Listed 100 (total found 229) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "IONIAN ISLANDS Island complex GREECE" .
MEGANISSI (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Opposite Poros,
next to the islet of Skorpios,
appears the foam crested Meganissi. A simple islet consisting of three villages,
simple, with its only jewels it natural unspoiled beauty, its completely clean
beaches, the play of colours in the sun and the warmth of its people. Ideal for
all those who want to live peacefully, to enjoy the life of the island and to
feel moments of nostalgia, moments from the past. On Meganissi it is also possible
to visit the famous cave where the submarine Papanikolis took refuge when it was
in danger during the Second World War. Access to the island is easy as there is
a daily connection with two ferries from and to Nydri.
This text (extract) is cited December 2003 from the Lefkada
Hoteliers Association tourist pamphlet (1998).
CORFU (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
ARGOSTOLI (Town) KEFALLONIA
PLATRITHIA (Village) ITHAKI
CORFU (Prefecture) IONIAN ISLANDS
CORFU (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
PAXI (Province) IONIAN ISLANDS
ZAKYNTHOS (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
ASTERIAS (Small island) KEFALLONIA
Asteris (Asteris, Hom., Asteria), an island between Ithaca and Cephallenia,
where the suitors laid in wait for Telemachus on his return from Peloponnesus
(Hom. Od. iv. 846). This island gave rise to considerable dispute among the ancient
commentators. Demetrius of Scepsis maintained that it was no longer in existence;
but this was denied by Apollodorus, who stated that it contained a town called
Alalcomenae. (Strab. i. p. 59, x. pp. 456, 457). Some modern writers identify
Asteris with a rocky islet, now called Dyscallio; but as this island lies at the
northern extremity of the strait between Ithaca and Cephallenia, it would not
have answered the purpose of the suitors as a place of ambush for a vessel coming
from the south. (Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 62; Kruse, Kellas, vol. ii.
pt. ii. p. 454.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CORFU (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Corcyra (Kerknra, Herod., Thuc.; Korkura, Strab. and later writers,
and always on coins: Eth. Kerkur,--nros,, Alcman. ap. Etym. M.; usually Korkuraios,
Korkuraios, Corcyraeus: Corfu), an island in the Ionian sea, opposite the coast
of Chaonia in Epeirus. The channel, by which it is separated from the mainland,
is narrowest at its northern entrance, being only about 2 miles in width; it then
expands into an open gulf between the two coasts, being in some places 14 miles
across; but S. of the promontory Leucimme it again contracts into a breadth of
4 or 5 miles. The length of the island from N. to S. is about 38 miles. Its breadth
is very irregular; in the northern part of the island it is 20 miles; it then
becomes only 6 miles; widens again near the city of Corcyra to about 11 miles;
south of which it contracts again to about 3 or 4 miles, terminating in a high
narrow cape. The island contains 227 square miles.
Four promontories are mentioned by the ancient writers: 1. Cassiope
(Kassiope, Ptol. iii. 14. § 11; C. St. Catherine), the NE. point of the island.
2. Phalacrum (Phalakron, Strab. vii. p. 324; Ptol. l. c.; Plin. iv. 12.
s. 19; C. Drasti), the NW. point. 3. Leucimme or Leucimna (Leukimme, Thuc.
i. 30, 47; Leukimma, Strab. vii. p. 324; Ptol., Plin. ll. cc.: C. Lefkimo), a
low sandy point on the E. coast, about 6 or 7 miles from the southern extremity
of the island. 4. Amphipagus (Amphipagos, Ptol. l.c.: C. Bianco), the southern
extremity of the island.
Corcyra is generally mountainous. The loftiest mountains are in the
northern part of the island, extending across the island from E. to W.: the highest
summit, which is now called Pandokratora by the Greeks, and San Salvatore by the
Italians, is between 3000 and 4000 feet above the sea, and is covered with luxuriant
groves of olive, cypress, and ilex. From these mountains there runs a lower ridge
from N. to S., extending as far as the southern extremity of the island. The position
of Mt. Istone (Istone), where the nobles entrenched themselves during the civil
dissensions of Corcyra, is uncertain. (Thuc. iii. 85, iv. 46; Polyaen. Strat.
vi. 20; Steph. B. s. v.) It was evidently at no great distance from the city;
but it could hardly have been the summit of San Salvatore as some writers suppose,
since the nobles, after their fortress on Mt. Istone had been captured, took refuge
on higher ground. (Thuc. iv. 46.) Istone has been identified by Cramer and others
with the hill mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. vi. 2. § 7) as distant only 5 stadia
from the city; but this is purely conjectural. The only other ancient name of
any of the mountains of Corcyra, which has been preserved, is Meliteium (Meliteion,
Apoll. Rhod. iv. 1150, with Schol.); but as to its position we have no clue whatsoever.
Corcyra was celebrated for its fertility in antiquity, and was diligently
cultivated by its inhabitants. Xenophon (Hell. vi. 2. § 6) describes it as exeirgasmenen
men pankalos kai pephuteumenen; and one of the later Roman poets celebrates it
as Corcyra compta solum, locupleti Corcyra sulco. (Avien. Descr. Orb. 663.) These
praises are not undeserved; for modern writers celebrate the luxuriance and fertility
of its numerous vallies. The chief production of the island now is oil, of which
large quantities are exported. It also produces wine, which, though not so celebrated
as in antiquity (Athen. i. p. 33, b.; Xen. l. c.), is still used in the town of
Corfu and in the adjacent islands.
The most ancient name of the island is said to have been Drepane (Drepane),
apparently from its [p. 670] resemblance in shape to a scythe. (Apoll. Rhod. iv.
983, with Schol.; Callimach. ap. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.) It is further said that
its next name was Scheria (Scherie), which Homer describes as a fertile and lovely
island, inhabited by the Phaeacians, an enterprizing seafaring people, the subjects
of king Alcinous. (Od. v. 34, seq.) Although the Corcyraeans identified their
island with the Homeric Scheria, and prided themselves upon the nautical fame
of their Phaeacian ancestors (Thuc. i. 25), yet it is very doubtful whether the
Homeric Scheria ought to be regarded as an island, which ever had any real existence.
It is not unlikely that the Phaeacians are only a creation of the poet, to whom
he assigns a place in the far distant West, the scene of so many marvels in the
Odyssey. (Comp. Welcker, Ueber die Homerischen Phaeaken, in Rheinisches Museum,
vol. i. pp. 219--283.)
The first historical fact recorded respecting Corcyra is its colonization
by the Corinthians; for we may pass over the earlier Eretrian colony, which rests
upon the authority of Plutarch alone. (Quaest. Graec. c. 11.) Archias, the founder
of Syracuse, is said to have touched at Corcyra on his way to Sicily, and to have
left behind him Chersicrates, one of the Heraclidae, who expelled the Liburnians,
then inhabiting the island, and built the city of Corcyra, which he peopled with
Corinthian settlers. (Strab. vi. p. 269; Timaeus, ap. Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. iv.
1216.) This event we may place in B.C. 734, the date usually assigned to the foundation
of Syracuse. Corcyra rapidly rose to be one of the first maritime powers in Greece.
We are told that it was at variance with the mother country almost from the very
time of its foundation (Herod. iii. 49), which was no doubt owing to its being
the commercial rival of Corinth in the western seas of Greece. The dissensions
between the two states broke out into open hostilities as early as B.C. 665, when
a naval engagement took place between them, which is mentioned by Thucydides as
the first sea-fight on record. (Thuc. i. 13.) In B.C. 617 the Corcyraeans founded
Epidamnus on the Illyrian coast; but notwithstanding their hostility to the mother
country, they so far complied with Grecian usages as to choose a Corinthian as
the Oekist or founder of the new colony. (Thuc. i. 24.) Periander, who ruled at
Corinth from B.C. 625 to 585, reduced Corcyra to subjection in the course of his
reign; but of the details of its subjugation we have no account. Herodotus tells
an interesting story of the murder of Lycophron, the son of Periander, by the
Corcyraeans, and of the cruel way in which Periander attempted to take revenge.
(Herod. iii. 49, seq.) It was during the time that Corcyra was subject to Periander,
that Apollonia and Anactorium were founded by the two states conjointly.
After the death of Periander the Corcyraeans seem to have recovered
their independence; but in the Persian wars they made use of it in a manner little
creditable to their Hellenic patriotism. Having promised their aid to the confederate
Greeks, they sent a fleet of 60 ships, but with orders to advance no further than
the promontory of Taenarus, there to await the issue of the struggle between the
Persians and the Greeks, and to join the victorious party. (Herod. vii. 168.)
Of their subsequent history till the time of the Peloponnesian war, we know nothing.
Having quarrelled with the Corinthians respecting Epidamnus, a war ensued between
the states, which was one of the immediate causes of the Peloponnesian war. As
the history of this quarrel and of the war which followed is related at length
in all histories of Greece, it is only necessary in this place to mention the
leading events, and such as chiefly serve to illustrate the geography of Corcyra.
