Wikipedia

Lefkada

(Redirected fromLeukas)
This article is about the island. For the island's capital, seeLefkada (city).For the administrative unit, seeLefkada (regional unit).For the icon painting material, seeLevkas.
"Leukas" redirects here. For other uses, seeLeucas (disambiguation)andLeucadia (disambiguation).

Lefkada(Greek:Λευκάδα,Lefkáda,[lefˈkaða]), also known asLefkasorLeukas[2](Ancient GreekandKatharevousa:Λευκάς,Leukás,modern pronunciationLefkás) andLeucadia,is aGreekislandin theIonian Seaon the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a longcausewayandfloating bridge.The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality isLefkada.[3]It is situated on the northern part of the island, approximately 25 minutes by automobile away fromAktion National Airport.The island is part of theregional unit of Lefkada.

Lefkada
Λευκάδα
Municipality
View of Lefkada (city)
View ofLefkada (city)
Lefkada is located in Greece
Lefkada
Lefkada
Location within the region
Coordinates:38°43′N20°39′E/ 38.717°N 20.650°E/38.717; 20.650
CountryGreece
Administrative regionIonian Islands
Regional unitLefkada
Area
• Municipality
333.6 km2(128.8 sq mi)
Population
(2021)[1]
• Municipality
21,900
• Density66/km2(170/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+3(EEST)
Websitelefkada.gov.gr

Geography

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The island of Lefkada in a NASA World Wind satellite picture.

Lefkada measures 35 kilometres (22 miles) from north to south, and 15 kilometres (9 miles) from east to west. The area of the island is about 302 square kilometres (117 sq mi), the area of the municipality (including the islandsKalamos,Kastosand several smaller islets) is 333.58 km2(128.80 sq mi).[4]Its highest point is the mountainStavrota,at 1,158 metres (3,799 feet)above sea level,[5]situated in the middle of the island. The east coast section of the island has smallresortsofLygia,NikianaandPerigiali,all north ofNidri,the largest resort on the island. It is set in a sheltered location with views across toSkorpios(formerly owned byAristotle Onassis),Meganisiand other small islands, as well as the Greek mainland. The main coastal road from Lefkada to Vasiliki runs through the village, although a bypass has now been completed which skirts the village to the west. There are regular car ferries toKefalonia,IthacaandMeganissi.

20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Nidri is the resort ofVasiliki,awindsurfingcenter. There are ferries to Kefalonia and Ithaca from Vasiliki. South of Vasiliki is Cape Lefkada, whereCephalusand theGreekfemale poetSapphoallegedly leapt to their death from the 30 m high cliffs on two separate occasions.[6]

The famous beach ofPorto Katsikiis located on Lefkada's west coast. Lefkada was attached to mainland Greece (see below about Homer's Ithaca being Lefkada). TheCorinthiansdug a trench in the 7th century BC on its isthmus.[7]

The southernmost tip of the island is calledCape Dukato,a name sometimes applied to the whole island.

Climate

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Sunrise in front of the road entrance of the city
Kalamitsi beach

The island has a typicalMediterranean climatewith hot summers and cool winters, orCsaaccording to theKöppen climate classificationsystem.[8]

History

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Antiquity

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The stories ofSappho's suicide and that ofArtemisia of Cariajumping from the cliffs at Cape Lefkada are related to other myths linking the island to the ancient Greek goddess of love,Aphrodite.The island is also linked toOdysseus,the hero ofHomer's Odyssey. TheGermanarchaeologistWilhelm Dörpfeld,having performed excavations at various locations of Lefkada, was able to obtain funding to do work on the island by suggesting that Lefkada wasHomer's Ithaca,and thepalaceof Odysseus was located west ofNydrion the south coast of Lefkada. There have been suggestions by local tourism officials that several passages in theOdysseypoint 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 is not really an island, being connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway. According toStrabo,the coast ofAcarnaniawas called Leucas in earlier times. The ancient sources call Leucas a Corinthian colony, perhaps with aCorcyraenparticipation.[9]Inmedieval British legend,Brutus of Troyfound Lefkada abandoned after pirate attacks, and after offering a sacrifice to a statue ofDianain the temple of a ruined city there, was granted a vision telling him to go toBritainand found an empire.[10]

Brutusin the temple on Lefkada (upper left) in ac. 1475tapestry now in theCathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza

The ancient town was founded in the 7th century BC, somewhat to the south of the modern capital of the island.[11]During thePeloponnesian War,Leucas joined thePeloponnesian League.[12]

The town was conquered during the 3rd century byAgathocles of Syracuse.

