History of Kefalonia
Kefalonia is the largest and most mountainous island of the Ionian Islands. Its shores form many bays and capes. The most important bays are those of Sami, Myrtos, Lourdes, Atheras, Fiskardos, Argostoli and Koutavos with the exceptional lagoon. The history of Kefalonia begins in the Mesolithic period (around 8000 BC), when there were settlements on the island. However, the activity during the Proto-Helladic period (2600 BC-1600 BC) is intense, with a large number of archaeological finds to testify this fact resulting in many historians claiming that Homeric Ithaca is the island of Kefalonia. It is certain, however, that Kefalonia was part of the wider Mycenae world and belonged to the kingdom of the long-suffering Odysseus. In antiquity there were references to the famous Tetrapolis, the cities that existed in Kefalonia (Palli-Kranis-Sami-Pronnoi) and mythology tells us that they were founded by the sons of the General Kefalos, from where the island got its name. Later in classical antiquity there were reports that the Kephalonian’s participated in the Battle of Plataea during the period of the Persian Wars. In the Roman years, Kefalonia followed the fate of the rest of Hellenism, while with the division of the Roman state, Kefalonia became a part of the Byzantine Empire. During the Crusades and with the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire, Kefalonia came under the administration of various Frankish nobles, with short breaks of Turkish conquest. From 1500 AD to 1800 AD, the administration of Kefalonia passed to the Venetians, who gave the island many of the elements it still has today, such as the fortification of the island with castles and other defense monuments. At the end of 1809, Britain occupied the island, but the Greek revolution of 1821 stirred up the hearts of the Iptanisians, who helped it in whatever way pissible, resulting in the final annexation of the Iptanis with the rest of Greece in 1864.
