Lefkás, formerly Levkás (both: lĕfkäs') or Leucas (lū'kəs), mountainous island (1991 pop. 19,350), c.115 sq mi (300 sq km), W Greece, in the Ionian Sea; one of the Ionian Islands. Lefkás (1991 pop. 6,344), the chief town and the capital of Lefkás prefecture, is at the northern end of the island. Olive oil, currants, wine, and tobacco are produced. The island was colonized (7th cent. B.C.) by Corinthians, and Corinth and Lefkás were allies in the Peloponnesian War. Lefkás later was the capital of the Acarnanian League (3d cent. B.C.). The island was captured (1697) from the Ottoman Turks by Venice, which held it until 1797. There are ruins of Cyclopean walls and a temple to Apollo Leukates. Sappho is said, probably falsely, to have committed suicide by plunging into the sea from a cliff of the island. Lefkás is also known as Santa Maura.
Lefkás
| 5min Related Video: Lefkás |
| Wikipedia: Lefkada |
This article is about the island; see Lefkada (city) for the capital of the island of Lefkada.
| Lefkada Prefecture Νομός Λευκάδας |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
|
|
| Country: |  Greece |
| Capital: | Lefkada (city) |
| Periphery: | Ionian Islands |
| Population: | 22,879 (2005)Ranked 54th |
| Area: | 325 km² (125 sq.mi.) Ranked 54th |
| Density: | 70 /km² (182 /sq.mi.) |
| Number of municipalities: | 6 |
| Number of communities: | 2 |
| Postal codes: | 31x xx |
| Area codes: | 26450 |
| Licence plate code: | ΕΥ |
| ISO 3166-2 code: | GR-26 |
| Website: | www.lefkada.gr |
Lefkada, or Leucas (Greek: Λευκάδα, IPA: [le̞fˈkaða]; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, Leukás; Italian: 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.
Contents |
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[1]. During the Peloponnesian War Leucas had joined the Spartan Confederation[2].
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.[3]
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
| Municipality | YPES code | Seat | Postal code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollonioi | 3601 | Vasiliki | 310 82 |
| Ellomenos | 3602 | Nydri | 311 00 |
| Karya | 3604 | 310 80 | |
| Lefkada (city) | 3606 | 311 00 | |
| Meganisi | 3607 | Katomeri | 310 83 |
| Sfakiotes | 3608 | Lazarata | 310 80 |
| Community | YPES code | Seat | Postal code |
| Kalamos | 3603 | 310 81 | |
| Kastos | 3605 | 310 81 |
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), Greco-Irish 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
Notes
- ^ Colony and mother city in ancient Greece By A. J. Graham Page 132 ISBN 0719000599
- ^ The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta and the struggle for Greece By Nigel Bagnall Page 17 ISBN 0312342152
- ^ Strabo 10.452
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lefkada |
|
|||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Lafcadio Hearn (American-Irish-Japanese writer) |
| Ionian Islands (island group, Greece) |
| Greece (country) |
 | Distance between vassiliki to nidri in lefkas? Read answer... |
Help us answer these
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lefkada". Read more |
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer these
- How long is the flight from manchester to lefkas?
- How far from kefalonia to lefkas?
- How long does it take to fly from london to lefkas?
Mentioned in
- Lafcadio Hearn (American-Irish-Japanese writer)
- Ionian Islands (island group, Greece)
- Greece (country)
- List of FIPS region codes (G-I)