The first fleet, which the Corinthians sent against the Corcyraeans,
was completely defeated by the latter off Cape Actium, B.C. 435. (Thuc. i. 29.)
Deeply humbled by this defeat, the Corinthians spent two whole years in preparations
for retrieving it; and by active exertions among their allies, they were in a
condition in the third year to put to sea with a fleet of 150 sail. The Corcyraeans,
unable to cope single-handed with so formidable an armament, applied for aid to
the Athenians, who concluded a defensive alliance with them, fearing lest their
powerful navy should fall into the hands of the Peloponnesians. Soon afterwards
the war was renewed. The Corinthian fleet of 150 ships took up its station at
Cape Cheimerium on the coast of Epeirus, a little south of Corcyra. The Corcyraean
fleet of 110 sail, together with 10 Athenian ships, were posted at one of the
islands called Sybota (Subota), now Syvota, which lie off the coast of Epeirus
to the north of Cape Cheimerium, and opposite the coast of Corcyra, between Capes
Leucimme and Amphipagos. Their land force was stationed at Leucimme. The engagement
took place in the open sea between Cape Cheimerium and the Sybota; the Corcyraeans
were defeated; and the Corinthians were preparing to renew the attack in the afternoon,
but were deterred by the arrival of a fresh Athenian squadron, and sailed away
home. (Thuc. i. 44, seq.) Each party claimed the victory. The Corinthians erected
their trophy at the continental Sybota (en tois en tei epeiroi Subotois), and
the Corcyraeans set up theirs at the insular Sybota (en tois en tei nesoi Subotois,
Thuc. i. 54). We learn from Col. Leake that there is a sheltered bay between the
two principal islands, called Syvota, and another between the inner island and
the main. The continental Sybota was probably the name of a village on the inner
strait. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. pp. 2, 3.) Shortly afterwards the island
was distracted by civil dissensions between the aristocratical and democratical
parties, in which the latter finally gained the upper hand, and massacred all
their opponents with the most frightful atrocities, B.C. 425. (Thuc. iv. 46-48.)
Corcyra remained in the Athenian alliance till the close of the Peloponnesian
war. It was the place of rendezvous for the fleet of the Athenians and their allies,
which was destined to invade Sicily, B.C. 415. (Thuc. vi. 42.) Whether Corcyra
was enrolled a member of the Spartan confederacy after the downfall of Athens,
we are not informed; but in B.C. 375 Timotheus brought the island again under
the dominion of Athens. (Xen. Hell. v. 4. 64; comp. Corn. Nep. Tim. 2; Diod. xv.
36.) Two years afterwards, B.C. 373, a large Peloponnesian force, under the command
of the Lacedaemonian Mnasippus, was sent to wrest the island from the Athenians.
The Athenian fleet had already quitted Corcyra; and the inhabitants, having been
defeated in battle by the invaders, were obliged to take refuge within the walls
of their city. Xenophon, in a passage already referred to, describes the country
at that time as in the highest state of cultivation, abounding in beautiful houses,
the cellars of which were stored with excellent wine. After ravaging the country,
Mnasippus laid siege to the city, which soon began to suffer from want of provisions;
but the Corcyraeans availing themselves of the negligence of the besiegers, who
had become careless, through certainty of success, made a vigorous sally from
the city, in which they slew Mnasippus, and many of his troops. Shortly afterwards
news arrived of the approach of an Athenian fleet, whereupon the Peloponnesians
quitted the island in haste. (Xen. Hell. vi. 2. 3-26; Died. xv. 47.)
After the death of Alexander the Great the Corcyraeans appear to have
taken an active part in opposition to Cassander. In B.C. 312, they expelled the
Macedonian garrisons from Apollonia and Epidamnus. (Diod. xix. 78.) In B.C. 303
Cleonymus, the Spartan king, who had collected a body of mercenaries in Italy,
invaded the island and became master of the city. (Diod. xx. 104, 105.) Cleonymus
appears to have quitted the island soon afterwards; for it was again independent
in B.C. 300, when Cassander laid siege to the city. From this danger it was delivered
by Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, who burnt the Macedonian fleet. (Diod.
xxi. Eclog. 2. p. 489, ed. Wesseling.) But Agathocles only expelled the Macedonians
in order to appropriate the island to himself, which he is recorded to have laid
waste, probably in consequence of the opposition of the inhabitants to his dominion.
(Plut. de Ser. Num. Vind. p. 557.) Shortly afterwards Agathocles gave Corcyra
as a dowry to his daughter Lanassa upon her marriage with Pyrrhus, king of Epeirus.
It remained in his hands for some years; but Lanassa, indignant at being neglected
by Pyrrhus for his barbarian wives, withdrew to Corcyra, and offered her hand
and the island to Demetrius, king of Macedonia. Demetrius accepted her proposal,
and, sailing to Corcyra, celebrated his nuptials with her, left a garrison in
the island, and returned to Macedonia. This happened shortly before he was expelled
from Macedonia by Pyrrhus, B.C. 287. (Plut. Pyrrh. 9, 10; Diod. xxi. p. 490.)
Pausanias says (i. 11. § 6) that Pyrrhus conquered Corcyra soon after he had recovered
his hereditary dominions; but as Pyrrhus began to reign some years before he deprived
Demetrius of the Macedonian throne, it has been conjectured that he may have invaded
Corcyra, while it was in the possession of Agathocles, and that the latter was
contented to cede to him the island, together with his daughter Lanassa. At a
later period, probably after his return from Italy, B.C. 274, Pyrrhus recovered
Corcyra by the energy of his son Ptolemaeus. (Justin, xxv. 3.)
After the death of Pyrrhus Corcyra again enjoyed a brief period of
independence; but the Illyrian pirates, in the reign of their queen Teuta, conquered
the island after defeating the Achaean and Aetolian fleets which had come to the
assistance of the Corcyraeans. Almost immediately afterwards a Roman fleet, which
had been sent to punish these pirates, appeared before Corcyra; whereupon Demetrius,
the Pharian, who had been left in charge of the island with an Illyrian garrison,
surrendered it to the enemy without striking a blow, B.C. 229. (Pol. ii. 9-11.)
From this time Corcyra continued in the hands of the Romans, and was an important
station for their fleet in their subsequent wars in Greece. The Romans made the
capital a free state (Plin. iv. 12. s. 19); but its inhabitants were so little
liked even at this period, as to give rise to the proverb eleuthera Korkura, chez
hopou theleis (Strab. vii. p. 329). It is unnecessary to follow further the history
of the island. In the reign of Justinian it was still called Kerkura (Procop.
B. G. iv. 22). It is now one of the seven Ionian islands under the protection
of Great Britain, and the seat of government.
Corcyra, the capital of the island, was situated upon the eastern
coast, upon a peninsula a little S. of the modern town of Corfu. This peninsula
is formed on the one side by a small gulf or lagoon, called the Peschiera, or
Lake of Calichiopulo; and on the other side by a bay, which separates the pe.
ninsula from the promontory occupied by the modern citadel. The peninsula is called
Palaeopoli, but the only ancient remains which it contains are the ruins of a
small Doric temple on the eastern shore, facing Epeirus. Of the two ports mentioned
by Thucydides (ii. 72), the Peschiera seems to be the one which he calls Hyllaicus
(Hullaikos); and the bay between the peninsula and the modern citadel to be the
one which he describes as lying towards Epeirus. Scylax speaks of three harbours,
one of which was most beautiful: hence it would appear that the present harbour,
although at some distance from the ancient city, was also used in ancient times.
The small island of Vido, in front of the present harbour, is probably the island
of Ptychia (ptuchia), where the leaders of the aristocratical party were placed
after their surrender in B.C. 425. (Thuc. iv. 46.) We learn from Thucydides (ii.
72) that the Acropolis was near the portus Hyllaicus, and the agora near the other
harbour. The ancient Acropolis is the long undulating promontory south of the
modern town, and did not occupy the site of the modern citadel, which is a nearly
insulated rock, with its summit split into two lofty peaks. These two peaks must
have been always a striking object from the ancient town, and are probably the
aerias Phaeacum arces of Virgil (Aen. iii. 291), a passage from which Dodwell
and others erroneously concluded that they were the Acropolis of Corcyra. In the
middle ages these two rocks, which then became the citadel, were called Korupho
or Koruphoi, from whence has come, slightly corrupted, (Korphoi) the modern name
of the town and of the island. We have no further information respecting the other
localities of the ancient city. Among its public buildings mention is made of
temples of Zeus, Hera, Dionysus, the Dioscuri, and Alcinous. (Thuc. iii. 70, 75,
81.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ECHINADES (Island complex) IONIAN ISLANDS
Echinades (hai Echinai nesoi, Hom.; hai Echinades Wesoi, Herod., Thuc.,
Strab.), a group of numerous islands off the coast of Acarnania, several of which
have become united to the mainland by the alluvial deposits of the river. Herodotus
says that half of the islands had been already united to the mainland in his time
(ii. 10); and Thucydides expected that this would be the case with all of them
before long, since they lay so close together as to be easily connected by the
alluvium brought down by the river (ii. 102.). This expectation, however, has
not been fulfilled, which Pausanias attributed (viii. 24. § 11) to the Achelous
bringing down less alluvium in consequence of the uncultivated condition of Aetolia;
but there can be little doubt that it is owing to the increasing depth of the
sea, which prevents any perceptible progress being made.
