KEFALONIA and day Trip to ITHAKA – Peter Bond (Rtd HoD)
Kefalonia is a beautiful island, popularised in recent years by Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. There are stunning beaches, interesting caves, attractive villages, all visited by coach-tours in varied combinations. There are even some archaeological remains (not for the coach-tours). We based ourselves in Lassi and, despite hiring a car, did not venture too far from our base.
The town of Lassi is just a stretch of main road with several restaurants, half of them closed now that summer is over, and a lane leading steeply down to the Lassi Hotel and to Gradakia Beach. The beach is small and sandy, largely occupied by sunbeds. The Lassi Hotel is run by cats. There are cats which supervise the ladies sweeping and mopping in the morning. There are several which check the quality of the breakfast by demanding to share some. And there are two who supervise the swimming-pool, presumably to stop anyone diving in or monopolising a sunbed. One even stopped me driving our hire-car into the hotel carpark, standing in the middle of the road and arching his back. The local Dolphin Supermarket (more like a minimarket) is also run by a cat. He has a cushion beside the cash-register so that he can keep an eye on the transactions. I’m sure that, if we go to Lassi again, cats will be checking our passports and taking our credit-card payments.
We had supper twice at Mavroulas, a cliff-side restaurant with a very enthusiastic and welcoming owner, and fantastic views of the sunset over the inlet between Lassi and Lixouri. After that, he too closed for the winter.
Close by is ARGOSTOLI, the principal town, described sometimes as the capital (population 10,000). Almost totally destroyed by the 1953 earthquake, it was re-built in pastel colours and reassuringly un-modern style. It has a long water-front with the Drapanos Bridge over the inlet, built in 1813 during the British occupation of Kefalonia, and described as the world’s longest stone bridge over the sea. It looks more like a causeway with water-holes, as it has sunk a bit over 200 years.
Look for a group of a dozen people or so on the Argostoli waterfront, pointing at something in the water, some of them taking photos on their mobiles. They will have spotted a loggerhead turtle.
In the morning the turtles make for the fishing-boats but, being solitary creatures, you only see one at a time.
A little off the coast-road from Argostoli is a well-tended monument to the Italian soldiers killed by the Nazis in battles and in executions.
SAMI is a major port (population 1000) on the east of the island, with a ferry to Ithaca among other places. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin filmed several scenes here, but they are not recognisable as the film-makers used reconstructions of pre-earthquake Argostoli and then destroyed them. The road to Sami, like most roads on Kefalonia, is mountainous (skirting Mt Ainos) with hairpin-bends and precipitous cliffs. We drove carefully, often finding a line of hire-cars behind us, with similarly terrified drivers.
Sami has a remarkable one-room NAUTICAL MUSEUM created by an ex-seaman over 24 years of dedication and meticulous research. A few larger models are in the car-park, including a trireme – not full-size, a mere 20 feet long.
There is also the ship of Odysseus – not authentically Mycenaean but based on the famous vase-painting of Odysseus tied to the mast as the Sirens flap around him. Inside the museum are about thirty beautifully made model ships of which only three are classical; they are about five feet long. There are galleons, war-ships, cargo-ships, rowing-boats, of all eras. The largest model is of the Titanic.
Sami has an ancient Acropolis and various Roman remains including baths and some mosaics, now laid out in front of the ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM.
The Museum has finds from Sami (Helladic, Mycenaean, Classical, Roman) and also from Fiskardo, on the northern tip of the island.
If you drive along a worrying clifftop road from Sami, you reach ANTISAMOS, a stunning bay, also used for Captain Corelli, covered by a forest of umbrellas and sunbeds.
Turn south halfway to Sami and you find the extraordinary Convent of AGIOS GERASIMOS. Re-built in 1997, the large church is covered with frescoes representing most of the New Testament.
Keep going south to KASTRO, a medieval castle (though the most visible tower appeared to have been built with breeze-blocks). It was closed, obviously, as it was Tuesday, but we could still enjoy the glorious views over the coastal plain and to Zakynthos. Further on we found MYCENAEAN TOMBS. The site is unmanned and Trip-Advisor’s correspondents have mostly given up on it, complaining that it is closed. In fact it has two gates, one of which is locked but the other (like a gate to an industrial complex) slides sideways if you push hard enough. An information-board tries to make sense of the curious holes in the rock below you. Not exactly the Treasury of Atreus but worth a look.
There are other Mycenaean tombs near Poros in the east of the island.
Day Trip to Ithaka
Did Odysseus live in Ithaca or did Homer get things wrong? Some recent books and a Channel 5 programme have claimed that the geographical references in the Odyssey don’t correspond with anything in Ithaca, and that Leukas or various parts of Kefallonia are more likely.
Odysseus (Od. IX 25-26) describes Ithaca as χθαμαλὴ (low-lying), πανυπερτάτη (most remote of all) and πρὸς ζόφον (towards the gloom)
αὐτὴ δὲ χθαμαλὴ πανυπερτάτη εἰν ἁλὶ κεῖται πρὸς ζόφον, αἱ δέ τ᾽ ἄνευθε πρὸς ἠῶ τ᾽ ἠέλιόν τε, τρηχεῖ᾽, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος: οὔ τοι ἐγώ γε ἧς γαίης δύναμαι γλυκερώτερον ἄλλο ἰδέσθαι. (Odyssey, 9.25-28)
Ithaca is not low-lying. It consists of two mountains joined by a narrow isthmus.
