Listed 35 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "KEFALLONIA Island IONIAN ISLANDS" .
ARGOSTOLI (Town) KEFALLONIA
ASTERIAS (Small island) KEFALLONIA
Asteris (Asteris, Hom., Asteria), an island between Ithaca and Cephallenia,
where the suitors laid in wait for Telemachus on his return from Peloponnesus
(Hom. Od. iv. 846). This island gave rise to considerable dispute among the ancient
commentators. Demetrius of Scepsis maintained that it was no longer in existence;
but this was denied by Apollodorus, who stated that it contained a town called
Alalcomenae. (Strab. i. p. 59, x. pp. 456, 457). Some modern writers identify
Asteris with a rocky islet, now called Dyscallio; but as this island lies at the
northern extremity of the strait between Ithaca and Cephallenia, it would not
have answered the purpose of the suitors as a place of ambush for a vessel coming
from the south. (Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 62; Kruse, Kellas, vol. ii.
pt. ii. p. 454.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KEFALLONIA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Cephallenia (Kephallenia, Kephalenia: Eth. Kephallen, pl. Kephallenes,
Kephallenios: Cephalonia), called by Homer Same (Same, Od. i. 246, ix. 24) or
Samos (Samos, Il. ii. 634, Od. iv. 671), the largest island in the Ionian Sea,
opposite the Corinthian gulf and the coast of Acarnania. Along the northern half
of the eastern coast of Cephallenia lies the small island of Ithaca, which is
separated from it by a narrow channel about three miles in breadth. (Comp. Hom.
Od. iv. 671.) Strabo says that Cephallenia was distant from the promontory Leucata
in the island of Leucas about 50 stadia (others said 40), and from the promontory
Chelonatas, the nearest point in the Peloponnesus, about 80 stadia. (Strab. x.
p. 456.) Pliny describes it as 25 (Roman) miles from Zacynthus. (Plin. iv. 12.
s. 19.) The first of these distances is tolerably correct; but the other two are
erroneous. From C. Viscardo, the most northerly point of Cephallenia, to C. Dukato
(the ancient Leucata), the distance is 5 English miles, or about 40 stadia; but
from C. Scala, the most southerly point in Cephallenia, to C. Tornese, the nearest
point in the Morea, the distance is 23 miles, or about 196 stadia; while from
C. Scala to the northernmost part of Zacynthus the real distance is only 8 miles.
The size of Cephallenia is variously stated by the ancient writers.
Strabo makes it only 300 stadia in circuit. Pliny (l. c., according to Sillig's
edition) says that it is 93 miles in circumference; and Agathemerus (i. 5) that
it is 400 stadia in length, both of which measurements are nearer the truth, though
that of Agathemerus is too great. The greatest length of the island is 31 English
miles. Its breadth is very unequal: in the middle of the island, where a bay extends
eight miles into the land, the breadth is about 8 miles, but in the northern part
it is nearly double that distance. The area of the island is about 348 square
miles.
Cephallenia is correctly described by Strabo as a mountainous country.
Homer in like manner gives to it the epithet of paipaloesse (Od. iv. 671). A ridge
of calcareous mountains runs across the island from NW. to SE., the lower declivities
of which cover nearly the whole island. The highest summit of this range, which
rises to the height of about 4000 feet, was called Aenus (Hainos), and upon it
was a temple of Zeus Aenesius. (Strab. l. c.) From this mountain, which is now
covered with a forest of firtrees, whence its modern name, Elato, there is a splendid
view over Acarnania, Aetolia, and the neighbouring islands. There was also a mountain
called Baea (Baia) according to Stephanus, said to have been named after the pilot
of Ulysses. The principal plain in Cephallenia is that of Same, on the eastern
side of the island, which is about 6 miles in length from N. to S., and about
3 miles in width at the sea. From the mountainous character of the island, it
could never have been very productive. Hence Livy (xxxviii. 28) describes the
inhabitants as a poor people. We read on one occasion of good crops of corn in
the neighbourhood of Pale. (Pol. v. 5.) Leake observes that the soil is rocky
in the mountainous districts, and stony even in the plains; but the productions
are generally good in their kind, particularly the wine. Want of water is the
great defect of the island. There is not a single constantly flowing stream: the
sources are neither numerous nor plentiful, and many of them fail entirely in
dry summers, creating sometimes a great distress.