The Echinades are mentioned by Homer, who says that Meges, son of
Phyleus, led 40 ships to Troy from Dulichium and the sacred islands Echinae, which
are situated beyond the sea, opposite Elis. (Hom. II. ii. 625.) Phyleus was the
son of Augeas, king of the Epeians in Elis, who emigrated to Dulichium because
he had incurred his father's anger. In the Odyssey Dulichium is frequently mentioned
along with Same, Zacynthus, and Ithaca as one of the islands subject to Ulysses,
and is celebrated brated for its fertility. (Hom. Od. i. 245, ix. 24, xiv. 397,
xvi. 123, 247; Hymn. in Apoll. 429; Polupuron, Od. xiv. 335, xvi. 396, xix. 292.)
The site of Dulichium gave rise to much dispute in antiquity. Hellanicus supposed
that it was the ancient name of Cephallenia; and Andron, that it was one of the
cities of this island, which Pherecydes supposed to be Pale, an opinion supported
by Pausanias. (Strab. x. p. 456; Paus. vi. 15. § 7.) But Strabo maintains that
Dulichium was one of the Echinades, and identifies it with Dolicha (he Dolicha),
an island which he describes as situated opposite Oeniadae and the mouth of the
Achelous, and distant 100 stadia from the promontory of Araxus in Elis (x. p.
458). Dolicha.appears to be the same which now bears the synonymous appellation
of Makri, derived from its long narrow form. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii.
p. 574.)
Most modern writers have followed Strabo in connecting Dulichium with
the Echinades, though it seems impossible to identify it with any particular island.
It is observed by Leake that Petala, being the largest of the Echinades, and possessing
the advantage of two well-sheltered harbours, seems to have the best claim to
be considered the ancient Dulichium. It is, indeed, a mere rock, but being separated
only by a strait of a few hundred yards from the fertile plains at the mouth of
the Achelous and river of Oenia, its natural deficiencies may have been there
supplied, and the epithets of grassy and abounding in wheat, which Homer applies
to Dulichium (Od. xvi. 396), may be referred to that part of its territory. But
Leake adds, with justice, that there is no proof in the Iliad or Odyssey that
Dulichium, although at the head of an insular confederacy, was itself an island:
it may very possibly, therefore, have been a city on the coast of Acarnania, opposite
to the Echinades, perhaps at Tragamesti, or more probably at the harbour named
Pandeleimona or Platya, which is separated only by a channel of a mile or two
from the Echinades.
Homer, as we have already seen, describes the Echinades as inhabited;
but both Thucydides and Scylax represent them as deserted. (Thuc. ii. 102 Scylax,
p. 14.) Strabo simply says that they were barren and rugged (x. p. 458). Stephanus
B. names a town Apollonia situated in one of the islands (s. v. Apollonia). Pliny
gives us the names of nine of these islands: Aegialia, Cotonis, Thyatira, Geoaris,
Dionysia, Cyrnus, Chalcis, Pinara, Mystus (iv. 12. s. 19). Another of the Echinades
was Artemita (Artemita), which became united to the mainland. (Strab. i. p. 59;
Plin. iv. 1. s. 2.) Artemidorus spoke of Artemita as a peninsula near the mouth
of the Achelous, and Rhianus connected it with the Oxeiae. (Steph. B. s. v. Aptemita.)
The Oxeiae (hai Oxeiai) are sometimes spoken of as a separate group of islands
to the west of the Echinades (comp. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19), but are included by
Strabo under the general name of Echinades (x. p. 458). The Oxeiae, according
to Strabo, are mentioned by Homer under the synonymous name of Thoae (Thoai, Od.
xv. 299).
The Echinades derived their name from the echinus or the sea-urchin,
in consequence of their sharp and prickly outlines. For the same reason they were
called Oxeiae, or the Sharp Islands, a name which some of them still retain under
the slightly altered form of Oxies. Leake remarks that the Echinades are divided
into two clusters, besides Petala, which, being quite barren and close to the
mainland, is not claimed, or at least is not occupied by the Ithacans, though
anciently it was undoubtedly one of the Echinades. The northern cluster is commonly
called the Dhragonares, from Dhragonara, the principal island; and the southern,
the Oxies or Scrofes. By the Venetians they were known as the islands of Kurtzolari,
which name belongs properly to a peninsula to the left of the mouth of the Achelous,
near Oxia. Seventeen of the islands have names.besides the four Modhia, two of
which are mere rocks, and nine of them are cultivated. These are, beginning from
the southward: Oxia, Makri, Vromona, Pondikonisi, Karlonisi, Provati, Lambrino,
Sofia, Dhragonara. Oxia alone is lofty. Makri and Vromona are the two islands
next in importance. (Kruse, Hellas, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 455, seq.; Leake, Northern
Greece, vol. iii. pp. 30, seq., 50, seq.; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 104.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
EGILIPS (Ancient city) IONIAN ISLANDS
The Aegilips of Homer (Il. ii. 633) is probably the same with Aegireus,
and is placed by Leake at the modern village of Anoge; [p. 98] while he believes
the modern capital town of Bathy to occupy the site of Crocyleia. (Il. I. c.)
It is true that Strabo places Aegilips and Crocyleia in Leucas; but this appears
inconsistent with Homer and other ancient authorities.
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ELOMENOS (Municipality) LEFKADA
Ellomenus (Ellomenos), a town in Leucas, mentioned by Thucydides,
is supposed by Leake to be represented by the port of Klimino. (Thuc. iii. 94;
Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 23.)
ITHAKI (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Ithaca (Ithake: Eth. Ithakesios and Ithakos: Ithacensis and Ithacus:
Thiaki, Thiake, vulgarly; but this is merely an alteration, by a simple metathesis
of the two first letters, from Ithakn, which is known to be the correct orthography
by the Ithacans themselves, and is the name used by all educated Greeks. Leake,
Northern Greece, chap. xxii.) This island, so celebrated as the scene of a large
portion of the Homeric poems, lies off the coast of Acarnania, and is separated
from Cephallenia by a channel about 3 or 4 miles wide. Its name is said by Eustathius
(ad Il. ii. 632) to have been derived from the eponymous hero Ithacus, mentioned
in Od. xviii. 207. Strabo (x. 2) reckons the circumference of Ithaca at only 80
stadia: but this measurement is very short of the truth; its extreme length from
north to south being about 17 miles, its greatest breadth about 4 miles, and its
area nearly 45 sq. miles. The island may be described as a ridge of limestone
rock, divided by the deep and wide Gulf of Molo into two nearly equal parts, connected
by a narrow isthmus not more than half-a-mile across, and on which stands the
Paleocastro of Aetos (Aetos), traditionally known as the Castle of Ulysses. Ithaca
everywhere rises into rugged hills, of which the chief is the mountain of Anoge
(Anoge: Ital. Anoi), in the northern division, which is identified with the Neritos
of Virgil (Aen. iii. 271) and the Neriton eiosiphullon of Homer (Od. ix. 21).
Its forests have now disappeared; and this is, doubtless, the reason why rain
and dew are not so common here in the present as in Homer's age, and why the island
no longer abounds in hogs fattened on acorns like those guarded by Eumaeus. In
all other points, the poet's descriptions (Od. iv. 603, seq., xiii. 242, seq.,
ix. 27, seq.) exhibit a perfect picture of the island as it now appears, the general
aspect being one of ruggedness and sterility, rendered striking by the bold and
broken outline of the mountains and cliffs, indented by numerous harbours and
creeks (limhenes panormoi, Od. xiii. 193). The climate is healthy (alathe kourotrophos,
Od. ix. 27). It may here be observed, that the expressions applied to Ithaca,
in Od. ix. 25, 26, have puzzled all the commentators ancient and modern:
aute de chthamale panupertate ein hali keitai
pros zophon, hai de aneuthe pros eo t‘ eelion te.
(Cf. Nitzsch, ad loc.; also Od. x. 196.) Strabo (x. 2) gives perhaps the most
satisfactory explanation: he supposes that by the epithet chthamale the poet intended
to express how Ithaca lies under, as it were, the neighbouring mountains of Acarnania;
while by that of panupertate he meant to denote its position at the extremity
of the group of islands formed by Zacynthus, Cephallenia, and the Echinades. For
another explanation, see Wordsworth, Greece, Pictorial, &c., pp. 355, seq.
