The ancient Greeks referred to the islands by the same name (the name of the islands reflects the land’s wealth in wine as the word “oíno” means in greek wine.) The historian Thoukydídis (5th century BC) wrote that the Athenian fleet used the islands as their base of operations against Chíos. In the area around…
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During antiquity the island was known as PITYOÚSA (many pines) and MÁKRIS (due to its long shape). During Homeric times it was called PAIPALÓESSA, meaning rocky. The name “CHÍOS” was taken from the mythological son of the sea god Poseidónas. The island was inhabited from the Stone Age (findings in Ágios Gálas). During the 16th…
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Mytilene The city of Mytilene, the capital of the island, is spread over seven hills and is one of the oldest cities in Greece, with a history dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. In antiquity, Mytilene was located on the easternmost coast of Lesvos on a small island that was later joined to Lesvos…
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According to Greek Mythology, it took its name from Ithaca, son of Poseidon and Amfiali, the first inhabitant of the island. According to other views, its name came from the word “Ithi” (cheerful) or from the word “Ithis” (steep). In the period of the Early Helladic civilization (3000 – 2000 BC) are the first traces…
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It is the largest island and the most mountainous of the islands of the Ionian Sea but the third in population, after Corfu and Zakynthos. There are two versions of the origin of the name of Kefallonia. The first, less likely, is related to the mythical hero Kefalos who helped Amphitryon from Mycenae in the…
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The town of Astakos is built at the foot of Mount Veloutsa (Dikorfo), at the cove of the homonymous bay. It took its name from the mythical Astakos who was the son of Poseidon and Olivia. The word today means “lobster” in Greek, but it has nothing to do with the tasty crustaceans. The first…
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Mytikas is a seaside village, the name of which probably derives from its geographical location, as it is built on an edge (nose), east of Cape Kamilafka. There is little historical evidence for the village, which actually developed after the Turkish occupation (1830). The 19th century British traveler William Martin Leek mentions the existence of…
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Paleros until 1928 was called Zaverda, a name that probably derives from the composition of the Slavic prefix «za», which means behind or on the sides and from the Latin «verde», which means green or garden. In other words, the “green slope”. Paleros is considered to have been settled, according to Thucydides, like the rest…
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The word “kastos” in ancient Greek means solid earth. Kastos has an area of only seven and a half square kilometres and a width of nine hundred metres, and is the smallest inhabitable island of the Ionian islands. It consists of low hills, the highest of which is around 150 metres. It is adjacent to…
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Kalamos island is the second largest island in the Televoid cluster of islands. It is located in the southeast of Lefkada, between western Etoloakarnania and Meganisi. Most of it is mostly mountainous. It has an altitude of 745 meters. Its area is 20 square kilometers. The first signs of habitation of the island date back…
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