Pylos, also known under the Italian name Navarino, is the seat and municipal unit of the municipality of Pylos-Nestoras. There are two distinct settlements, that of Old Pylos (Navarino Vecchio), which is located on the northwest of the bay, while New Pylos is located in the southeast several kilometers apart.  Pylos is famous for being the site of two great naval battles, the Battle of Pylos in 425BC and the Battle of Navarino in 1827.Also it is the birthplace of King Nestor, one of Jasons Argonaughts.

Famous for the defeat and capture of the Spartans in the Battle of Pylos during the Peloponnesian War, it is still showing the ruins of walls which perhaps formed their last refuge. This island has been divided into three or four separate sections by the violence of the waves, and boats could pass from the open sea into the port, in calm weather, using the channels so formed. One such section contains the tomb of a Turkish saint, or santon, called the Delikli Baba. This same section also contains a monument to the French sailors who died at the Battle of Navarino; the monument to the Russian dead of the same battle is on the island of Sphacteria.

You will notice that the soil of Navarino is of a red colour, and is remarkable for the production of an infinite quantity of squills, which are used in medicine. The rocks, which show themselves in every direction through a scanty but rich soil, are limestone, and present a general appearance of unproductiveness round the castle of Navarino; and the absence of trees is ill compensated by the profusion of sage, brooms, cistus, and other shrubs which start from the innumerable cavities of the limestone.