Ithaca is now divided into four districts (Bathu, Aetos, Anoge Ezoge,
i. e. Deep Bay, Eagle's Cliff, Highland, Outland); and, as natural causes are
likely to produce in all ages similar effects, Leake thinks it probable, from
the peculiar conformation of the island, that the four divisions of the present
day nearly correspond with those noticed by Heracleon, an author cited by Stephanus
B. (s. v. Krokuleion). The name of one of these districts is lost by a defect
in the text; the others were named Neium, Crocyleium, and Aegireus. The Aegilips
of Homer (Il. ii. 633) is probably the same with Aegireus, and is placed by Leake
at the modern village of Anoge; while he believes the modern capital town of Bathy
to occupy the site of Crocyleia. (Il. I. c.) It is true that Strabo (pp. 376,
453) places Aegilips and Crocyleia in Leucas; but this appears inconsistent with
Homer and other ancient authorities. (See Leake, l. c.)
Plutarch (Quaest. Graec. 43) and Stephanus B. (s. v.) state that the
proper name of the ancient capital of Ithaca was Alcomenae or Alalcomenae, and
that Ulysses bestowed this appellation upon it from his having been himself born
near Alalcomenae in Boeotia. But this name is not found in Homer; and a passage
in Strabo tends to identify it with the ruins on the isthmus of Aetos, where the
fortress and royal residence of the Ithacan chieftains probably stood, on account
of the advantages of a position so easily accessible to the sea both on the eastern
and western sides. It is argued by Leake that the Homeric capital city was at
Polis, a little harbour on the NW. coast of the island, where some Hellenic remains
may still be traced. For the poet (Od. iv. 844, seq.) represents the suitors as
lying in wait for Telemachus on his return from Peloponnesus at Asteris, a small
island in the channel between Ithaca and Samos (Cephalonia), where the only island
is that now called Daskhalion, situated exactly opposite the entrance to Port
Polis. The traditional name of Polis is alone a strong argument that the town,
of which the remains are still visible there, was that which Scylax (in Acarnania),
and still more especially Ptolemy (iii. 14), mentions as having borne the same
name as the island. It seems highly probable that he polis, or the city, was among
the Ithacans the most common designation of their chief town. And if the Homeric
capital was at Polis, it will follow that Mt. Neium, under which it stood (Ithakes
Uponeiou, Od. iii. 81), was the mountain of Exoge (Ital. Exoi), at the northern
extremity of the island, and that one of its summits was the Hermaean hill (Ermaios
lophos, Od. xvi. 471) from which Eumaeus saw the ship of Telemachus entering the
harbour. It becomes probable, also, that the harbour Rheithrum (Peithron), which
was under Neium but apart from the city (nosphi poleos, Od. i. 185), may be identified
with either of the neighbouring bays of Afales or Frickes. Near the village of
Exoge may be observed the substructions of an ancient building, probably a temple,
with several steps and niches cut in the rock. These remains are now called by
the neighboring peasants the School of Homer.
The Homeric Fountain of Arethusa is identifled with a copious spring
which rises at the foot of a cliff fronting the sea, near the SE. extremity of
Ithaca. This cliff is still called Korax (Korax), and is, doubtless, that alluded
to at Od. xiii. 407, seq., xiv. 5, seq., xiv. 398. (See, especially on this point,
Leake, l. c., and Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 67, seq.)
The most remarkable natural feature of Ithaca is the Gulf of Mole,
that inlet of the sea which nearly divides the island into two portions; and the
most remarkable relic of antiquity is the socalled Castle of Ulysses, placed,
as has been already intimated, on the sides and summit of the steep hill of Aetos,
on the connecting isthmus. Here may be traced several lines of inclosure, testifying
the highest antiquity in the rude structure of massive stones which compose them.
The position of several gates is distinctly marked; there are also traces of a
tower and of two large subterranean cisterns. There can be little doubt that this
is the spot to which Cicero (de Orat. i. 44) alludes in praising the patriotism
of Ulysses - ut Ithacam illam in asperrimis saxis tanquam nidulam affixam sapientissimus
vir immortalitati anteponeret. The name of Aetos, moreover, recalls the striking
scene in Od. ii. 146, seq. At the base of this hill there have been discovered
several ancient tombs. sepulchral inscriptions, vases, rings, medals, &c. The
coins of Ithaca usually bear the head of Ulysses, with the pileus, or conical
cap, and the legend Ithakon; the reverse exhibiting a cock, an emblem of the hero's
vigilance, Athena, his tutelar deity, or other devices of like import. (See Eckhel.)
The Homeric port of Phorcys (Od. xiii. 345) is supposed to be represented
by a small creek now called Dexia (probably because it is on the right of the
entrance to the harbour of Bathy), or by another creek now called Skhinos, both
on the southern side of the Gulf of Molo. (Leake, l. c.) At a cave on the side
of Mount Stephanos or Merovgli, above this gulf, and at some short distance from
the sea, is placed the Grotto of the Nymphs, in which the sleeping Ulysses was
deposited by the Phoenicians who brought him from Scheria. (Od. xiii. 116, seq.)
Leake (l. c.) considers this to be the only point in the island exactly corresponding
to the poet's data.
The modern capital of Ithaca extends in a narrow strip of white houses
round the southern extremity of the horse-shoe port, or deep (Bathu), from which
it derives its name, and which is itself but an inlet of the Gulf of Molo, often
mentioned already. After passing through similar vicissitudes to those of its
neighbours, Ithaca is now one of the seven Ionian Islands under the protectorate
of Great Britain, and contains a population exceeding 10,000 souls, - an industrious
and prosperous community. It has been truly observed that there is, perhaps, no
spot in the world where the influence of classical associations is more lively
or more pure; for Ithaca is indebted for no part of its interest to the rival
distinctions of modern annals, - so much as its name scarcely occurring in the
page of any writer of historical ages, unless with reference to its poetical celebrity.
Indeed, in A.D. 1504, it was nearly, if not quite, uninhabited, having been depopulated
by the incursions of Corsairs; and record is still extant of the privileges accorded
by the Venetian government to the settlers (probably from the neighbouring islands
and from the mainland of Greece) by whom it was repeopled. (Leake, l. c.; Bowen,
Ithaca in 1850, p. 1.)
It has been assumed throughout this article that the island still
called Ithaca is identical with the Homeric Ithaca. Of that fact there is ample
testimony in its geographical position, as well as in its internal features, when
compared with the Odyssey. To every sceptic we may say, in the words of Athena
to Ulysses (Od. xiii. 344), - all' age toi deixo Ithakes hedos hophra pepoithes.
(The arguments on the sceptical side of the question have been collected by Volcker,
Homer. Geogr. 46-74, but they have been successfully confuted by Ruhle von Lilienstern,
Ueber das Homerische Ithaca. The fullest authorities on the subject of this article
are Gell, Geography and Antiquities of Ithaca, London, 1807; Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. iii. pp. 24-55; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. pp. 38-81; Bowen, Ithaca in
1850, London, 1852.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KEFALLONIA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Cephallenia (Kephallenia, Kephalenia: Eth. Kephallen, pl. Kephallenes,
Kephallenios: Cephalonia), called by Homer Same (Same, Od. i. 246, ix. 24) or
Samos (Samos, Il. ii. 634, Od. iv. 671), the largest island in the Ionian Sea,
opposite the Corinthian gulf and the coast of Acarnania. Along the northern half
of the eastern coast of Cephallenia lies the small island of Ithaca, which is
separated from it by a narrow channel about three miles in breadth. (Comp. Hom.
Od. iv. 671.) Strabo says that Cephallenia was distant from the promontory Leucata
in the island of Leucas about 50 stadia (others said 40), and from the promontory
Chelonatas, the nearest point in the Peloponnesus, about 80 stadia. (Strab. x.
p. 456.) Pliny describes it as 25 (Roman) miles from Zacynthus. (Plin. iv. 12.
s. 19.) The first of these distances is tolerably correct; but the other two are
erroneous. From C. Viscardo, the most northerly point of Cephallenia, to C. Dukato
(the ancient Leucata), the distance is 5 English miles, or about 40 stadia; but
from C. Scala, the most southerly point in Cephallenia, to C. Tornese, the nearest
point in the Morea, the distance is 23 miles, or about 196 stadia; while from
C. Scala to the northernmost part of Zacynthus the real distance is only 8 miles.
The size of Cephallenia is variously stated by the ancient writers.
Strabo makes it only 300 stadia in circuit. Pliny (l. c., according to Sillig's
edition) says that it is 93 miles in circumference; and Agathemerus (i. 5) that
it is 400 stadia in length, both of which measurements are nearer the truth, though
that of Agathemerus is too great. The greatest length of the island is 31 English
miles. Its breadth is very unequal: in the middle of the island, where a bay extends
eight miles into the land, the breadth is about 8 miles, but in the northern part
it is nearly double that distance. The area of the island is about 348 square
miles.
Cephallenia is correctly described by Strabo as a mountainous country.
