Lefkada

Lefkada, or Leucas (Λευκάδα, ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, Leukás; Santa Maura) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The city of Lefkada, is situated on the northern part 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.

History
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 on 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 is not really an island, that it was connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway.According to Strabo X,2  the coast of Acarnania was called Leucas in earlier times. The ancient sources call Leucas a Corinthian colony, perhaps with a Corcyraen participation. During the Peloponnesian War Leucas had joined the Spartan Confederation.

Geography


The east coast section of the island has small resorts of Lefkada, Nikiana and Perigiali, all north of Nidri, the largest resort on the island. 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.

20 km south of Nidri is the resort of Vasiliki, a windsurfing center. There are ferries to Kefalonia and Ithaca from Vasiliki. South of Vasiliki is Cape Lefkada, where the Greek female poet Sappho allegedly leapt to her death from the 30 m high cliffs.

The famous beach of Porto Katsiki is located on Lefkada's west 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.

Climate
The island has a typical Mediterranean climate: hot summers and cool winters, especially in the mountains.

Transport

 * Greek National Road 42
 * Two other roads

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

Persons
(in chronological order)
 * Aristotelis Valaoritis (1824-1879), poet and politician
 * 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
 * Tzavalas Karousos or Karoussos (1904-1969), actor
 * 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
 * Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping tycoon
 * Maria Vamvakinou (1959), Greek-Australian politician
 * Spyros Vrettos (1960), poet
 * Evagelia Aravani (1985), fashion model