"Kythira Strait Kythira Strait (also Kythirian Straits, Kythira–Antikythira Strait or Kithera Channel) is a waterway off Kythira in southern Greece. The Kythira–Antikythira Strait is situated within the Western Hellenic arc. It measures approximately in length and is situated between the Peloponnese and the island of Crete. Many ships have sunk in the area, including , , and . The Kythira Strait represents one of the most dangerous navigational hazards in the Mediterranean. The strait between Kythera and Cape Maleas was found dangerous in ancient days by the Greek mariners. Most sea-traffic from Athens, Istanbul, and the Black Sea to the"
"Cephalonia, Zante (Zakynthos) and Santa Maura (Lefkas). Cerigo (Kythera) was also a state of the federation, although it is situated southeast of the Peloponnese. Ever since Greece had become independent in 1832, the people of the Ionian islands had resented foreign rule. At a Cabinet meeting in 1862, British Foreign Secretary Palmerston decided to cede the islands to Greece. This policy was also favoured by Queen Victoria. The practical reasoning was that maintenance of ownership in the area was too expensive. Besides, the islands did not have great strategic importance; the United Kingdom would still maintain a strategic presence in"
"all buildings have been fortified to protect against further tremors. On 26 October 2018, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake south of the island caused no injuries but damaged the local pier and a 13th Century monastery. Zakynthos lies in the eastern part of the Ionian sea, around west of the Greek (Peloponnese) mainland. The island of Kefalonia lies on the north. It is the southernmost of the main group of the Ionian islands (not counting distant Kythira). Zakynthos is about long and wide, and covers an area of . Its coastline is approximately long. According to the 2011 census, the island has"
"extensive and the southern islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos were practically levelled. The islands were reconstructed from the ground up over the following years under a strict building code. The code has proven extremely effective, as many earthquakes since that time have caused no damage to new buildings. Today, all the islands are part of the Greek region of the Ionian Islands (""Ionioi Nisoi""), except Kythera, which is part of the region of Attica. Kerkyra has a population of 103,300 (including Paxoi), Zakynthos 40,650, Kefallonia 39,579 (including Ithaca), Lefkada 22,536, Ithaki 3,052, Kythera 3,000 and Paxi 2,438. In recent decades,"
"Zakynthos under William's Greek admiral Margaritus of Brindisi. Cephallenia (theme) The Theme of Cephallenia or Cephalonia (, ""thema Kephallēnias/Kephalonias"") was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in western Greece, comprising the Ionian Islands, and extant from the 8th century until partially conquered by the Kingdom of Sicily in 1185. During the Roman Empire, the Ionian Islands (Corfu, Cephalonia, Zakynthos, Ithaca, Leucas and Cythera) were variously part of the provinces of Achaea and Epirus vetus. Except for Cythera, these formed the separate theme of Cephallenia. The islands remained largely unaffected by the Slavic invasion and settlement of the 7th century,"
"had been part of the Republic of Venice. When the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio dissolved the Republic of Venice, they were annexed to the French Republic. Between 1798 and 1799, the French were driven out by a joint Russo-Ottoman force. The occupying forces founded the Septinsular Republic, which enjoyed relative independence under nominal Ottoman suzerainty and Russian control from 1800 until 1807. The Ionian Islands were then occupied by the French after the treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the United Kingdom defeated the French fleet off Zakynthos island on 2 October, and captured Kefalonia, Kythira, and Zakynthos. The British"
"blockade of the islands. In October 1809, British forces easily took Zakynthos, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Kythira, followed by Lefkada in April 1810. Only Corfu, Parga, and Paxoi held out, amidst a deteriorating supply situation, until the 1814 and the resignation of Napoleon. The Islands passed under British control, and were formed into the United States of the Ionian Islands. French rule in the Ionian Islands The French rule in the Ionian Islands ( ""Gallokratía ton Eptaníson"") lasted from June 1797 to March 1799. Following the Fall of the Republic of Venice in May 1797, the Ionian Islands, a Venetian possession,"
"Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south (generally from west to east): Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes. The Aegean Islands, which almost all belong to Greece, can be divided into seven groups: The word ""archipelago"" was originally applied specifically to the Aegean Sea and its islands. Many of the Aegean Islands, or chains of islands, are actually extensions of the mountains on the mainland. One chain extends across the sea to Chios, another extends across Euboea to Samos, and a third extends across the Peloponnese and Crete to"