Homer in like manner gives to it the epithet of paipaloesse (Od. iv. 671). A ridge
of calcareous mountains runs across the island from NW. to SE., the lower declivities
of which cover nearly the whole island. The highest summit of this range, which
rises to the height of about 4000 feet, was called Aenus (Hainos), and upon it
was a temple of Zeus Aenesius. (Strab. l. c.) From this mountain, which is now
covered with a forest of firtrees, whence its modern name, Elato, there is a splendid
view over Acarnania, Aetolia, and the neighbouring islands. There was also a mountain
called Baea (Baia) according to Stephanus, said to have been named after the pilot
of Ulysses. The principal plain in Cephallenia is that of Same, on the eastern
side of the island, which is about 6 miles in length from N. to S., and about
3 miles in width at the sea. From the mountainous character of the island, it
could never have been very productive. Hence Livy (xxxviii. 28) describes the
inhabitants as a poor people. We read on one occasion of good crops of corn in
the neighbourhood of Pale. (Pol. v. 5.) Leake observes that the soil is rocky
in the mountainous districts, and stony even in the plains; but the productions
are generally good in their kind, particularly the wine. Want of water is the
great defect of the island. There is not a single constantly flowing stream: the
sources are neither numerous nor plentiful, and many of them fail entirely in
dry summers, creating sometimes a great distress.
The island, as has been already remarked, is called Same or Samos
in Homer. Its earliest inhabitants appear to have been Taphians, as was the case
in the neighbouring islands. (Strab. x. p. 461.) It is said to have derived its
name from Cephalus, who made himself master of the island with the help of Amphitryon.
(Strab. x. p. 456; Schol. ad Lycophr. 930; Paus. i. 37. § 6; Heraclid. Pont. Fragm.
xvii. p. 213, ed. Korai.) Even in Homer the inhabitants of the island are called
Cephallenes, and are described as the subjects of Ulysses (Il. ii. 631, Od. xx.
210, xxiv. 355); but Cephallenia, as the name of the island, first occurs in Herodotus
(ix. 28). Scylax calls it Cephalenia (Kephalenia, with a single l), and places
it in the neighbourhood of Leucas and Alyzia.
Cephallenia was a tetrapolis, containing the four states of Same,
Pale, Cranii, and Proni. This division of the island appears to have been a very
ancient one, since a legend derived the names of the four cities from the names
of the four sons of Cephalus. (Etym. M. s. v. Kephallenia; Steph. B. s. v. Kranioi.)
Of these states Same was probably the most ancient, as it is mentioned by Homer
(Od. xx. 288). The names of all the four cities first occur in Thucydides. (Thuc.
ii. 30; comp. Strab. x. p. 455; Paus. vi. 15. § 7.) An account of these cities
is given separately; but as none of them became of much importance, the history
of the island may be dismissed in a few words. In the Persian wars the Cephallenians
took no part, with the exception of the inhabitants of Pale, two hundred of whose
citizens fought at the battle of Plataea. (Herod. ix. 28.) At the commencement
of the Peloponnesian war a large Athenian fleet visited the island, which joined
the Athenian alliance without offering any resistance. (Thuc. ii. 30.) In the
Roman wars in Greece the Cephallenians were opposed to the Romans; and accordingly,
after the conquest of the Aetolians, M. Fulvius was sent against the island with
a sufficient force, B.C. 189. The other cities at once submitted, with the exception
of Same, which was taken after a siege of four months. (Pol. iv. 6, v. 3, xxii.
13, 23; Liv. xxxvii. 13, xxxviii. 28, 29.) Under the Romans Cephallenia was a
libera civitas. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.) The island was given by Hadrian to the
Athenians (Dion Cass. lix. 16); but even after that event we find Pale called
in an inscription eleuthera kai autonomos. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 340.) In the time
of Ptolemy (iii. 14. § 12) Cephallenia was included in the province of Epeirus.
After the division of the Roman empire, the island was subject to the Byzantine
empire till the 12th century, when it passed into the hands of the Franks. It
formed part of the dominions of the Latin princes of Achaia till A.D. 1224, when
it became subject to the Venetians, in whose hands it remained (with the exception
of a temporary occupation by the Turks) till the fall of the Republic in 1797.
It is now one of the seven Ionian islands under the protection of Great Britain.
In 1833 the population was 56,447.
Of the four cities already mentioned, Same and Proni were situated
on the east coast, Cranii on the west coast, and Pale on the eastern side of a
bay on the west coast. Besides these four ancient cities, there are also ruins
of a fifth upon C. Scala, the SE. point of the island. These ruins are of the
Roman period, and probably those of the city, which C. Antonius, the colleague
of Cicero in his consulship, commenced building, when he was residing in Cephallenia
after his banishment from Italy. (Strab. x. p. 455). Ptolemy mentions a town Cephalenia
as the capital of the island. This may have been either the town commenced by
Antonius, or is perhaps represented by the modern castle of St. George in the
middle of the plain of Livadho in the south-western part of the island, where
ancient remains have been found. Besides these cities, it appears from several
Hellenic names still remaining, that there were other smaller towns or fortresses
in the island. On a peninsula in the northern part of the island, commanding two
harbours, is a fortress called Asso; and as there is a piece of Hellenic wall
in the modern castle, Leake conjectures that here stood an ancient fortress named
Assus. Others suppose that as Livy (xxxviii. 18) mentions the Nesiotae, along
with the Cranii, Palenses, and Samaei, there was an ancient place called Nesus,
of which Asso may be a corruption ; but we think it more probable that Nesiotae
is a false reading for Pronesiotae, the ethnic form of Pronesus, the name which
Strabo gives to Proni, one of the members of the Tetrapolis. Further south on
the western coast is Tafio, where many ancient sepulchres are found: this is probably
the site of Taphus (Taphos), a Cephallenian town mentioned by Stephanus. Rakli,
on the south-eastern coast, points to an ancient town Heracleia; and the port
of Viskardho is evidently the ancient Panormus (Panormos), opposite Ithaca (Anthol.
Gr. vol. ii. p. 99, ed. Jacobs). (Kruse, Hellas, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 431, seq.;
Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 55, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KERKYRA (Ancient city) IONIAN ISLANDS
KRANI (Ancient city) ARGOSTOLI
Kranioi. A town of Cephallenia, situated at the head of a bay on the
western coast. In B.C. 431 it joined the Athenian alliance, together with the
other Cephallenian towns (Thuc. ii. 30); in consequence of which the Corinthians
made a descent upon the territory of Cranii, but were repulsed with loss. (Thuc.
ii. 33.) In B.C. 421 the Athenians settled at Cranii the Messenians who were withdrawn
from Pylos on the surrender of that fortress to the Lacedaemonians. (Thuc. v.
35.) Cranii surrendered to the Romans without resistance in B.C. 189. (Liv. xxxviii.
28.) It is mentioned both by Strabo (x.) and Pliny (iv. 12. s. 19).
The ruins of Cranii are near the modern town of Argostoli. Leake remarks
that the walls of Cranii are among the best extant specimens of the military architecture
of the Greeks, and a curious example of their attention to strength of position
in preference to other conveniences; for nothing can be more rugged or forbidding
than the greater part of the site. The enclosure, which was of a quadrilateral
form, and little, if at all, less than three miles in circumference, followed
the crests of several rocky summits, surrounding an elevated hollow which falls
to the south-western extremity of the gulf of Argostoli. The walls may be traced
in nearly their whole circumference.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LEFKADA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Leucas, Leucadia (Leukas, Thuc., Xen., Strab.; Leukadia, Thuc. Liv.:
Eth. Leukadios, an island in the Ionian sea, separated by a narrow channel from
the coast of Acarnania. It was originally part of the mainland, and as such is
described by Homer, who calls it the Acte or peninsula of the mamland. (Akte epeiroio,
Od. xxiv. 377; comp. Strab. x. pp. 451, 452.) Homer also mentions its well-fortified
town Nericus (Nerikos, l. c.) Its earliest inhabitants were Leleges and Teleboans
(Strab. vii. p. 322), but it was afterwards peopled by Acarnanians, who retained
possession of it till the middle of the seventh century B.C., when the Corinthians,
under Cypselus, founded a new town near the isthmus, which they called Leucas,
where they settled 1000 of their citizens, and to which they removed the inhabitants
of the old town of Nericus. (Strab. l. c.; Scylax, p. 13; Thuc. i. 30; Plut. Them.
24; Scymn. Chius, 464.) Scylax says that the town was first called Epileucadii.
The Corinthian colonists dug a canal through this isthmus, and thus converted
the peninsula into an island. (Strab. l. c.) This canal, which was called Dioryctus,
and was, according to Pliny, 3 stadia in length (Lioruktos, Polyb. v. 5; Plin.
iv. 1. s. 2), was after filled up by deposits of sand; and in the Peloponnesian
War, it was no longer available for ships, which during that period were conveyed
across the isthmus on more than one occasion. (Thuc. iii. 81, iv. 8.) It was in
the same state in B.C. 218; for Polybius relates (v. 5) that Philip, the son of
Demetrius, had his galleys drawn across this isthmus in that year; and Livy, in
relating the siege of Leucas by the Romans in B.C. 197, says, Leucadia, nunc insula,
et vadoso freto quod perfossum manu est, ab Acarnania divisa (xxxiii. 17). The
subsequent restoration of the canal, and the construction of a stone bridge, both
of which were in existence in the time of Strabo, were no doubt the work of the
Romans; the canal was probably restored soon after the Roman conquest, when the
Romans separated Leucas from the Acarnanian confederacy, and the bridge was perhaps
constructed by order of Augustus, whose policy it was to facilitate communications
throughout his dominions.
