Kythira
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Chief place: Kythira (Khóra)
Kythira (the ancient Kythera, Cythera) is the most southerly of the Ionian Islands (Eptánisos), lying 15km/9mi off the southern tip of Laconia, with rugged karstic hills slashed by numerous gorges and sheer coastal cliffs. The meager yields of the island's agriculture have led many of the younger people to emigrate, particularly to Australia.
Kythira's abundance of murex shellfish (producing a much valued purple dye) led to an early Phoenician settlement on the island. Later it belonged to Sparta, and the Phoenician cult of the goddess Astarte gave rise to the Greek cult of Aphrodite, who was believed to have emerged from the sea in a large shell off the coast of Kythira. As a military stronghold off the coast of Lacedaemon the island was of great strategic importance in ancient times.
Under Venetian rule (from 1207) Kythira was known as Cerigo. Thereafter, as a late addition to the Eptánisos, it shared the destinies of the Ionian Islands. It was reunited with Greece in 1864, and on occasion served as a place of exile for opponents of the government.
Although the island is actually part of the chain of Ionian Islands, it is most accessible from the southern tip of the Peloponnese.
Kythira (the ancient Kythera, Cythera) is the most southerly of the Ionian Islands (Eptánisos), lying 15km/9mi off the southern tip of Laconia, with rugged karstic hills slashed by numerous gorges and sheer coastal cliffs. The meager yields of the island's agriculture have led many of the younger people to emigrate, particularly to Australia.
Kythira's abundance of murex shellfish (producing a much valued purple dye) led to an early Phoenician settlement on the island. Later it belonged to Sparta, and the Phoenician cult of the goddess Astarte gave rise to the Greek cult of Aphrodite, who was believed to have emerged from the sea in a large shell off the coast of Kythira. As a military stronghold off the coast of Lacedaemon the island was of great strategic importance in ancient times.
Under Venetian rule (from 1207) Kythira was known as Cerigo. Thereafter, as a late addition to the Eptánisos, it shared the destinies of the Ionian Islands. It was reunited with Greece in 1864, and on occasion served as a place of exile for opponents of the government.
Although the island is actually part of the chain of Ionian Islands, it is most accessible from the southern tip of the Peloponnese.
Address:
Kythira Tourist Office, Town Hall, Kythira , Greece
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The Church of Panayia Myrtidotissa in Kythera.
Street in Kythera.
Harbor at Kythera.
Hora Castle at Kythera.
Hora Castle overview in Kythera.