"Echinades The Echinades (; Greek: per Herodotus, Thucydides, and Strabo, per Homer Echinae (, ) are a group of islands in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Acarnania, Greece. The archipelago is commonly subdivided into three groups: the Drakoneres in the north, the Modia in the middle and the Ouniades in the south. Administratively, the Echinades form part of two regional units: Ithaca and Cephalonia. Six of the islands, including Oxeia the largest, are owned by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, who purchased them for a reported £7.3 million sterling. The Battle of the Echinades"
"Echinades (322 BC), which ended Athenian thalassocracy. Lichades Lichades or Lichadonisia ( or Λιχαδονήσια) is an island complex north west of Euboea, in the North Euboean Gulf. The islands located opposite Lichada cape in the north-western extreme of Euboea and opposite of small town Kamena Vourla in Central Greece mainland. Administratively, they belong to Istiaia-Aidipsos municipality, in Euboea regional unit. The complex consists of seven islands and islets. The biggest of them is Manolia and is the only that had residents in the past. The other six are Strongyli, Mikri Strongyli, Steno, Vagia, Vorias and Limani. The biggest island, Manolia"
"Ionia is """", not ""Ionian"". The islands themselves are known by a rather confusing variety of names. During the centuries of rule by Venice, they acquired Venetian names, by which some of them are still known in English (and in Italian). Kerkyra was known as Corfù, Ithaki as Val di Compare, Kythera as Cerigo, Lefkada as Santa Maura and Zakynthos as Zante. A variety of spellings are used for the Greek names of the islands, particularly in historical writing. Kefallonia is often spelled as Cephallenia or Cephalonia, Ithaki as Ithaca, Kerkyra as Corcyra, Kythera as Cythera, Lefkada as Leucas or"
"18th century, the Ionian Islands (Corfu, Zakynthos, Cephalonia, Lefkada, Ithaca, and Kythira) along with a handful of exclaves on the Epirote mainland, namely the coastal towns of Parga, Preveza, Vonitsa, and Butrint, were the sole remaining overseas possessions of the once mighty Republic of Venice in the East. During the last century of Venetian rule, the society of the Ionian Islands was marked by multiple divisions. On the top of the pyramid were the noble families, who enjoyed full Venetian citizenship. They were mostly settled in the cities and their privileges secured by inscription in the ""Libro d'Oro"", apart from"
"a decade. Raids resumed soon after, in which the Cretans were joined by North African and Syrian fleets. The Peloponnese in particular suffered considerably from their raids, but also Euboea and the Cyclades: the islands of Patmos, Karpathos and nearby Sokastro came under Cretan control, and Cretan rule extended as far north as Aegina in the Saronic Gulf, and to Elafonisos and Cythera off the southern coast of the Peloponnese; the great Cycladic island of Naxos, probably along with the neighbouring islands of Paros and Ios, was forced to pay them the poll-tax (""jizya""). As the Muslim presence left generally"
"the Isthmus of Corinth. Greece also has many islands, of various sizes, the largest being Crete, Euboea, Lesvos, Rhodes, Chios, Kefalonia, and Corfu; groups of smaller islands include the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. According to the ""CIA World Factbook"", Greece has of coastline, the largest in the Mediterranean Basin. Greece's latitude ranges from 35°N to 42°N and its longitude from 19°E to 28°E. As a result of this and its physical geography, the country has considerable climatic variation. Greece's climate is divided into three main classes: Greece's largest island, Crete straddles two climatic zones, due to its geographical position and"
"and Zakynthos under the Kingdom of Sicily until its last Count Leonardo III Tocco was defeated and the island conquered by the Ottomans in 1479. The Turkish rule lasted only until 1500, when Cephalonia was captured by a Spanish-Venetian army, a rare Venetian success in the Second Ottoman–Venetian War. From then on Cephalonia and Ithaca remained part of the Stato da Mar of the Venetian Republic until its very end, following the fate of the Ionian islands, completed by the capture of Lefkas from the Turks in 1684. The Treaty of Campoformio dismantling the Venetian Republic awarded the Ionian Islands"
"Lichades Lichades or Lichadonisia ( or Λιχαδονήσια) is an island complex north west of Euboea, in the North Euboean Gulf. The islands located opposite Lichada cape in the north-western extreme of Euboea and opposite of small town Kamena Vourla in Central Greece mainland. Administratively, they belong to Istiaia-Aidipsos municipality, in Euboea regional unit. The complex consists of seven islands and islets. The biggest of them is Manolia and is the only that had residents in the past. The other six are Strongyli, Mikri Strongyli, Steno, Vagia, Vorias and Limani. The biggest island, Manolia has a beautiful beach and is visited"
"survived until the reimposition of French rule in 1807, following the Treaty of Tilsit. The British soon challenged the French for mastery, and in 1809 took control of most of the islands; Corfu surrendered following the resignation of Napoleon in 1814. In 1815 the British established the United States of the Ionian Islands. Treaty of Constantinople (1800) The Treaty of Constantinople of was concluded between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, and heralded the creation of the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. The Ionian Islands (Corfu, Paxoi, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Lefkada,"