Leucadia is about 20 miles in length, and from 5 to 8 miles in breadth.
It resembles the Isle of Man in shape and size. It consists of a range of limestone
mountains, terminating at its north-eastern extremity in a bold and rugged headland,
whence the coast runs in a south-west direction to the promontory, anciently called
Leucates, which has been corrupted by the Italians into Cape Ducato. The name
of the cape, as well as of the island, is of course derived from its white cliffs.
The southern shore is more soft in aspect, and more sloping and cultivated than
the rugged rocks of the northern coast; but the most populous and wooded district
is that opposite Acarnania. The interior of the island wears everywhere a rugged
aspect. There is but little cultivation, except where terraces have been planted
on the mountain sides, and covered with vineyards. The highest ridge of the mountains
rises about 3000 feet above the sea.
Between the northern coast of Leucadia and that of Acarnania there
is at present a lagoon about 3 miles in length, while its breadth varies from
100 yards to a mile and a half. The lagoon is in most parts only about 2 feet
deep. This part of the coast requires a more particular description, which will
be rendered clearer by the accompanying plan. At the north-eastern extremity of
Leucadia a lido, or spit, of sand, 4 miles in length, sweeps out towards Acarnania.
On an isolated point opposite the extremity of this sandbank, is the fort of Santa
Maura, erected in the middle ages by one of the Latin princes, but repaired and
modelled both by the Turks and Venetians. The fort was connected with the island
by an aqueduct, serving also as a causeway, 1300 yards in length, and with 260
arches. It was originally built by the Turks, but was ruined by an earthquake
in 1825, and has not since been repaired. It was formerly the residence of the
Venetian governor and the chief men of the island, who kept here their magazines
and the cars (hamaxai) on which they carried down their oil and wine from the
inland districts, at the nearest point of the island. The congregation of buildings
thus formed, and to which the inhabitants of the fortress gradually retired as
the seas became more free from corsairs, arose by degrees to be the capital and
seat of government, and is called, in memory of its origin, Amaxichi (Amaxichion).
Hence the fort alone is properly called Santa Maura, and the capital Amaxichi;
while the island at large retains its ancient name of Leucadia. The ruins of the
ancient town of Leucas are situated a mile and a half to the SE. of Amaxichi.
The site is called Kaligoni, and consists of irregular heights forming the last
falls of the central ridge of the island, at the foot of which is a narrow plain
between the heights and the lagoon. The ancient inclosure is almost entirely traceable,
as well round the brow of the height on the northern, western, and southern sides,
as from either end of the height across the plain to the lagoon, and along its
shore. This, as Leake observes, illustrates Livy, who remarks (xxxiii. 17) that
the lower parts of Leucas were on a level close to the shore. The remains on the
lower ground are of a more regular, and, therefore, more modern masonry than on
the heights above. The latter are probably the remains of Nericus, which continued
to be the ancient acropolis, while the Corinthians gave the name of Leucas to
the town which they erected on the shore below. This is, indeed, in opposition
to Strabo, who not only asserts that the name was changed by the Corinthian colony,
but also that Leucas was built on a different site from that of Neritus. (x. p.
452). But, on the other hand, the town continued to be called Nericus even as
late as the Peloponnesian War (Thuc. iii. 7); and numerous instances occur in
history of different quarters of the same city being known by distinct names.
Opposite to the middle of the ancient city are the remains of the bridge and causeway
which here crossed the lagoon. The bridge was rendered necessary by a channel,
which pervades the whole length of the lagoon, and admits a passage to boats drawing
5 or 6 feet of water, while the other parts of the lagoon are not more than 2
feet in depth. The great squared blocks which formed the ancient causeway are
still seen above the shallow water in several places on either side of the deep
channel, but particularly towards the Acarnanian shore. The bridge seems to have
been kept in repair at a late period of time, there being a solid cubical fabric
of masonry of more modern workmanship erected on the causeway on the western bank
of the channel. Leake, from whom this description is taken, argues that Strabo
could never have visited Leucadia, because he states that this isthmus, the ancient
canal, the Roman bridge, and the city of Leucas were all in the same place; whereas
the isthmus and the canal, according to Leake, were near the modern fort Santa
Maura, at the distance of 3 miles north of the city of Leucas. But K. O. Muller,
who is followed by Bowen and others, believe that the isthmus and canal were a
little south of the city of Leucas, that is, between Fort Alexander (Plan, 2)
on the island, and Paleocaglia on the mainland. The channel is narrowest at this
point, not being more than 100 yards across; and it is probable that the old capital
would have been built close to the isthmus connecting the peninsula with the mainland.
It has been conjectured that the long spit of sand, on which the fort Santa Maura
has been built, probably did not exist in antiquity, and may have been thrown
up at first by an earthquake.
Between the fort Santa Maura and the modern town Amaxichi, the Anglo-Ionian
government have constructed a canal, with a towing-path, for boats drawing not
more than 4 or 5 feet of water. A ship-canal, 16 feet deep, has also been commenced
across the whole length of the lagoon from Fort Santa Maura to Fort Alexander.
This work, if it is ever brought to a conclusion, will open a sheltered passage
for large vessels along the Acarnanian coast, and will increase and facilitate
the commerce of the island. (Bowen, p. 78.)
Of the history of the city of Leucas we have a few details. It sent
three ships to the battle of Salamis (Herod. viii. 45); and as a colony of Corinth,
it sided with the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnesian War, and was hence exposed
to the hostility of Athens. (Thuc. iii. 7.) In the Macedonian period Leucas was
the chief town of Acarnania, and the place in which the meetings of the Acarnanian
confederacy were held. In the war between Philip and the Romans, it sided with
the Macedonian monarch, and was taken by the Romans after a gallant defence, B.C.
197. (Liv. xxxiii. 17.) After the conquest of Perseus, Leucas was separated by
the Romans from the Acarnanian confederacy. (Liv. xlv. 31.) It continued to be
a place of importance down to a late period, as appears from the fact that the
bishop of Leucas was one of the Fathers of the Council of Nice in A.D. 325. The
constitution of Leucas, like that of other Dorian towns, was originally aristocratical.
The large estates were in the possession of the nobles, who were not allowed to
alienate them; but when this law was abolished, a certain amount of property was
no longer required for the holding of public offices, by which the government
became democratic. (Aristot. Pol. ii. 4. § 4.)
Besides Leucas we have mention of two other places in the island,
Phara (Phara, Scylax, p. 13), and Hellomenum (ellomenon, Thuc. iii. 94). The latter
name is preserved in that of a harbour in the southern part of the island. Pherae
was also in the same direction, as it is described by Scylax as opposite to Ithaca.
It is perhaps represented by some Hellenic remains, which stand at the head of
the bay called Basilike.
The celebrated promontory Leucatas (Leukatas, Scylax, p. 13; Strab.
x. pp. 452, 456, 461), also called Leucates or Leucate (Plin. iv. 1. s. 2; Virg.
Aen. iii. 274, viii. 676; Claud. Bell. Get. 185; Liv. xxvi. 26), forming the south-western
extremity of the island, is a broken white cliff, rising on the western side perpendicularly
from the sea to the height of at least 2000 feet, and sloping precipitously into
it on the other. On its summit stood the temple of Apollo, hence surnamed Leucatas
(Strab. x. p. 452), and Leucadius (Ov. Trist. iii. 1. 42, v. 2. 76; Propert. iii.
11. 69). This cape was dreaded by mariners; hence the words of Virgil (Aen. iii.
274):
Mox et Leucatae nimbosa cacumina montis,
Et formidatus nautis aperitur Apollo.
It still retains among the Greek mariners of the present day the evil
fame which it bore of old in consequence of the dark water, the strong currents,
and the fierce gales which they there encounter. Of the temple of Apollo nothing
but the substructions now exist. At the annual festival of the god here celebrated
it was the custom to throw a criminal from the cape into the sea; to break his
fall, birds of all kinds were attached to him, and if he reached the sea uninjured,
boats were ready to pick him up. (Strab. x. p. 452; Ov. Her. xv. 165, seq., Trist.
v. 2. 76; Cic. Tusc. iv. 1. 8) This appears to have been an expiatory rite, and
is supposed by most modern scholars to have given rise to the well-known story
of Sappho's leap from this rock in order to seek relief from the pangs of love.
Col. Mure, however, is disposed to consider Sappho's leap as an historical fact.
