Tour Guide |
ANCIENT LEFKADA
AT THE KALIGONI LOCATION, 6 KM SOUTHEAST OF LEFKADA,
THERE ARE THE RUINS OF THE ANCIENT CITY NIRIKOS. IT WAS THE FIRST CAPITAL OF
THE ISLAND FROM THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BC. EXCAVATIONS HAVE SHOWN THAT ANCIENT NIRIKOS
WAS A BIG CITY OF SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC GROWTH. IT WAS BUILT ON A SITE OF GREAT
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE, OPPOSITE THE COASTS OF THE MAINLAND OF GREECE. IN THE
18TH CENTURY IT WAS CALLED "AMAXIKI" (CARRIAGE WAY) BECAUSE OF THE
ROAD, WHICH CONNECTED IT TO THE WESTERN PORT, IRAION. A NEW CITY, LEFKAS, WAS
LATER BUILT ON THAT SITE. IT BECAME THE ISLAND'S CAPITAL UNTIL THE 13TH CENTURY
BC WHEN IT WAS ABANDONED. TODAY THERE ARE ONLY PARTS OF FORTIFICATION WALLS
AND THEIR TOWERS, RUINS OF A PRE- ROMAN THEATRE, CISTERNS, AN AQUEDUCT, AND
PARTS OF AN ANCIENT CEMETERY. THE ARCHAEOLOGIST DORPFELD'S EXCAVATIONS BROUGHT
THEM TO LIGHT.
AGIOS IOANNIS ANTZOUSSIS CHURCH
THE CHURCH OF AGIOS IOANNIS ANTZOUSSIS IS THE OLDEST
CHURCH OF THE ISLAND AND IT IS SITUATED 3 KM WEST OF THE TOWN OF LEFKADA. ACCORDING
TO RELIGIOUS FOLKLORE, WHILE ON HIS WAY TO ROME, THE APOSTLE PAUL STOPPED HERE
TO SPREAD THE WORD OF CHRISTIANITY. AT FIRST, THE CHURCH WAS BUILT ON A ROCK,
BUT LATER THE FRANKS, THE ONES WHO ALSO NAMED THE CHURCH BUILT A NEW CHURCH,
THE ONE STANDING HERE TODAY.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF LEFKADA
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF LEFKADA INCLUDES EXHIBITS
FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE FAMOUS ARCHAEOLOGIST, DORPFELD, IN NIDRI, EVGIROS,
KARIOTES AND OTHER PARTS OF THE ISLAND. THE COLLECTION INCLUDES FINDINGS DATING
FROM THE PROTO-HELLENIC PERIOD TO THE ROMAN ERA, INCLUDING CERAMICS, POTS, STATUES,
SIGNS, ECCLESIASTIC PIECES AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE EXCAVATIONS IN NIDRI.
LEFKATA CAPE
THE CAPE OF LEFKATA IS SITUATED AT THE MOST SOUTHERN PART OF LEFKADA, AND IT
OFFERS A MAJESTIC VIEW. IT WAS NAMED AFTER A TALL ROCK, SURROUNDED BY SMALLER
ROCKS. THIS ROCK WAS CALLED "LEFKATAS" IN THE ANCIENT YEARS, AND IT
IS SAID TO BE THE "WHITE ROCK" WHICH HOMER MENTIONS. THE NAME "DOUKATO"
WAS GIVEN BY THE VENETIANS. ORIGINALLY, SACRIFICES TO THE GODS AND THE SPIRITS
OF THE ROUGH SEA TOOK PLACE HEAR. LATER (400 BC) ON THE CURRENT LOCATION OF
THE BEACON, STOOD THE TEMPLE OF DELFINOS (APOLLO LEFKATA) OF WHICH THERE ARE
NO RUINS. ACCORDING TO TRADITION, THE CONVICTS WERE FORCED TO FALL FROM THE
TALLEST ROCK (72 M.) AND, IN ORDER TO LESSEN THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL, THEY
TIED FEATHERS OF BIRDS AROUND THEIR BODIES, WHILE THERE WERE BOATS STANDING
BY TO COLLECT ANY SURVIVORS. IN THE CASE OF A CONVICT SURVIVING THE FALL, HE
WAS FORGIVEN AND GRANTED LIFE. ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THOSE WHO COULD NOT SUFFER
THE TORTURE OF LOVE COMMITTED SUICIDE HERE. THE FIRST TO DO THIS WAS VENUS,
WHO DID NOT RECOVER THE LOSS OF HER BELOVED ADONIS. SAPPHO, THE GREAT POETESS,
FOR HER LOVE OF PHAETHON, REPEATED HER ACT. THIS IS THE REASON WHY THE LOCATION
WAS NAMED "THE JUMP OF SAPPHO" AND "CAPE OF THE LADY". THE
POET, BYRON, MENTIONED THE LEGEND MARKS THE HISTORICAL TIME OF THE PLACE, AND
IT IN 1812.
