Although technically
the Peloponnese can be considered an island, it is connected by land with mainland Greece though the bridge over the Corinth Canal (Isthmus of Corinth) and the Rio-Antirrio Bridge.
This large peninsula has been the home of several centers of civilization in antiquity, which had a special influence in the West, e.g. in the Italian Renaissance. Mystras, a famous town of the late Byzantine Empire, is now a very well preserved archeological site (Kastropoliteia). Monemvasia, a medieval Byzantine castle-state, built on a hill, which is linked to the mainland only through a narrow causeway. The Peloponnessians also played a key role in the 1821 revolution, through which the modern Greek State emerged.
By and large, the Peloponnese is a mountainous region, while its interior is highlands. The climate is purely Mediterranean along the coast, unlike the centre, which has a relatively continental climate.
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