It is believed that Voidokilia corresponds to Voufrada beach, to which, according to the Odyssey, the ship of Telemachus approached on his arrival in the Peloponnese, in order to meet Nestor and Menelaus.
In the Early Helladic period, a settlement was developed in the area that had a large building, which may have had the role of an administrative center. On the north side of the beach are the ruins of a vaulted tomb from the Mycenaean period, which was excavated by archaeologist Spyros Marinatos.
A settlement of the 4th millennium BC was also excavated in this area. According to Pausanias’ description, the tomb belonged to Nestor’s son, Thrasymides. The diameter of the tomb is 5 meters and there are traces of at least 7 tombs. The floor was paved with pebbles from the adjacent beach. The findings included stone arrowheads, two necklaces of amethyst and sardine, four gold plates, two Mycenaean vessels, loom flywheels and two most likely Mycenaean figurines. The most important find is the whole skeleton of a cattle that testifies to a special sacrifice in honor of the dead. Traces of human presence from the Hellenistic period were found around the tomb: figurines and clay tiles of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, as well as a small building, like an altar, may testify to ancestral worship.
On the south side of the beach are the ruins of a Medieval castle built by the Franks of the Peloponnese in the 13th century, which is known today as Paleokastro or Paleonavarino. The castle was built by Nicolas de Saint-Omer in 1278 using building materials from the settlement of classical Pylos and especially from the temple of Athena Koryfasia. On the rock below Paleokastro there is a large cave called the Cave of Nestor. It has dimensions of about 30 x 16 meters and a large height, which in places reaches 30 meters. According to mythology, in this cave Hermes hid the herd he stole from Apollo. In this cave, the herds of Nileas, Nestor’s father, were kept, according to Pausanias (Messinian, 36.2). Archaeological research has revealed samples of human presence from the Late Neolithic, Early Helladic, Middle Helladic and Late Helladic III periods, but also later, to the classical times.