"and the rest in the Ionian Sea. Estimates of the number of islands vary between 1,200 and 6,000. A figure frequently cited in travel guides is 1,425 islands, of which 166 are said to be inhabited. The Greek Tourism Organization reports a figure of 6,000, with 227 of them inhabited. Paris Match, however, raises this number to 9,841 islands, of which only 169 have a recorded continuous human presence. The Greek islands account for about 20% of the country's total territory, and vary greatly in size as well as in climate. The country's largest island is Crete, with Euboea being"
"the French in the Treaty of Tilsit and occupied by the French Empire. In 1809, the British defeated the French fleet in Zakynthos (October 2, 1809) captured Kefallonia, Kythera and Zakynthos, and took Lefkada in 1810. The French held out in Corfu until 1814. The Treaty of Paris in 1815 turned the islands into the ""United States of the Ionian Islands"" under British protection (November 5, 1815). In January 1817, the British granted the islands a new constitution. The islanders elected an Assembly of 40 members, who advised the British High Commissioner. The British greatly improved the islands' communications, and"
"Leucada and Zakynthos as Zacynthus or Zante. Older or variant Greek forms are sometimes also used: Kefallinia for Kefallonia and Paxos or Paxoi for Paxi. The islands were settled by Greeks at an early date, possibly as early as 1200 BC, and certainly by the 9th century BC. The early Eretrian settlement at Kerkyra was displaced by colonists from Corinth in 734 BC. The islands were mostly a backwater during Ancient Greek times and played little part in Greek politics. The one exception was the conflict between Kerkyra and its mother-City Corinth in 434 BC, which brought intervention from Athens"
"Panteleria, Lampedusa, Lampione and Linosa islands, and West Germany from the NATO side, and the cessation of demilitarization of Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany, Hungary and Finland from the Warsaw Pact's side. Turkey, on the other hand, denounces this as an aggressive act by Greece and as a breach of international treaties. From a legal perspective, three groups of islands may be distinguished: (a) the islands right off the Turkish Dardanelles straits, i.e. Lemnos and Samothrace; (b) the Dodecanese islands in the southeast Aegean; and (c) the remaining northeast Aegean islands (Lesbos, Chios, Samos, and Ikaria). These islands were placed under"
"with an international airport served by charter flights from northern Europe. The island's nickname is ""the Flower of the Levant"", bestowed upon it by the Venetians who were in possession of Zakynthos from 1484–1797. The ancient Greek poet Homer mentioned Zakynthos in the ""Iliad"" and the ""Odyssey"", stating that its first inhabitants were the son of King Dardanos of Arcadia, called Zakynthos, and his men. Before being renamed Zakynthos, the island was said to have been called Hyrie. Zakynthos was then conquered by King Arkesios of Kefalonia, and then by Odysseus from Ithaca. Zakynthos participated in the Trojan War and"
"of peaceful Roman rule, the islands passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. Under Byzantine rule, from the mid-8th century, they formed the theme of Cephallenia. The islands were a frequent target of Saracen raids and from the late 11th century, saw a number of Norman and Italian attacks. Most of the islands fell to William II of Sicily in 1185. Corfu and Lefkas remained under Byzantine control. Kefallonia and Zakynthos became the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos until 1357, when this entity was merged with Lefkada and Ithaki to become the Duchy of Leucadia under French and"
"History of the Cyclades The Cyclades (Greek: Κυκλάδες ""Kykládes"") are Greek islands located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea. The archipelago contains some 2,200 islands, islets and rocks; just 33 islands are inhabited. For the ancients, they formed a circle (κύκλος / kyklos in Greek) around the sacred island of Delos, hence the name of the archipelago. The best-known are, from north to south and from east to west: Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Naxos, Amorgos, Syros, Paros and Antiparos, Ios, Santorini, Anafi, Kea, Kythnos, Serifos, Sifnos, Folegandros and Sikinos, Milos and Kimolos; to these can be added the little"
"of seven islands. The six northern islands lie off the western coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. The other island, Kythira, lies off the southern tip of the Peloponnese. Kythira is part of the modern administrative region of Attica, not the Ionian Islands (""Ionioi Nisoi""). The Ionian Islands are distinct from the historical region of Ionia, which is today part of western Turkey. Crete is the largest island of Greece and the second largest in the Eastern Mediterranean, after Cyprus. The island spans 260 km from east to west and 60 km from north to south at its widest."
