Zakinthos Overview

Located to the west of the Greek mainland in the Ioanians, Zakinthos (Zakynthos) or Zante Island, is renowned for its gorgeous beaches along the south and east coasts, with its north and west coasts extremely mountainous, where precipitous cliffs rise hundreds of feet from the sea. The island is most famous for its shipwreck which lies in Smugglers Cove near the mountain village of Volimes. It ran aground here in 1981 after Greek authorities learned that smugglers were aboard, carrying contraband: cigarettes, wine, and women. A chase ensued and stormy weather created poor visibility causing the wreck. Today, the scene of the rusty vessel’s skeleton rising from the powdery white sands surrounded by dramatic limestone cliffs and the turquoise sea has become the symbol of Zakinthos, depicted in numerous Greek tourism ads, postcards and across the Internet. A wealth of other beautiful beaches can be discovered offering everything from viewing nesting turtles to swimming and other water sports. The island is abundant in nature, nicknamed ‘Il fiore di Levante’ (The Flower of the East) by the Italians, and there are plenty of attractions in the towns and villages too, like the town of Zante which has a thriving art scene, museums and a wealth of traditional eateries.

Zakinthos History in a Nutshell

Zakinthos has been inhabited from Neolithic times as archaeological findings have shown. The ancient Greek poet Homer referred to it in the Iliad and Odyssey, writing that the island’s first inhabitants were the son of Zakinthos, King Dardanos of Arcadia, and his men who arrived around 1500 BC. Thanks to the island’s fertile land and strategic position, the inhabitants became very wealthy and managed to establish colonies, in Paros, Crete, and even Spain. It was neutral during the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War but took part in the Athenian Alliance – when that was dissolved following the Athenian defeat, the island came under Lacedaemonian rule which ended the democracy. Inhabitants later organized a revolution that restored the democratic political system.

The island fell under Macedonian rule following the Macedonian Wars and was later occupied by the Romans. It eventually gained some autonomy, with the residents establishing their own laws, parliament, and coins, with significant cultural development during this period. Christianity came to Zakinthos in the 1^st-century AD, dominating within a couple of centuries with the rise of the Byzantine Empire formed by Constantine the Great. Afterwards, it fell under Venetian and Frank domination which was followed by the rule of the King of Naples and Prince of Florence.

The Ioanians, including Zakinthos, were still under Venetian rule when the rest of Greece was ruled by the Turks. The cultural heritage of the island was promoted by the Venetians, with many important Greek writers and poets birthed here like Dionysios Solomos, the national Greek poet. In the late 18^th-century, French republicans came and promised to change the political, economic and social system but nothing managed to last. The Turks and Russians reestablished oligarchy after conquering Zakinthos, but it was taken again by the French and then by the English in the first half of the 19^th-century. The English helped to develop and modernize public works, and the island aided the rest of Greece in the Revolution for Independence. On May 21, 1864, Zakinthos and the other Ioanian Islands became part of the Greek State.