Middle Ages

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Byzantine period

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No information survives on the island during the earlyByzantine period,[13]when the town possibly disappeared in the turmoils of theMigration Period.[11]Nevertheless, unlike the Epirote mainland, where widespreadSlavicsettlement is attested from the late 6th until mid-8th centuries,[14]only a handful of traces attest to a Slavic settlement in Lefkada.[13]

Information continues to be sparse during the middle Byzantine period. The island is attested as a bishopric at theFourth Council of Constantinoplein 879, and was raised to archbishopric under EmperorLeo VI the Wise(r. 886–912).[13]Administratively, it was likely part of theTheme of Cephallenia.[13]Liutprand of Cremonavisited the island during his 968 embassy to Constantinople. In 1099 it was raided byDagobert of Pisa,and it is mentioned inal-Idrisi's geography in the mid-12th century.[13]

Epirote and Latin rule

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Further information:Latinokratia

TheRepublic of Venicewas accorded privileges in the island in 1198 and possession of the island in thetreaty of partitionof the Byzantine Empire in 1204.[13]Lefkada apparently became part of theDespotate of Epirus,although this is not explicitly attested until 1259.[13]

The nameSanta Maurais first attested for the island and its capital in 1292, when Genoese ships in Byzantine employ raided it.[15]In 1295, theDespot of EpirusNikephoros I Komnenos Doukasceded the island to his son-in-law, theCount palatine of Cephalonia and ZakynthosJohn I Orsini.[16]Orsini soon after received permission fromCharles II of Naplesto build a castle there,[17]which became the core of theCastle of Santa Maura.[16]

Map of Lefkada byCristoforo Buondelmonti,c. 1420

The Orsini family lost Lefkada in 1331 toWalter VI of Brienne,who in 1343 ceded thecastrum Sancte Maureand the island to the VenetianGraziano Giorgio.[18][15]In 1360/62,Leonardo I Toccoseized Lefkada, assuming the title of duke (dux Lucate), whence the island is sometimes also referred to as "the Duchy" (el Ducatoand variants thereof) in Western sources of the period.[13][19]The local Orthodox archbishop was evicted.[13]AfterAlbanianclans took over much of Epirus in the 1350s and 1360s,[20][21]they launched frequent attacks on the island between 1375 and 1395.[13]Carlo I Tocco(r. 1376–1429) made the island the capital of his domains, which apart from the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos also included much of the Epirote mainland, and enlarged the fortified town.[11]

In 1413, thePrince of Achaea,Centurione II Zaccaria,launched an attack on Lefkada and its castle with Albanian mercenaries, but were defeated with help from theRepublic of Venice.[15]TheOttomanscaptured most of Epirus[11]and raided the island, leading the Tocci to consider ceding it to the Venetians.[13]

Faced with expanding Ottoman power in the mainland, the Tocci became vassals of the Ottoman sultans.[11]The last of them,Leonardo III Tocco(r. 1448–1479) was helped to maintain his rule through his marriage toMilica Branković,a niece ofthe highly esteemed stepmotherof the Ottoman sultanMehmed the Conqueror(r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481); but when she died, he married the Aragonese Francesca Marzano. The couple quickly became hated by their Greek subjects due to their oppressive taxation.[22]Lefkada, along with Cephalonia and Zakynthos, was captured by the Ottoman admiralGedik Ahmed Pashain 1479. Part of the population was deported toConstantinopleas part of Mehmed's policy to repopulate his capital.[23]

Ottoman period

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The castle and walled town of Santa Maura ( "Ste. Maure" ), byManesson Mallet,1696

The Ottomans called the islandLevkada(Ottoman Turkish:لفكادةorلفقادة), with the name Aya Mavra (ايامورة,from GreekΑγία Μαύρα,meaning "Santa Maura" ) reserved for the castle and capital of the island, where almost the entire population lived.[11]Under Ottoman rule, it was initially akazaof thesanjakofKarli-Eli,which fromc. 1550belonged to theEyalet of the Archipelago,subordinated to the chief admiral of theOttoman navy,theKapudan Pasha.[11]Thekazaof Lefkada comprised not only the island, but also part of the adjoining mainland.[23]The Venetians briefly occupied the island in 1502–03 during theSecond Ottoman–Venetian War,but returned it to the Ottomans in the final peace settlement.[16][24]With about a thousand inhabitants inc. 1530,the town of Lefkada was both the largest settlement and the main military installation in thesanjak,with 111 soldiers and 9 artillerymen.[23]As with the rest of thesanjak,at the time the entire population appears to have been Christian, and only the fortress garrisons and administrators were Muslim; thus the only mosques were located inside the fortresses.[23]

