The everlasting magic of Mediterranean seaside villages

The Mediterranean Sea, a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, lies between the continents of Eurasia and Africa enclosed almost completely by land. It is bounded on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia; and it joins with the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar only eight miles (13 kilometers) wide and 1,050 feet (320 meters) deep. The surface area of the Mediterranean Sea is approximately 965,000 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers). In oceanography, the Mediterranean Sea is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea, to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. To the northeast the Mediterranean Sea is connected with the Black Sea through the Dardanelles (with a sill depth of 230 feet), the Sea of Marmara, which is often considered to be part of the Mediterranean Sea, and the strait of the Bosporus (sill depth of about three hundred feet). To the southeast it is connected with the Red Sea by the man-made Suez Canal. Historically, the warm and temperate climate of the Mediterranean Sea region allowed numerous ancient peoples to establish themselves and flourish, developing traditions of philosophy, art, literature, and medicine which lie at the roots of modern Western and Middle Eastern culture. For the entire region, the Sea itself was the most important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times, allowing for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region—the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Semitic, Persian, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek and Roman cultures. Knowledge of the history of the Mediterranean is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies.

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