Kanoni Attractions

From Garítsa a beautiful road runs 3km/2mi south to the southern tip of a promontory between the sea and Lake Khalikiópoulos, with the tree-shaded terrace of Kanóni. In front are two small islets: on the nearer one, reached on a causeway, is the small monastery of Vlakhérna (17th C.), and beyond this is Pontikonísi ("Mouse Island"), with a Byzantine chapel. To the ancient Greeks Pontikonísi was the Phaeacian ship, turned to stone by Poseidon, which took Odysseus back to Ithaca ("Odyssey", 13,163). On the west side of the Kanóni peninsula lies Lake Khalikiópoulos, now partly drained (airport) and partly marshland (wild ducks), which in ancient times was the island's principal harbor. The encounter between Odysseus and Nausikaa is said to have taken place on the southwest shore of the lake.