Zakynthos

Zakynthos (Greek: Ζάκυνθος, Venetian: Zacinto; Italian: Zante(a form often used in English)), the third largest of the Ionian Islands, covers an area of 410 km2 and its coastline is roughly 123 km in length. The island is named after Zakynthos, the son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. Zakynthos has a thriving tourism industry.

Population

 * 1900: 42,000
 * 1981: 30,011
 * 1991: 32,556 (island), 13,000 (city)
 * 2001: 38,596

In 2006, there were 507 births and 407 deaths. Zakynthos is one of the regions with highest population growth in Greece. It is also one of the only 3 prefectures (Out of 54) in which rural population have a positive population growth rate. In fact rural population have higher growth rate than the urban population in Zakynthos. Out of the 507 births, 141 were in urban areas and 366 were in rural areas. Out of the 407 deaths, 124 were in urban areas and 283 were in rural areas.

See also: List of settlements in the Zakynthos prefecture

Culture


The island has a long musical tradition. It was a precursor of opera and operetta in Greece and on the island it constituted links between nobles and the rest of the people. In 1815 it saw the establishment of the first Music School in Greece. During the first Olympic Games, in Athens 1896, the Music Band of Zakynthos took part in the event. It was the period when composers of Zantiote origin, such as Domeneginis Kapnissis enjoyed some fame in Europe. Since 2009 Zakynthos has its own jazz festival (Zante Jazz Festival).

Geography


Zakynthos has a varied terrain, with fertile plains in the southeastern part and mountainous terrain with steep cliffs along the coasts on the west. Zakynthos town coordinates are: Latitude 37.79139/37°47'29 N, Longitude: 20.89528/20°53'43 E.

The mild, Mediterranean climate and the plentiful winter rainfall endow the island with dense vegetation. The principal products are olive oil, currants, grapes and citrus fruit.

The capital, which has the same name as the prefecture, is the town of Zakynthos; apart from the official name, it is also called Chora (i.e. the Town, a common denomination in Greece when the name of the island itself is the same as the name of the principal town). According to the 2001 census, the island has a population of 38,957.

Among the most famous Zakynthians is the 19th century poet Dionysios Solomos, the principal modern Greek poet and author of the national anthem of Greece. His statue adorns the main town square. Also the explorer Juan de Fuca (Ioannis Focas) and the Italian poet Ugo Foscolo were born here.

The island has one airport, the Dionysos Solomos Airport (on former GR-35) in its southwest which connects flights with other Greek airports. Further southwest is the National Marine Park of Zakynthos where loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) are found in the bay of Kalamaki. Caretta caretta is an endangered species - especially by the deck chairs laid out on their breeding grounds and the inevitable pollution. Every year at the beginning of June, the female turtles come to the southern beaches in order to bury their eggs in the sand. The incubation period for the nest is approximately fifty five days, after which time hatchlings emerge from the nest and make their way to the sea. The survival rate for hatchlings is very small, and it is estimated that only one in one thousand hatchlings that enter the sea live to adulthood. Each nest contains around one hundred to one hundred and twenty eggs, each of which are around the size and shape of a ping-pong ball. Female turtles begin to lay nests at around twenty to thirty years of age.

The port of Zakynthos has a ferry connecting to the port of Kyllini on the mainland. Another ferry connects the village of Skinari to Argostoli on the island of Kefalonia.

The Zante currant, a small sweet seedless grape is native to the island.


 * Island length: 40 km
 * Island width: 20 km
 * Highest point: Vrachionas, 758 m

Sites of interest include Shipwreck Bay, Cape Skinari and the Blue Caves. The western part of the island is accessible and has a panoramic view of the sea. The ridge area from Anafontria has a small observation deck which overlooks the shipwreck and there is a monastery nearby.

Keri is located in the far south of the island. It is a mountain village and has a lighthouse in the south. It includes a panorama of the southern part of the Ionian Sea.

For tourist facilities, Zante has campsites and beaches including, a beautiful stretch near Keri, around 100 m in length and surrounded by cliffs. The island also offers a plethora of arches and cliffs which are widely known beyond the island ; one  is underground. Several documentaries have been filmed around this area of Zakynthos/Zante. Beaches are to be found in Porto Limnionas, Porto Vromi and Porto Zoro.

History
Zakynthos was inhabited from the Neolithic Age, as some archaeological excavations have proved.

The famous ancient Greek poet and writer, Homer, first mentioned the island in his masterpieces, the Iliad and the Odyssey, stating that the first inhabitants of it were the son of King Dardanos of Troy called Zakynthos and his men and that they first came on the island around 1500-1600 BC.

The island was then conquered by the Great Imperial King Arkeisios of Kefalonia. The famous Ulysses (Odysseus in Greek) from Ithaca was the next King to conquer the island.

Later on, a treaty was signed that made Zakynthos an independent democracy, the first established in the Hellenic area, and that lasted more than 650 years.



Zakynthos, along with the rest of the Ionian islands, spent centuries as a subject of the Republic of Venice and other Italian principalities. Italian rule protected the island from Ottoman domination but in its place it put a feudal oligarchy. The cultural influence of Italy (and of Italian on local dialect) was considerable. The wealthy made a habit of sending their sons to Italy to be educated. A good example is Dionysios Solomos, a native of Zakynthos and Greece's national poet. However, both the Greek language and Orthodox faith survived intact. During the Napoleonic wars the islands were occupied at different times by France, as part of the département Mer-Égée (which induced the peasants to revolt), Russia, Turkey (Septinsular Republic) and finally Britain, which held on to them under the guise of the United States of the Ionian Islands until 1864, when they were ceded to Greece to stabilize the rule of the newly crowned Danish-born King of Greece, Georgios I.

