Porto kagio?

Question

what does porto mean in greek?

Answer 1

Porto as in "Port"  "Porto Rafti" (Port of Rafti).  That's an easy one.

Answer 2

Porto Kagio is a village in Lakonia in the Mani area it is called Porto because it is a bay. It is a very beautiful place and the bay is very graphical looking with a gorgeous view of the sea.

Answer 3

Possibility 2 that airpole mentions is most likely the reason for the name. This is what I know as a half-Maniote.

Some years ago it was a very nice bay with kind people. I will visit again this year, hope it has changed.

Answer 4

Three different explanations as of the origin of the Porto Kayio name are given on diferent sites.

The first explanation seems to me very naive to be the reason of the naming. And  very unlikely  too.

1.- Porto Kayio which the Road Motorcycle Guide of the  Peloponnesos describes as  (Porto Disgrace) has indeed spoiled the beauty of the natural setting by its ugly concrete-box houses that seem to have sprung like mushrooms in recent years.

2.- The name Porto Kayio comes from the Italian (or French - whatever, a Latin language…) and translates into English as The Bay of Quails. Evliya Celebi reports how in the 17th century the deep Maniates would catch these birds in nets then packing the with salt they would store them in nooks and crannies in the hillsides covered by rocks. After about five months these were cured and were then consumed by the locals. Fortunately, perhaps, this delicacy is no longer to be found on local Taverna menus. The number of birds was quite prodigious almost blotting out the sky. Evliya Celebi stated that, " …one cannot separate the soil from the stars for them. Ten thousand infidels and women and children run and catch them in nets." An Irish monk, Symon Semeonis, who was sailing past Mani on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1322 gives Porto Kayio and its quails a mention and even tells us that you could buy 18 birds - for one Venetian grosso. Cyriaco of Ancona also popped in to Porto Kayio in 1447 and reports on other flying creatures. Cyriaco and his companions ventured into a vast cave and were extremely startled by a huge cloud of doves that rose with a noise like a clap of thunder.

3.- PORTO KAYIO bay was called Psamathous in ancient times and Porto Quaglio by the Venetians from which the present name probably comes. The bay was used by the Venetians, the Turks, and by various Maniote pirates of whom the most famous was Katsonis - a monument to the freedom fighter stands near the quay.

The possibilities 2 & 3 are most likely the reason for the name since even today the area is still an excelent quail hunting place. Besided the first part of the name could only be followed by an equally foreign word, and the phonetic alteration of Quail to Kayio is the closest.