(History of the Literature of Greece, vol. iii. p. 285.) Many other persons are
reported to have followed Sappho's example, among whom the most celebrated was
Artemisia of Halicarnassus, the ally of Xerxes, in his invasion of Greece. (Ptolem.
Heph. ap. Phot. Cod. 190. p. 153, a., ed. Bekker.) (Leake, North. Greece, vol.
iii. p. 10, seq. ; Bowen, Handbook for Travellers in Greece, p. 75, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PALI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
Eth. Paleis, Pales, Thuc.; Palenses: the city itself is usually called
Paleis: also he Palaieon polis, Polyb. v. 3. A town in Cephallenia on the eastern
side of a bay in the north-western part of the island. It is first mentioned in
the Persian wars, when two hundred of its citizens fought at the battle of Plataea,
alongside of the Leucadians and Anactorians. (Herod. ix. 28.) It also sent four
ships to the assistance of the Corinthians against the Corcyraeans just before
the commencement of the Peloponnesian War (Thuc. i. 27); from which circumstance,
together with its fighting along with the Corinthian Leucadians and Anactorians
at the battle of Plataea, it has been conjectured that Pale was a Corinthian colony.
But whether this was the case or not, it joined the Athenian alliance, together
with the other towns of the island, in B.C. 431. (Thuc. ii. 30.) At a later period
Pale espoused the side of the Aetolians against the Achaeans, and was accordingly
besieged by Philip, who would have taken the city but for the treachery of one
of his own officers. (Pol. v. 3, 4.) Polybius describes Pale as surrounded by
the sea, and by precipitous heights on every side, except the one looking towards
Zacynthus. He further states that it possessed a fertile territory, in which a
considerable quantity of corn was grown. Pale surrendered to the Romans without
resistance in ra. c. 189 (Liv. xxxviii. 28); and after the capture of Same by
the Romans in that year, it became the chief town in the island. It was in existence
in the time of Hadrian, in whose reign it is called in an inscription eleuthera
kai autonomos. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 340.) According to Pherecydes, Pale was the
Homeric Dulichium : this opinion was rejected by Strabo (x. p. 456), but accepted
by Pausanias (vi. 15. § 7).
The remains of Pale are seen on a small height, about a mile and a
half to the north of the modern Lixuri. Scarcely anything is left of the ancient
city; but the name is still retained in that of Palio and of Paliki, the former
being the name of the plain around the ruins of the city, and the latter that
of the whole peninsula. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 64.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PRONI (Ancient city) KEFALLINIA
Pronni, or Pronesus (Pronnoi, Pol.; Pronaioi, Thuc.; Pronesos, Strab.).
One of the four towns of Cephallenia, situated upon the south-eastern coast. Together
with the other towns of Cephallenia it joined the Athenian alliance in B.C. 431.
(Thuc. ii. 30.) It is described by Polybius as a small fortress; but it was so
difficult to besiege that Philip did not venture to attack it, but sailed against
Pale. (Pol. v. 3.) Livy, in his account of the surrender of Cephallenia to the
Romans in B.C. 189, speaks of the Nesiotae, Cranii, Palenses, and Samaei. Now
as we know that Proni was one of the four towns of Cephallenia, it is probable
that Nesiotae is a false reading for Pronesiotae, which would be the ethnic form
of Pronesus, the name of the town in Strabo (x. p. 455). Proni or Pronesus was
one of the three towns which continued to exist in the island after the destruction
of Same. (Comp. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.) The remains of Proni are found not far above
the shore of Limenia, a harbour about 3 miles to the northward of C. Kapri. (Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 66.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SAMI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
Same, Samos, Eth.: Samaios: Samo. The most ancient city in Cephallenia,
which is also the name of this island in the poems of Homer. The city stood upon
the eastern coast, and upon the channel separating Cephallenia and Ithaca. (Strab.
x. p. 455.) Along with the other Cephallenian towns it joined the Athenian alliance
in B.C. 43. (Thuc. ii. 30.) When M. Fulvius passed over into Cephallenia in B.C.
189, Samos at first submitted to the Romans along with the other towns of the
island; but it shortly afterwards revolted, and was not taken till after a siege
of four months, when all the inhabitants were sold as slaves. (Liv. xxxviii. 28,
29.) It appears from Livy's narrative that Same had two citadels, of which the
smaller was called Cyatis; the larger he designates simply as the major arx. In
the time of Strabo there existed only a few vestiges of the ancient city. (Strab.
l. c.; comp. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.)
Same has given its name to the modern town of Samo, and to the bay
upon which it stands. Its position and the remains of the ancient city are described
by Leake. It stood at the northern extremity of a wide valley, which borders the
bay, and which is overlooked to the southward by the lofty summit of Mount Aenus
(Elato). It was built upon the north-western face of a bicipitous height, which
rises from the shore at the northern end of the modern town. The ruins and vestiges
of the ancient walls show that the city occupied the two summits, an intermediate
hollow, and their slope as far as the sea. On the northern of the two summits
are the ruins of an acropolis, which seems to have been the major arx mentioned
by Livy. On the southern height there is a monastery, on one side of which are
some remains of a Hellenic wall, and which seems to be the site of the Cyatis,
or smaller citadel. There are considerable remains of the town walls. The whole
circuit of the city was barely two miles. (Leake, Northern Greece. vol. iii. p.
55.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
STROFADES (Island complex) ZAKYNTHOS
Strophades (Strophades: Eth. Strophadeus: Strofadia and Strivali),
formerly called Plotae (Plotai), two small islands in the Ionian sea, about 35
miles S. of Zacynthus, and 400 stadia distant from Cyparissia in Messenia, to
which city they belonged. The sons of Boreas pursued the Harpies to these islands,
which were called the Turning islands, because the Boreadae here returned from
the pursuit. (Strab. viii. p. 359; Ptol. iii. 16. § 23; Steph. B. s. v.; Plin.
iv. 12. s. 19; Mela, ii. 7; Apoll. Rhod. ii. 296; Apollod. i. 9. § 21; Virg. Aen.
iii. 210; It. Ant. p. 523.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
TILEVOIDES ISLANDS (Island complex) IONIAN ISLANDS
Taphiae and more anciently Teleboides, a number of small islands off
the western coast of Greece, between Leucas and Acarnania (Plin. iv. 12. s. 19),
also called the islands of the Taphii or Teleboae (Taphion, Teleboon nesoi, Strab.
x. p. 459), who are frequently mentioned in the Homeric poems as pirates. (Od.
xv. 427, xvi. 426.) When Athena visited Telemachus at Ithaca, she assumed the
form of Mentes, the leader of the Taphians. (Od. i. 105.) The Taphians or Teleboans
are celebrated in the legend of Amphitryon, and are said to have been subdued
by this hero. (Herod. v. 59; Apollod. ii. 4. § § 6, 7; Strab. l. c.; Plaut. Amph.
i. 1; Dict. of Biog. art. Amphitryon.) The principal island is called Taphos (Taphos)
by Homer (Od. i. 417), and by later writers Taphius, Taphiussa, or Taphias (Taphious,
Taphioussa, Taphias, Strab. l. e.; Plin. l. c.; Steph. B. s. v. Taphos), now Meganisi.
The next largest island of the Taphii was Carnus, now Kalamo. (Scylax, p. 13;
Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 16; Dodwell, vol. i. p. 60.)
Stephanus B. mentions a town in Cephallenia, named Taphus, represented by the
modern Tafio, where many ancient sepulchres are found. (Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. iii. p. 67.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ZAKYNTHOS (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Zacynthus (Zakunthos: Eth. Zakunthios: Zante), an island in the Sicilian
sea, lying off the western coast of Peloponnesus, opposite the promontory Chelonatas
in Elis, and to the S. of the island of Cephallenia, from which it was distant
25 miles, according to Pliny, (iv. 12. s. 19) but according to Strabo, only 60
stadia (x. p. 458). The latter is very nearly correct, the real distance being
8 English miles. Its circumference is stated by Pliny at 36 M. P., by Strabo at
160 stadia; but the island is at least 50 miles round, its greatest length being
23 English miles. The island is said to have been originally called Hyrie (Plin.
l. c.), and to have been colonized by Zacynthus, the son of Dardanus, from Psophis
in Arcadia, whence the acropolis of the city of Zacynthus was named Psophis. (Paus.
viii. 24. § 3; Steph. B. s. v.) We have the express statement of Thucydides that
the Zacynthians were a colony of Achaeans from Peloponnesus (ii. 66). In Homer,
who gives the island the epithet of woody (huleeis and huleessa), Zacynthus forms
part of the dominions of Ulysses. (Il. ii. 634, Od. i. 246, ix. 24, xvi. 123,
250; Strab. x. p. 457.) It appears to have attained considerable importance at
an early period; for according to a very ancient tradition Saguntum in Spain was
founded by the Zacynthians, in conjunction with the Rutuli of Ardea. (Liv. xxi.
