Everything about Lefkas totally explained
Lefkada, or
Leucas (Greek: Modern: Λευκάδα,
Ancient/Katharevousa: -as;
Italian:
Santa Maura) is a manmade
Greek island in the
Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long
causeway and
floating bridge, as well as the island's capital city. The city of
Lefkada, is at the north of the island, approximately 20 minutes by automobile away from
Aktion National Airport. The
Prefecture of Lefkada comprises Lefkada island plus the smaller nearby islands of
Meganisi,
Kalamos,
Kastos,
Madouri,
Skorpios, and Sparti. It is the smallest prefecture of Greece in both land area and population (2001 census).
Lefkada Town (
population: 6,903), has a
pedestrianised main street, a
marina, and
bus access to
Athens.
The east coast section of the island has small
resorts of
Lefkada,
Nikiana and
Perigiali, all north of the largest resort on the island—
Nidri. It is set in a sheltered location with views across to
Skorpios—owned by
Aristotle Onassis,
Meganissi and other small islands, as well as the Greek mainland. The main coastal road from Lefkada to Vasiliki runs through the town, although a bypass is being built. There are regular car ferries to
Kefalonia,
Ithaca and Meganissi.
20km south of Nidri is the resort of
Vasiliki—a
windsurfing center. There are ferries here to Kefalonia and Ithaca.
South of Vasiliki is
Cape Lefkada, where renowned
Greek female poet
Sappho allegedly leapt to her death from the 100 foot (30m) high cliffs. There are spectacular views across to Ithaca and Kefalonia, however the 16km (10 mile) unpaved road is enough to put off all but the most determined.
Indeed, the myth about Sappho's suicide at Cape Lefkada is related to other myths linking the island to the ancient Greek goddess of love,
Aphrodite, and to
Odysseus, the hero of
Homer's Odyssey. The
German archaeologist
Wilhelm Dörpfeld, having performed excavations at various locations of Lefkada, was able to obtain funding to do work on the island by suggesting that Lefkada was
Homer's Ithaca, and the
palace of Odysseus was located west of
Nidri off the south coast of Lefkada. There have been suggestions by local tourism officials that several passages in the
Odyssey point to Lefkada as a possible model for Homeric Ithaca. The most notable of these passages pushed by the local tourism board describes Ithaca as an island reachable on foot, which was the case for Lefkada since it isn't really an island, that it was connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway. An attempt to create an account and reconstruction of Homeric Ithaca's geography to help build the myth of Lefkada as Ithaki is found at:
(External Link
). (See also: Emile Mireaux: Daily Life in the Time of Homer. New York: MacMillan, 1959.)
The West coast, facing the great expanse of the
Mediterranean, has the famed beach of
Porto Katsiki. To the North, there are numerous beaches, with pale golden sand and powerful waves—a sharp contrast to the more popular East Coast.
Lefkada was attached to mainland Greece (see above about Homer's Ithaca being Lefkada). The
Corinthians dug a trench in the 7th century BC on its isthmus.
On
August 14 2003, the island was rocked by a powerful
earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the
Richter Scale, 30km (20m) off the west coast. There were some reports of minor injuries and damage. Roads were cut off by mudslides, especially the road linking the southern part of Lefkada. About a thousand vehicles left the island. The quake was felt in nearby
Corfu,
Kefalonia, and as far away as
Athens.
Climate
The island has a typical Mediterranean climate: hot summers and cool winters, especially in the mountains.
Transport
Municipalities and communities
Note: Meganisi, Kalamos, and Kastos are all on separate islands, whereas the rest of the above are actually on
Lefkada Island itself.
See also:
List of settlements in the Lefkada prefecture
Notable persons
(in chronological order)
Aristotelis Valaoritis (1824-1879), poet
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), Irish-Japanese orientalist and writer, named after the island
Dimitrios Golemis (1874-1941), athlete
Aggelos Sikelianos (1884-1951), poet and playwright
Panos Rontoyannis (1911-1996), philologist and historian
Theodoros Stamos (1922-1997), Greek-American painter
Apostolos Kaklamanis (1936), politician
Agnes Baltsa (1944), opera singer
Elli Stai (1954), journalist and talk show presenter
Maria Vamvakinou (1959), Greek-Australian politician
Spyros Vrettos (1960), poet
Spyros Alexandros Karavias, (b. 1982), a.k.a DJ Baby G - South Beach, Miami, & Beyond
Evagelia Aravani (1985), fashion model
Other
The fictional island Malden from the Video Game Operation Flashpoint is based on Lefkada.
DJ Baby G (Spyrodinas Alexandros Karavias) considers Lefkada his home.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lefkas'.
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