Ithaca viewed from Sami in Kefalonia
“Furthest to the west”? No chance. It is to the east of Kefalonia. Other interpretations of those words are possible: e.g. Rieu (Penguin) suggests “facing west”, whatever that could mean. Athena gives a more accurate description of Ithaca (Od. XIII 242-247): rugged, unsuitable for horses, narrow but fertile, producing corn and wine etc.
You can trace Odysseus’s footsteps around Ithaca. For further information, see Jane Cochran’s Walking In the Footsteps of Odysseus (a guide to the Homeric sites on Ithaca) and her Odysseus’ Island (largely about buying and re-building a ruin on Ithaca and coping with curious local working practices, but concluding with full details on the arguments for and against the Ithaca identification).
We can follow Odysseus’s itinerary: He lands at the harbour of Phorcys (Od. XIII 345) which is identified as Dexia Beach (a little to the west of Vathy, the main town).
View from Mt Neriton. Vathy Bay is the large bay to the right of the large central headland; Dexia is a smaller bay, just visible to the right of that, with a tiny island in front of it
He hid the Phaeacian treasures in the Cave of the Nymphs. That’s uphill and to the west of Dexia – and currently closed! (Od. XIII, 347-8). Athena also mentions Mount Neriton (Od. XIII 351 and elsewhere) which retains that name and occupies most of the northern half of the island.
Athena (who might not be the ideal guide if you’re in a hurry) tells him that Eumaeus, the loyal swineherd, will be at Raven’s Crag and the Spring of Arethusa (Od. XIII 408). Raven’s Crag is on the south coast of the island, with a sheer drop below. Reaching it appears to be hazardous if not suicidal. And the spring of Arethusa is nearby. There are also three caves, one of which could have been used by Eumaeus.
And in the north of the island is a Mycenaean Palace! Well, who could have lived there?
There are popular bus-tours of Ithaca but the attractions are picturesque rather than Homeric, so we decided to book a private tour at ridiculous expense! (If I ever go again, I’ll take the car). The Homeric sites in the southern half of Ithaca appeared to be difficult or time-consuming to access so I settled for the traditional tour with a few additions.
6.15 breakfast (thanks to our helpful hotel) and off at 7 am with Martin, our English and very informative driver. 8.15 Ferry from Sami; the crossing takes 40 minutes. First stop: VATHY, the main town (population 1600), set around a lovely bay surrounded by mountains. This is on the north of the southern half of Ithaca. Archaeological Museum – only one room as it is being re-built, but that meant free admission. Some good geometric pottery. Coffee in the Square near the harbour.
Now to the northern half of the island and Mount Neriton. KATHARON MONASTERY is renowned for its panoramic views, especially from the bell-tower, though you can only go 1/3 of the way up! The church was typically Greek and full of icons. A lady appeared and started turning the lights off, which seemed a bit pointed.
Next stop ANOGI, the highest village on the island, with an old church, a 9-metre monolith, and a good Museum with information on geology etc.
STAVROS: the excitement mounts. Stavros (population 327) is the island’s commercial capital. Ithaca’s answer to Wall Street. It has a model of “Odysseus’s Palace” under glass in the main square
There is a tiny (and free) Museum of the Sea with a reconstruction of Odysseus’s ship and other interesting information; another tiny free Museum featuring explanations of why Ithaca (and not Kefalonia) was the home of Odysseus; and the Archaeological Museum (at least half a mile out of the town – free, too, possibly because it was a saint’s day – with more pottery and also fragments of the tripods from the Cave of the Nymphs. Were these the ones given to Odysseus by the Phaeacians and which he hid when he landed? No – they are too late, dating from Homer’s time. But, as there were thirteen of them, did Homer see them himself and did that give him the idea – twelve tripods from nobles and one from Alcinous himself? (The fragments in the Museum appear to be only two).
Now the PALACE OF ODYSSEUS. This was excavated by Professor Papadopoulos, but the excavation was interrupted by an earthquake. As archaeological remains go, it is a bit of a challenge. It’s a climb up a hillside, with no proper path. And, inevitably, no information-boards. We finally found the megaron which must have been the Great Hall. It’s not particularly huge. Large enough for an extended family gathering at Christmas. A bit crowded for 108 Suitors plus Penelope, Telemachus, Eurycleia, plus disloyal maidservants plus the occasional musician, goatherd, and disguised beggar. And pretty cramped for an archery contest with painful aftermath. About ten steps of a staircase very clearly survive – you can walk up them. Yes, here’s where Penelope came down from her upstairs room
There are more remains on a higher level but later buildings (a ruined 17th century church) make it even harder to understand. Certainly, somebody important lived here. A lady guide (who had been there several times but still didn’t understand it) was trying to explain it all to a French couple with the aid of Jane Cochran’s book. I addressed her in French, only to discover that she was English.
The Palace was high up and would have offered its occupants a panoramic view to three harbours in different directions.
View to Afales Bay
KIONI and lunch. Another attractive harbour with water-front restaurants, one of them occupied by a tour-group filling three long tables. We found a Rooftop Bar claiming to offer “The Best View in Kioni”. It produced a very good Club Sandwich and a Greek Yogurt with fruit and honey. Back via Stavros for Martin to buy us a Rovani cake with ice-cream. Then a photo-stop for a view over glorious POLIS BAY. Back on the 4.45 ferry.