Zante tourist guide

 Zakynthos island

Zakynthos or Zante is the southernmost of the Ionian islands. Near by are the Strofades islands. Zakynthos located south of Kefalonia or Cephalonia and north west of Peloponnese. Zante has a diverse territory, with fertile plains in the southeast of the island and mountainous terrain with cliffs along the western coast. The west coast of Zakynthos is rocky and steep forming caves and coves. In the south east of the island ids the gulf of Laganas one of the most famous areas in Zakynthos. The capital, which has the same name of the prefecture, is the city of Zakynthos, also known as Chora.

In the sheltered coats of this gulf the protected turtle Kareta Kareta lies its eggs. the east coast facing the Peloponnese has wonderful sandy beaches. Zakynthos has a Mediterranean climate with unusual many rainfalls during the winter that results a lush vegetation. The island like most of the Ionian islands is volcanic and exposed to Earthquakes.

Zakynthos is mentioned by Homer as an island that was under the rule of Odysseus, the island took part in the Trojan war. During the Peloponnesian wars the island was an allie of the Athenians. After the decline of the Classical Greece Zakynthos was conquered by the Romans. In the middle ages the island was conquered by the kingdom of Sicily. In the end of the 15th century Zakynthos invaded by the Venetians and remain under their rule until the end of the 18th century. Zakynthos as well as the other Ionian islands was never occupied by the Turks. The island was unified with Greece in 1864. Zakynthos is the birth place of the Greek national Poet Dionysios Solomos who wrote the Greek Anthem "Hymn to Freedom" , in Zakynthos was born also the famous Italian poet Ugo Foscolo.

Today Zakynthos is the second most touristy island of the Ionians after Corfu. Key products are olive oil, grapes and cedars.
From the Greek mainland you can go to Zakynthos from the small town of Kylini just a few kilometres away from the coasts of Zakynthos.
 

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Zakynthos Map