MUSEUM OF GRAMOPHONES
IN LEFKADA
THE SMALL MUSEUM OF GRAMOPHONES IS SITUATED IN THE TOWN OF LEFKADA. AMONG THE
VARIOUS EXHIBITS ARE JEWELS, COINS, EMBROIDERY, GUNS, PICTURES, PHOTOGRAPHS
OF THE OLD TOWN, BOOKS AND AS ITS NAME INDICATES, GRAMOPHONES AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
THE CASTLE OF
AGIA MAVRA
THE CASTLE OF AGIA MAVRA IS SITUATED NEAR THE CHANNEL, 1.2 KM OUTSIDE HORA,
AND IS THE ISLAND'S LINK WITH STEREA HELLAS. THE AREA WAS NAMED CASTLE OF AGIA
MAVRA IN MEDIEVAL YEARS, AND FOR A PERIOD OF TIME THE NAME APPLIED TO THE WHOLE
ISLAND. THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED BY THE SICILIAN, IOANNIS ORSINI,
IN 1300. IT WAS BUILT TO PROTECT THE NEW CAPITAL OF THE ISLAND, WHICH WAS TRANSFERRED
HERE FROM THE TOWN OF KALIGONI. IN THE CASTLE, ONE CAN ADMIRE THE CHURCH OF
AGIA MAVRA. ACCORDING TO TRADITION, THE CHURCH WAS BUILT IN THE 15TH CENTURY
BY HELEN PALAIOLOGINA WHO, PERSECUTED IN CONSTANTINOPLE, CAME TO THE ISLAND
FOR THE WEDDING OF HER DAUGHTER TO THE COUNT OF LEFKADA. HELEN BUILT THIS CHURCH
IN HONOUR OF AGIA MAVRA WHO PROTECTED HER FROM THE STORM. DESPITE THE TRADITION,
HISTORICAL SOURCES MENTION THE EXISTENCE OF AGIA MAVRA LONG BEFORE THE 15TH
CENTURY, THUS THE HISTORIANS CLAIM THAT THE FRENCH KNIGHTS OF DUKE WALTER B'
NAMED THE ISLAND AROUND 1330, IN HONOUR OF THEIR COUNTRY AGIA MAVRA (SAINTE
MAURA). AFTER THE ISLAND'S OCCUPATION BY THE TURKS IN 1479, THE CHURCH BECAME
A MOSQUE. IN 1485, SULTAN BAGIAZIT ORDERED THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AQUEDUCT AND
A BRIDGE JOINING THE CITY WITH THE CASTLE. TODAY, ONE CAN ONLY SEE THE RUINS
OF THESE CONSTRUCTIONS. IN 1500, THE VENETIANS RESTORED THE CASTLE, AND IN 1684,
MOROSINI PLACED A LION, THE SYMBOL OF VENICE, OVER THE GATE. APART FROM THE
CHURCH OF AGIA MAVRA, THE CASTLE HOUSED THE CHURCH OF LATIN PANDOKRATOR AND
OTHER BUILDINGS SUCH AS WATER TANKS, THREE SCHOOLS, BARRACKS, HOSPITALS, STORAGE
ROOMS AND THE HEAD-OFFICE OF THE POLITICIANS. A FIRE IN 1888 CAUSED THE DESTRUCTION
OF THE CASTLE. AFTER ITS RENOVATION, IT WAS USED AS BARRACKS AND LATER AS A
REFUGE CAMP, WHILE, DURING WORLD WAR II, THE CASTLE SUFFERED ITALIAN ATTACKS
AND BOMBARDMENTS. ON ITS EXTERIOR, ONE CAN STILL SEE A FEW CANONS, AS MOST OF
THEM WERE REMOVED IN 1864, AFTER THE UNION OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS WITH THE REST
OF GREECE. TODAY THE CASTLE IS OPEN TO TOURISTS AND HOUSES MANY CULTURAL EVENTS
DURING THE SUMMER.