 The main ancient source on Messene is the "Guide to Greece" of Pausanias, who visited between 155 and 160 AD.Excavation of the site began on April 10, 1829 with the French scientific commission of the Morea Expedition, under the direction of Guillaume-Abel Blouet, at the end of the Greek War of Independence.The current excavator, Petros Themelis, who received permission to dig from the Council of Athens Archaeological Society in 1986, indicates that systematic excavation of the site was first undertaken by Themistoklis Sofoulis of the Athens Archaeological Society in 1895.