2 words pinned here
Monemvasia
36.6878°N 23.0556°E · Q654616
2 English words in this atlas trace back to Monemvasia. It sits in Greece.
malmseynoun · 15th century
Well attestedThe sweet wine is a worn-down Greek fortress town.
Monemvasia in the Peloponnese shipped the wine, and its name eroded through Italian and French into malmsey.
Named through a historical place-nameRead →
malvoisienoun · Middle English
Well attestedThe wine is named for a fortified rock reached by a single causeway.
Monemvasia means single entrance, for the one causeway that links the rock to the Peloponnese. The town was the shipping point for sweet Greek wine across medieval Europe, and its name went with the cargo, becoming malvasia in Italian, malvoisie in French, and malmsey in English. Production later moved to Madeira and the Canaries, long after the trade through Monemvasia had ended.
Named for a product of the placeRead →