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(GREECE)
Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia
Greece
Kefalonia - Cephallenia
• Kefalonia is the sixth largest island of Greece, covering an area of 786 square km. It
is the largest island in the Ionian Sea while it comes second as far as its population
is concerned, since there are 36,527 inhabitants (census 2001). The capital of the
prefecture Kefalonia and Ithaki is Argostoli, since 1757. The annexation of the
Ionian Islands in Greece became on 21 May 1864. The island suffered severe
damage from the powerful earthquake in 1953, when it was nearly leveled, but a
few years later it was rebuilt by the residents and nowadays, it faces rapid
development in tourism.
• It is called the 'island of whimsy', due to the number of unusual events recorded
on the island. The coastline which is 254km long, reveals a rich horizontal division.
Strips of land penetrate the sea, forming the peninsulas of Palikis in the west side
and of Elios-Pronni on the north side, where the sea forms broad bays. The main
harbours are Sami, in front of Ithaki, and Argostoli, in the west, which was the
ancient natural strategic naval base. The bays of Mirtos and of Athera in the north
and Lourdata and Kateleiou in the south are known for their enchanting beaches
that attract many visitors each year. The geological events of the island are the
sinks, the cave of Drogarati and lake-cave of Melissani.
History - Legend
• Cephalonia has also been suggested as the Homeric Ithaca, the home of Odysseus,
rather than the smaller island bearing this name today. Robert Bittlestone, in his
book Odysseus Unbound, has suggested that Paliki, now a peninsula of
Cephalonia, was a separate island during the late Bronze Age, and it may be this
that Homer was referring to when he described Ithaca. A project starting in the
Summer of 2007, and lasting three years examines this possibility.
• Cephalonia is just to the east of a major tectonic fault, where the European plate
meets the Aegean plate at a slip boundary. This is similar to the more famous San
Andreas Fault. There are regular earthquakes along this fault.
• A series of four earthquakes hit the island in August 1953, and caused major
destruction, with virtually every house on the island destroyed. The third and most
destructive of the quakes took place on August 12, 1953 at 09:24 UTC (11:24 local
time), with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was directly below
the southern tip of Cephalonia, and caused the entire island to be raised 60 cm higher,
where it remains, with evidence in water marks on rocks around the coastline.
• This 1953 disaster caused huge destruction, with only regions in the north escaping
the heaviest tremors and houses there remaining intact. Damage was estimated to run
into tens of millions of dollars, equivalent to billions of drachmas, but the real damage
to the economy occurred when residents left the island. An estimated 100,000 of the
population of 125,000 left the island soon after, seeking a new life elsewhere.
Fiscardo
Fiscardo
Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia
Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia
Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia
Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia
Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia
Melissani Cave