there are the ruins of the Church of the Holy Apostles, a single-aisled structure with a semicircular niche and exquisite decoration made of tiles and bricks.