A lack of water led to the construction of a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) longaqueductfrom the island's interior to the town in 1564, during the reign of SultanSuleiman the Magnificent(r. 1520–1566). Bringing water to the walled town as well as to the much larger—some 700–800 houses—open town that had grown around it was one of the most important works of Ottoman civil architecture in the western Balkans. On top of the aqueduct was a footpath that provided the only access to the island other than by the sea.[25]In the aftermath of the Ottoman defeat at theBattle of Lepanto,the castle was unsuccessfully besieged by the forces of theHoly League.As a result, it was completely rebuilt and enlarged by theKapudan PashaKılıç Ali Pashain 1572–1574 into a hexagonal fortress with large towers as artillery platforms.[26]

In the 17th century, Lefkada became a separatesanjakwithin the Eyalet of the Archipelago, although according toEvliya Çelebiit belonged briefly to theMorea Eyaletin the 15th and 17th centuries.[27]Evliya visited the island in 1670/71 and left a long and accurate description of the fortifications as well as of the town, where Islam had apparently made considerable progress. According to Evliya, the walled town boasted fiveFriday mosques,including an Imperial Mosque (Hünkar Camii), which was a converted church, a minor mosque (masjid), amadrasa,two schools (maktab), a bath (hammam), and five public fountains (çeshme). The walled town with its 200 stone houses was now occupied exclusively by Muslims, while the two suburbs (varosh) to the east and west were built of wood and had a mixed population. The western one was far larger, with 300 houses to 40–50 in the eastern one, and had a wooden mosque andmasjid,atekke,amaktab,twocaravanserais,as well as seven small churches. Evliya remarks that this suburb had many wineshops, which were popular with both the inhabitants and the garrison.[28]Another suburb (theVarosh-i Lefqada) was located on the island itself, with some 700 houses, all of them inhabited by Christian Greeks, who had 20 churches.[29]Evliya's account is corroborated byJacob SponandGeorge Wheler's account that the town had about 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants, mostly Greeks or Turks.[29]

According to the descriptions of travellers like Evliya, Lefkada was an urban centre of some importance, boasting "two of the largest works of Ottoman civil and military architecture in the Western Balkans", namely the aqueduct built by SultanSuleiman the Magnificent(r. 1520–1566) and the Castle of Santa Maura, which was completely rebuilt byKılıç Ali Pashain the reign of SultanSelim II(r. 1566–1574).[11]

Venetian period

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Church of the Theotokos, Lefkada city.
Church of the Pantokrator, Lefkada city.

The island was conquered by the Venetians underFrancesco Morosinifollowing asixteen-day siegein 1684, during the opening stages of theMorean War.[24][29]Morosini evacuated the walled town and demolished both it and the two suburbs directly outside the walls, turning them into the castle'sglacis.Only the island suburb remained, known as "Amaxiki" until the 19th century. With the evicted inhabitants settling there, this became the main town of the island, the predecessor of the modern city of Lefkada. The Venetians also removed all buildings associated with Islam.[29]

The Venetians modernized the castle in the 1710s, removing the last traces of the medieval castle and addingoutworkstowards the eastern, mainland side.[29]During theSeventh Ottoman–Venetian War,following theOttoman reconquest of the Moreain 1715, the Venetians initially abandoned Lefkada to focus their resources on the defence ofCorfu.The castle was abandoned and partly demolished, but after theSiege of Corfuended in a Venetian victory, the island was reoccupied and the fortifications restored.[30]

Venetian rule over the island was uninterrupted, apart from a rebellion of the local Greeks in 1769, until theFall of the Republic of Venicein 1797.[29]

Post-Venetian period until the union with Greece

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Following the end of the Republic of Venice in 1797, Lefkada, like the otherVenetian Ionian Islands,wasoccupied by the French,who held it until a Russo-Turkish expedition underFyodor Ushakovcaptured it in 1799.[31]In 1800, theSeptinsular Republicwas established, a Russian protectorate underde jureOttoman suzerainty. The Russian Empire employed troops recruited from fugitiveklephtsandarmatoloiin the Ionian Islands, particularly of Lefkada. Among these were captains Anastasios Tselios and Apostolos Levendakis, the latter of whom in 1802 offered to raise a company of 60 fighters on Lefkada to support the Russians.[32]Ali Pasha of Ioannina,who coveted possession of the Ionian Islands, besieged Lefkada in 1807. For this purpose he erected two forts on the mainland shore, theTekke Castleand theSt. George's Castle,but his attacks on the Castle of Santa Maura were successfully repulsed by the local Russian and Greek forces of the Septinsular Republic.[29][33]French rule was restoredin 1807 after theTreaty of Tilsit,but in 1810, the Britishcaptured the island.[34][35]In 1815, the United Kingdom set up theUnited States of the Ionian Islandsas a protectorate, including Lefkada.