"places in the country. Rare marine species such as the pinniped seals and the loggerhead sea turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to the endangered brown bear, the Eurasian lynx, the roe deer and the wild goat. Greece features a vast number of islands, between 1,200 and 6,000, depending on the definition, 227 of which are inhabited. Crete is the largest and most populous island; Euboea, separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, is the second largest, followed by Lesbos and Rhodes. The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the"
"Strofades Strofades or Strofadia () is a group of two small Greek islands in the Ionian Islands. They lie about south-southeast of the island of Zakynthos. Administratively they are part of the Municipality of Zakynthos. The larger island, Stamfani, has an old fortress/monastery built in 1241. The smaller is Arpia. Both are sparsely vegetated and rocky. There is a strong avian presence on the islands, and hunting is prohibited. Species include Cory's shearwater (""Calonectris diomedea"") and migratory passerines. There is also a large spring migration of turtle doves (""Streptopelia turtur""). As the Strophades, they were identified as the dwelling-place of"
"History of Zakynthos Zakynthos (, Zante in Italian) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Today, Zakynthos is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and its only municipality. It covers an area of and its coastline is roughly in length. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. In Greek mythology the island was said to be named after Zakynthos, the son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. The history of Zakynthos is long and complex, even by Greek standards."
"Aegean Islands The Aegean Islands (; ) are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast. The ancient Greek name of the Aegean Sea, ""Archipelago"" (, ""archipelagos"") was later applied to the islands it contains and is now used more generally, to refer to any island group. The vast majority of the Aegean Islands belong to Greece, being split among nine administrative regions. The only sizable possessions of"
"After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, it has been held by the Kingdom of Naples, the Ottoman Turks, the Republic of Venice, the French, Russians, British, Italians and Germans. Zakynthos has been inhabited from at least the Paelolithic and later Neolithic Age as some archaeological excavations have proven. The island was important during the Mycenaean period, being mentioned three times on Linear B tablets from Pylos, Messenia. There were also Zakynthian rowers present in the Mycenaean Messenian state. The Mycenaean presence is further attested by the monumental Mycenaean built and tholos tombs that have been excavated on Zakynthos. Most"
"the conclusion of the Greek War of Independence in 1830, the island constituted a part of the newly established independent Greek kingdom. Euboea is linked to the mainland by two bridges, one that runs through Chalcis and is also accessible from Thebes, and another which bypasses Chalcis and is accessed from Athens. All of Euboea's modern bridges are suspended. In the 1980s, the Dystos lake was filled with grass which was set on fire by farmers to make more farmland. This act caused devastation of much of the plants and the environment in that area. A part of the lake"
"Sporades The (Northern) Sporades (; ) are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. They consists of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros. They may also be referred to as the Thessalian Sporades (Θεσσαλικές Σποράδες). ""Sporades"" means ""those scattered"" (compare with ""sporadic""). From Classical Antiquity the name has referred to the Aegean island groups outside the central archipelago of the Cyclades. In modern geographical parlance, there are five different Sporades groups: As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional"
"Zakynthos Zakynthos ( ; ) or Zante (; ; , ""rare"": ; from the Venetian form), is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Zakynthos is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and its only municipality. It covers an area of and its coastline is roughly in length. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. In Greek mythology the island was said to be named after Zakynthos, the son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. Zakynthos is a tourist destination,"