7; Plin. xvi. 40. s. 79; Strab. iii. p. 159.) Bocchus stated that Saguntum was
founded by the Zacynthians 200 years before the Trojan War (ap. Plin. l. c.) In
consequence probably of their Achaean origin, the Zacynthians were hostile to
the Lacedaemonians, and hence we find that fugitives from Sparta fled for refuge
to this island. (Herod. vi. 70, ix. 37.) In the Peloponnesian War the Zacynthians
sided with Athens (Thuc. ii. 7, 9); and in B.C. 430 the Lacedaemonians made an
unsuccessful attack upon their city. (Ib. 66.) The Athenians in their expedition
against Pylus found Zacynthus a convenient station for their fleet. (Id. iv. 8,
13.) The Zacynthians are enumerated among the autonomous allies of Athens in the
Sicilian expedition. (Id. vii. 57.) After the Peloponnesian War, Zacynthus seems
to have passed under the supremacy of Sparta; for in B.C. 374, Timotheus, the
Athenian commander, on his return from Corcyra, landed some Zacynthian exiles
on the island, and assisted them in establishing a fortified post. These must
have belonged to the anti-Spartan party; for the Zacynthian government applied
for help to the Spartans, who sent a fleet of 25 sail to Zacynthus. (Xen. Hell.
vi. 2. 3; Diodor. xv. 45, seq.; as to the statements of Diodorus, see Grote, Hist.
of Greece, vol. x. p. 192.) The Zacynthians assisted Dion in his expedition to
Syracuse with the view of expelling the tyrant Dionysius, B.C. 357. (Diod. xvi.
6, seq.; Plut. Dion, 22, seq.) At the time of the Roman wars in Greece we find
Zacynthus in the possession of Philip of Macedon. (Polyb. v. 102.) In B.C. 211
the Roman praetor M. Valerius Laevinus, took the city of Zacynthus, with the exception
of the citadel. (Liv. xxvi. 24.) It was afterwards restored to Philip, by whom
it was finally surrendered to the Romans in B.C. 191. (Id. xxxvi. 32.) In the
Mithridatic War it was attacked by Archelaus, the general of Mithridates, but
he was repulsed. (Appian, Mithr. 45.) Zacynthus subsequently shared the fate of
the other Ionian islands, and is now subject to Great Britain.
The chief town of the island, also named Zacynthus (Liv. xxvi. 14;
Strab. x. p. 458; Ptol. iii. 14. § 13), was situated upon the eastern shore. Its
site is occupied by the modern capital, Zante, but nothing remains of the ancient
city, except a few columns and inscriptions. The situation of the town upon the
margin of a semi-circular bay is very picturesque. The citadel probably occupied
the site of the modern castle. The beautiful situation of the city and the fertility
of the island have been celebrated in all ages (kala polis ha Zakunthos, Theocr.
Id. iv. 32; Strab., Plin., ll. cc.). It no longer deserves the epithet of woody,
given to it by Homer (l. c.) and Virgil ( nemorosa Zacynthos, Aen. iii. 270);
but its beautiful olive-gardens, vineyards, and gardens, justify the Italian proverb,
which calls Zante the flower of the Levant.
The most remarkable natural phenomenon in Zante is the celebrated
pitch-wells, which are accurately described by Herodotus (iv. 195), and are mentioned
by Pliny (xxxv. 15. s. 51). They are situated about 12 miles from the city, in
a small marshy valley near the shore of the Bay of Chieri, on the SW. coast. A
recent observer has given the following account of them: There are two springs,
the principal surrounded by a low wall; here the pitch is seen bubbling up under
the clear water, which is about a foot deep over the pitch itself, with which
it comes out of the earth. The pitch-bubbles rise with the appearance of an India-rubber
bottle until the air within bursts, and the pitch falls back and runs off. It
produces about three barrels a day, and can be used when mixed with pine-pitch,
though in a pure state it is comparatively of no value. The other spring is in
an adjoining vineyard; but the pitch does not bubble up, and is in fact only discernible
by the ground having a burnt appearance, and by the feet adhering to the surface
as one walks over it. The demand for the pitch of Zante is now very small, vegetable
pitch being preferable. (Bowen, in Murray's Handbook for Greece, p. 93.) The existence
of these pitch-wells, as well as of numerous hot springs, is a proof of the volcanic
agency at work in the island; to which it may be added that earthquakes are frequent.
Pliny mentions Mt. Elatus in Zacynthus ( Mons Elatus ibi nobilis, Plin. l. c.),
probably Mt. Skopo, which raises its curiously jagged summit to the height of
1300 feet above the eastern extremity of the bay of Zante. (Dodwell, Tour through
Greece, vol. i. p. 83, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ZAKYNTHOS (Ancient city) ZAKYNTHOS
The chief town of the island, also named Zacynthus (Liv. xxvi. 14;
Strab. x. p. 458; Ptol. iii. 14. § 13), was situated upon the eastern shore. Its
site is occupied by the modern capital, Zante, but nothing remains of the ancient
city, except a few columns and inscriptions. The situation of the town upon the
margin of a semi-circular bay is very picturesque. The citadel probably occupied
the site of the modern castle. The beautiful situation of the city and the fertility
of the island have been celebrated in all ages (kala polis ha Zakunthos, Theocr.
Id. iv. 32; Strab., Plin., ll. cc.). It no longer deserves the epithet of woody,
given to it by Homer and Virgil (nemorosa Zacynthos, Aen. iii. 270); but its beautiful
olive-gardens, vineyards, and gardens, justify the Italian proverb, which calls
Zante the flower of the Levant.
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CORFU (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Kerkura, later Korkura. An island in the Ionian Sea, off the
coast of Epirus, in which Homer is thought to have placed the fabled gardens of
Alcinous. It is said to have been first known under the name of Drepane, perhaps
from its similarity of shape to a scythe. To this name succeeded that of Scheria,
always used by Homer, and by which it was possibly known in his time. From the
Odyssey we learn that this island was then inhabited by Phaeacians, a people who,
even at that early period, had acquired considerable skill in nautical affairs
and possessed extensive commercial relations, since they traded with the Ph?nicians,
and also with Euboea and other countries. Corcyra was in after-days the principal
city of the island, and was situated precisely where the modern town of Corfu
stands. Scylax speaks of three harbours, one of which is depicted as beautiful.
In the Middle Ages, the citadel obtained the name of Korupho, from its two conical
hills or crests, which appellation was, in process of time, applied to the whole
town and finally to the island itself. Hence the modern name of Corfu, which is
but a corruption of the former. The following is a sketch of the history of this
island. Its earlier periods are enveloped in the mist of uncertainty and conjecture.
A colony of Colchians is said to have settled there about 1349 years before our
era. In process of time, Corcyra, enriched and aggrandized by its maritime superiority,
became one of the most powerful nations in Greece. The Corinthians, under Chersicrates,
formed a settlement here in B.C. 753, and 415 years afterwards it was captured
by Agathocles of Syracuse, who gave it to his daughter Lanessa upon her marriage
with Pyrrhus of Epirus. It was occupied by the troops of the Illyrian queen Teuta,
about fifty-eight years after its seizure by Agathocles, but was soon after taken
from her by the Romans, under the consul Cn. Flavius; and, although it had the
privileges of a free city, it remained under the Romans for many centuries. In
the time of Strabo it was reduced to extreme misery.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ECHINADES (Island complex) IONIAN ISLANDS
(Echinades nesoi). A group of small islands at the mouth of
the Achelous belonging to Acarnania, said to have been formed by the alluvial
deposits of the Achelous. They appear to have derived their name from their resemblance
to the echinus, or sea-urchin. The largest of these islands was named Dulichium,
and belonged to the kingdom of Odysseus, who is hence called Dulichius.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ITHAKI (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
(Ithake). Now Thiaki; an island in the Ionian Sea, off the coast
of Epirus, celebrated as the birthplace of Odysseus. It is about twelve miles
long, and four in its greatest breadth, and is divided into two parts, which are
connected by a narrow isthmus not more than half a mile across. In each of these
parts there is a mountain ridge of considerable height--the one in the north called
Neritum, and the one in the south Neium. The city of Ithaca, the residence of
Odysseus, was situated on a precipitous, conical hill, now called Aeto, or "eagle's
cliff," occupying the whole breadth of the isthmus mentioned above. Its summit
is still surrounded by Cyclopean walls and shows traces of fortifications. The
chief town of the island is now called Vathy.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KEFALLONIA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
The modern Cefalonia; called by Homer Same (Same) or Samos (Samos);
the largest island in the Ionian Sea, separated from Ithaca by a narrow channel.
It is very mountainous. Its chief towns were Same, Pale, Cranii, and Proni. It
never obtained political importance. It is now one of the seven Ionian islands
ceded by Great Britain to Greece in 1864.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KERKYRA (Ancient city) IONIAN ISLANDS
(Drepanon, a sickle). The ancient name of Corcyra.
KRANI (Ancient city) ARGOSTOLI
Kranioi. A town of Cephallenia on the south coast.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
