The Messenian Gulf is a sea that is part of the Ionian Sea

Ionian Sea

The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

. The gulf is circumscribed by the southern coasts of Messenia

Messenia

Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...

 and the southwestern coast of the Mani peninsula

Mani Peninsula

The Mani Peninsula , also long known as Maina or Maïna, is a geographical and cultural region in Greece. Mani is the central peninsula of the three which extend southwards from the Peloponnese in southern Greece. To the east is the Laconian Gulf, to the west the Messenian Gulf...

 in Laconia

Laconia

Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...

. Its bounds are Venetiko Island to the west and Cape Tainaron to the southeast. The western shores are mostly low-lying, fertile and well-developed, while the eastern shore is dominated by the southern foothills of the Taygetos and comparatively rocky and inaccessible, with few settlements.

The Pamisos River river flows into the gulf near the port town of Kalamata

Kalamata

Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...

, which is the gulf's major urban centre.

Places by the gulf

• Koroni
  Koroni
  Koroni or Coroni is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Known as Corone by the Venetians and Ottomans, the town of Koroni Koroni or Coroni is a...
  
   - west
• Longa - west
• Petalidi
  Petalidi
  Petalidi , is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Messene, of which it is a municipal unit. Petalidi is situated on the western shore of the Messenian Gulf...
  
   - northwest
• Messini
  Messini
  Messini is a Municipal Unit and Seat of the municipality of Messini within the Regional Unit of Messenia in the Region of Peloponnēsos, one of 7 Regions into which the Hellenic Republic has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, authorized by Law 3852, Issue 1 of 7 June 2010 and Issue 2 of 11...
  
   - northwest
• Kalamata
  Kalamata
  Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...
  
   - northeast
• Kardamyli - east
• Selinitsa - east
• Trochylo - southeast
• Areopoli
  Areopoli
  Areopoli is a town on the Mani Peninsula, Laconia, Greece. The word Areopoli means "city of Ares", the ancient Greek god of war. It was the seat of Oitylo municipality. Areopoli was called Tsimova by the invading Slavs during the 7th century AD...
  
   - southeast
• Gerolimenas
  Gerolimenas
  Gerolimenas , also Yerolimenas, is a picturesque small coastal village at the southern end of the Mani Peninsula, in the prefecture of Laconia, in the Peloponnese, Greece. Τhe name, which means "Old Harbour", is thought to derive from the ancient "Ιερός Λιμήν" , meaning "Sacred Harbor"...
  
  - southeast