Matapan, Cape

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Cape Matapan (măt´əpăn´), or Cape Taínaron (tâ´närôn), S Greece, southern extremity of the Greek mainland, of the Peloponnesus, and of the Taygetus Mts., projecting into the Ionian Sea. It was known to the ancients as Taenarum. In World War II the British won an important naval battle (1941) over the Italians off Cape Matapan.

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