Ithaca

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For other places named Ithaca, see Ithaca (disambiguation).

Statistics
Prefecture:	Kefalonia
Location: - Latitude: - Longitude:	38.35/28°21" N</br>20.65/20°39" E
Highest Point:	Niriton, 809 m
Number of Subdivisions:	None
Postal Code:	28300
Municipal Code:	2704
Car Designation:	`KE`

Ithaca, or Ithaka (Greek: Ιθάκη, Itháki; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece with an area of 96 km² and 5,000 inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the prefecture of Kefalonia, and lies off the North East coast of Kefalonia.

The capital, Vathy, has one of the world's largest natural harbours.

As of 2002, Ithaca became a popular destination for holiday tourists on day visits from the other Ionian Islands, especially after Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales spent part of their honeymoon there.

1 History
2 Ithaca: Home of Odysseus?
3 Geography
4 Persons
5 Communities
6 Other
7 Municipality
8 Further reading
9 External links

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History

The island has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC. It was the capital of Cephalonia during the Mycenaean period. The Romans occupied the island in the 2nd century BC, and later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Normans ruled Ithaca in the 12th and 13th century, and after a short Turkish rule it fell into Venetian hands. Ithaca was then occupied by France at the end of the 18th century and in 1809 it was conquered by the British. In 1864 Greeks liberated it.

Much of the island's architecture was destroyed in an earthquake in 1953.

In the 1970s, Kalamos split from the province and became part of the prefecture of Lefkada and the province of Ithaca became a non-provincial municipality.

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Ithaca: Home of Odysseus?

The modern island named Ithaca usually has been assumed to be the legendary home of Odysseus from Homer's Odyssey (but see Bittlestone et al., below). According to some scholars, it may even have been the home of Homer himself. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer about Odysseus's voyage and return. Homer describes Ithaca thus:

"Around are many islands, close to each other, Doulichion and Samos and wooded Zakynthos. Ithaca itself lies low, furthest out to sea, facing the western sunset. The rest stand apart, and face both dawn and sun."

Homer offers 26 descriptions of specific places on Ithaca, but these do not match the modern Ithaca. For instance, the modern Ithaca faces east, and it is mountainous -- it does not "lie low". Several explanations have been suggested for these discrepancies.

Firstly, it has been suggested that Kefallinia and Ithaca once may have been joined, because Homer describes Ithaca as being both much larger than it now is, and on the final edge of Greece "facing the western sunset". Geographical data also suggests that the islands once may have been connected, although research still is being done to prove this.

Secondly, it has been suggested that "Paliki" -- now the western peninsula of Kefallinia, but geologically analyzed recently as having been a separate island during the late Bronze Age, location Template:Coor dms -- matches each of Homer's 26 descriptions. This is per the book Odysseus Unbound - The Search for Homer's Ithaca (see external link below), written by Robert Bittlestone, a British writer and amateur archeologist, James Diggle, Professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University, and John Underhill, a geologist at the University of Edinburgh. Bittlestone also suggests that the Odyssey tale may have been among various folk stories carried among Ithacans east, as during the Greek "Dark Age" they migrated first to the mainland and finally to the eastern Aegean islands, where tradition places "Homer's" birthplace: this would account for the epic's detailed, and perhaps in fact homesick, knowledge of Paliki. The Times reported on the book on September 30, 2005, saying that "the research has convinced leading academics worldwide."

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Geography

There is also a strait situated in the western part of the island called the Strait of Ithaca.

The capes in the island include Exogi, the westernmost but not in land, Melissa to the north, Mavronos and Agios Ilias to the east, Schinous, Sarakiniko and Agios Ioannis, the easternmost to the east and Agiou Andreou, the southernmost in the south. Bays include Afales Bay to the northwest, Frikes and Kioni Bays to the northeast and Ormos Gulf and Sarakiniko Bay to the southeast. The tallest mountain is Neriton (908 m), the second tallest is Nerovoulo elevating 552 m.

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Persons

htttp://www.arsenis.info Σπυρος Αρσένης 20 years Mayor of ithaca - Spiros Arsenis
Lorentzos Mavilis (1860 - November 28, 1912 in the Ioannina area)
General Ioannis Metaxas (April 12, 1871 – January 29, 1941 in Athens)

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Communities

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Other

Ithaca has schools, lyceums, a few gymnasia, banks, a post office, a sporting centre and squares (plateies).

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Municipality

The municipality includes islands other than Ithaca including one near Cape Melissa, Atokos to the northeast and several islands in the east including Drakonero, Echinades, Oxeia and Petallades to the east near Aitoloacarnania.

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