Much of the town, including the Ottoman aqueduct, was destroyed in an earthquake in 1825. After this, the town was rebuilt in wood to prevent similar damage.[36]In 1864 the islands wereceded to Greece.[29]The island then numbered about 24,000 inhabitants.[29]

Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center

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The first museum in Europe forLafcadio Hearn,who was born on the island and is named after it, was inaugurated in Lefkada on July 4, 2014, as Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center. It contains early editions, rare books and Japanese collectibles. The visitors, through photos, texts and exhibits, can wander in the significant events of Lafcadio Hearn's life, and also in the civilizations of Europe, America and Japan of late 19th and early 20th centuries through the open mind of his lectures, writings and tales. The municipalities of Kumamoto, Matsue, Shinjuku, Yaizu, as well as Toyama University, the Koizumi family, and other people from Japan and Greece contributed to the establishment of the Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center.

View of Nydri

Municipality

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The present municipality of Lefkada was formed in the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 7 former municipalities, which became municipal units:[3]

The municipality covers the island of Lefkada and the smaller islands ofKastosandKalamos.

Education

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Regional Development department, part ofIonian universitybased in Lefkada.[37]

Sport

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The Island of Lefkada and the town ofVasilikiare known as a hotspot for extreme sport lovers. The island has become a favorite spot for windsurfers. Another sport is the 4X4 events and opportunities for offroad activities.[38]

Transport

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Notable people

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Bust ofAristotelis Valaoritis

(in chronological order)

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^"Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό"[Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
  2. ^Potts, Jim (2010).The Ionian Islands and Epirus: A Cultural History.Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. ix.ISBN978-0-19-975416-8.Retrieved16 June2011.
  3. ^ab"ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text"(in Greek).Government Gazette.
  4. ^"Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)"(PDF)(in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2015-09-21.
  5. ^"Oreivatein".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-12-09.Retrieved2012-02-21.
  6. ^Strabo10.2.20
  7. ^Strabo10.452
  8. ^"Lefkada climate: weather by month, temperature, rain - Climates to Travel".climatestotravel.Retrieved2024-10-15.
  9. ^Colony and mother city in ancient Greece By A. J. Graham Page 132ISBN0-7190-0059-9
  10. ^Adolph, Anthony (2015).Brutus of Troy and the Quest for the Ancestry of the British.Pen and Sword.ISBN978-1473849181.
  11. ^abcdefghKiel 1986,p. 725.
  12. ^Bagnall, Nigel (25 July 2006).The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta and the Struggle for Greece.Macmillan. p. 17.ISBN0-312-34215-2.
  13. ^abcdefghijkSoustal & Koder 1981,p. 195.
  14. ^Soustal & Koder 1981,pp. 51–52.
  15. ^abcSoustal & Koder 1981,pp. 195, 203.
  16. ^abcBrooks 2013,p. 102.
  17. ^Soustal & Koder 1981,p. 203.
  18. ^Brooks 2013,p. 287.
  19. ^Brooks 2013,pp. 102, 287.
  20. ^Fine 1994,pp. 348–351.
  21. ^Soustal & Koder 1981,pp. 70–71.
  22. ^Kiel 1986,pp. 725–726.
  23. ^abcdKiel 1986,p. 726.
  24. ^abSoustal & Koder 1981,p. 196.
  25. ^Kiel 1986,pp. 725, 726, 737.
  26. ^Kiel 1986,pp. 725, 726.
  27. ^Birken 1976,pp. 61, 103.
  28. ^Kiel 1986,pp. 726–727.
  29. ^abcdefghiKiel 1986,p. 727.
  30. ^Brooks 2013,p. 103.
  31. ^Brooks 2013,pp. 103–104.
  32. ^Nicholas Charles Pappas (1982).Greeks in Russian military service in the late eighteen and early nineteenth centuries.Stanford University.These troops were recruited from among the fugitive klephtes and armatoloi residing on the Ionian Islands, particularly Lefkas. Among these men were the Captains Anastasios Tselios and Apostolos Levendakls. Tselios was a member of a prominent family of armatoloi from Xeromeros in southwestern Greece. As early as 1802, he had offered his services to the Septinsular Republic, proposing to raise and command a company of sixty men on Lefkas.... In April 1806, this kapitanios and his men were among a number of refugee armatoloi on Lefkas. including the kapitanaioi Skylodemos, Stratos, Giannes Kolovelones, Konstantes Poules, Giorgakes — — 72 Varnakiotes and others. By June...
  33. ^Moschonas 1975,p. 399.
  34. ^Brooks 2013,p. 104.
  35. ^Moschonas 1975,pp. 399–400.
  36. ^Kiel 1986,pp. 727–728.
  37. ^"Τοποθεσια – Τμήμα Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης".
  38. ^"VISIT VASILIKI".VISIT VASILIKI.2023-10-27.Retrieved2024-10-15.

Sources

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