The Great Earthquake of 1953
This "paradise on earth" suffered a series of four severe earthquakes in August 1953, resulting in the total destruction of the island's infrastructure, including most of its state archives. The third and most destructive of those quakes, registering 7.3 on the Richter Scale, occurred at 09:24 UTC (11:24 am local time) on August 12, 1953. It had its epicentre directly on the southern tip of the nearby island of Kefalonia and caused widespread destruction there as well. In addition, the quake was felt throughout most of the country. Only three buildings on Zakynthos were left standing after the disaster: the St. Dionysios Cathedral, the National Bank building and the church of St. Nicholas "tou Molou" (of the Quay). A few other buildings in outlying areas managed to avoid complete collapse.

The first relief efforts came from the British Royal Navy and the state of Israel; during Nazi Germany's occupation of the island, the island's Bishop Chrysostomos gave the Germans a list of Jews on the island. It was a list of two names; his own and the mayor's. Israel's relief came with a message that read "The Jews of Zakynthos have never forgotten their Mayor and their beloved Bishop and what they did for us."

The rebuilding of the island was subject to a very rigid anti-seismic code, and has thus withstood several moderate and powerful earthquakes at a small amount of damage.

After the quake
After the enormous earthquake, the island's roads were expanded and paved along with the GR-35, one of the roads linking with the town and Porto Roma along with Laganas, Keri and Volimes and from Lachans to Keri. Its airport was opened in the 1960s. Its population partly emigrated but subsequently boomed in later years.

Mining is also common on the island. A small mountain located in Zakynthos' west side was mined during the 1990s, though it is no longer in use. Today, mining continues, but with two quarries on the mountain range on the western part of the island. Tourism continues to thrive and Zakynthos is currently one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece.

A few earthquakes rumbled later in the 2000s, one on Sunday June 8, 2008 at 6.4 R, felt without any damages or injuries. Another but less trembling four months later occurred on Saturday October 11 and measured at 4 R also nearly causing no damages.

The April 2006 earthquake swarm
Starting in the early morning hours of April 4, 2006, a series of moderate to strong earthquakes occurring on an almost daily basis began shaking almost the entire island. On April 11, however, the phenomenon intensified in both magnitude and rate of events. At 03:02 local time of that day, a powerful, magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit the area, only to be followed by an even stronger tremor, registering at 5.9 on the Richter Scale, at 8:30 p.m. (20:30) EET. On April 12, a committee of the nation's most prominent seismologists had an emergency meeting with the Greek Ministry of Environment and Public Works, in order to assess the emerging situation. The meeting ended in a scientific consensus that this specific area of the Ionian Sea was simply not ready to produce an even stronger quake,   advising the nervous citizens of the island to remain calm. However, at 19:52 and at 19:56 local time of that same evening, two more earthquakes shook the region sending scores of terrified people into the streets. The earthquakes had a preliminary moment magnitude of 5.8 and 5.4 respectively. Seismologists at the Athens Seismological Institute were once again taken by surprise by what turned into an unprecedented riddle concerning whether or not these were in fact foreshocks of a major event. The chances are, nonetheless, that this was just a phenomenon known as earthquake swarm, characterized by a pattern of a considerable amount of magnitude-wise similar tremors, all occurring within a limited number of days or weeks. As a result of the recurring jolts, moderate damage was reported to a total of sixty residencies and one library, while a small crack appeared on the eastern part of the capital's port. In addition, several rocks tumbled down onto one of the island's main roads, running through its mountainous areas.

The Ionian Islands are situated upon one of Europe's most notorious faults, capable of producing earthquakes potentially causing both widespread damage and considerable loss of life. However it should be stressed that, following the catastrophe of 1953, the authorities of Zakynthos have enforced a strict program of antiseismic standards to be applied in every building to be constructed. All buildings have been built on a swimming slab and enforced with steel, determined by the government to ensure safety. As a result, an earthquake similar to that of August 12, 1953, will almost certainly result in far less destruction.

After the quake and the Wildfires of 2006
On Thursday July 18, 2006, the western portion of the island was hit by a forest fire. The fire spread to the island's forest and ended up spreading by hectares. Firefighters along with helicopters and planes from the mainland arrived to fight the fire's expansion and further deforestation. The fire lasted for several days and on July 20, much of the area was contained; though it had become unpopular and unattractive scenery. One of the conflagrations appeared as a fiery line visible from as far away as the southern portion of the island and the Ionian Sea.

Sport
The island offers exceptional attractions for SCUBA divers. Many of the dive sites are cave dives around the island; a wide range of marine life can be found, and common amongst it are moray eels, monk seals, octopus, and loggerhead turtles (caretta caretta).

Transportation


Greece National Road 35, a road linking Zante and Porto Roma; and another road linking Zante and Volimes.

Persons



 * Saint Dionysios of Zakynthos 16th century
 * Nikolaos Koutouzis (1741-1813), painter
 * Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), Greek-Italian writer
 * Andreas Kalvos (1789-1869), poet
 * Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857), poet, creator of the Greek national anthem
 * Pavlos Carrer (1829-1896), composer
 * Leonidas Zois (1865-1956), historian
 * George Costakis (1913-1990), art collector
 * Kostas Dikefalos (1956), sculptor
 * Gregorios Xenopoulos (1867-1951), writer-journalist