The island, as has been already remarked, is called Same or Samos
in Homer. Its earliest inhabitants appear to have been Taphians, as was the case
in the neighbouring islands. (Strab. x. p. 461.) It is said to have derived its
name from Cephalus, who made himself master of the island with the help of Amphitryon.
(Strab. x. p. 456; Schol. ad Lycophr. 930; Paus. i. 37. § 6; Heraclid. Pont. Fragm.
xvii. p. 213, ed. Korai.) Even in Homer the inhabitants of the island are called
Cephallenes, and are described as the subjects of Ulysses (Il. ii. 631, Od. xx.
210, xxiv. 355); but Cephallenia, as the name of the island, first occurs in Herodotus
(ix. 28). Scylax calls it Cephalenia (Kephalenia, with a single l), and places
it in the neighbourhood of Leucas and Alyzia.
Cephallenia was a tetrapolis, containing the four states of Same,
Pale, Cranii, and Proni. This division of the island appears to have been a very
ancient one, since a legend derived the names of the four cities from the names
of the four sons of Cephalus. (Etym. M. s. v. Kephallenia; Steph. B. s. v. Kranioi.)
Of these states Same was probably the most ancient, as it is mentioned by Homer
(Od. xx. 288). The names of all the four cities first occur in Thucydides. (Thuc.
ii. 30; comp. Strab. x. p. 455; Paus. vi. 15. § 7.) An account of these cities
is given separately; but as none of them became of much importance, the history
of the island may be dismissed in a few words. In the Persian wars the Cephallenians
took no part, with the exception of the inhabitants of Pale, two hundred of whose
citizens fought at the battle of Plataea. (Herod. ix. 28.) At the commencement
of the Peloponnesian war a large Athenian fleet visited the island, which joined
the Athenian alliance without offering any resistance. (Thuc. ii. 30.) In the
Roman wars in Greece the Cephallenians were opposed to the Romans; and accordingly,
after the conquest of the Aetolians, M. Fulvius was sent against the island with
a sufficient force, B.C. 189. The other cities at once submitted, with the exception
of Same, which was taken after a siege of four months. (Pol. iv. 6, v. 3, xxii.
13, 23; Liv. xxxvii. 13, xxxviii. 28, 29.) Under the Romans Cephallenia was a
libera civitas. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.) The island was given by Hadrian to the
Athenians (Dion Cass. lix. 16); but even after that event we find Pale called
in an inscription eleuthera kai autonomos. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 340.) In the time
of Ptolemy (iii. 14. § 12) Cephallenia was included in the province of Epeirus.
After the division of the Roman empire, the island was subject to the Byzantine
empire till the 12th century, when it passed into the hands of the Franks. It
formed part of the dominions of the Latin princes of Achaia till A.D. 1224, when
it became subject to the Venetians, in whose hands it remained (with the exception
of a temporary occupation by the Turks) till the fall of the Republic in 1797.
It is now one of the seven Ionian islands under the protection of Great Britain.
In 1833 the population was 56,447.
Of the four cities already mentioned, Same and Proni were situated
on the east coast, Cranii on the west coast, and Pale on the eastern side of a
bay on the west coast. Besides these four ancient cities, there are also ruins
of a fifth upon C. Scala, the SE. point of the island. These ruins are of the
Roman period, and probably those of the city, which C. Antonius, the colleague
of Cicero in his consulship, commenced building, when he was residing in Cephallenia
after his banishment from Italy. (Strab. x. p. 455). Ptolemy mentions a town Cephalenia
as the capital of the island. This may have been either the town commenced by
Antonius, or is perhaps represented by the modern castle of St. George in the
middle of the plain of Livadho in the south-western part of the island, where
ancient remains have been found. Besides these cities, it appears from several
Hellenic names still remaining, that there were other smaller towns or fortresses
in the island. On a peninsula in the northern part of the island, commanding two
harbours, is a fortress called Asso; and as there is a piece of Hellenic wall
in the modern castle, Leake conjectures that here stood an ancient fortress named
Assus. Others suppose that as Livy (xxxviii. 18) mentions the Nesiotae, along
with the Cranii, Palenses, and Samaei, there was an ancient place called Nesus,
of which Asso may be a corruption ; but we think it more probable that Nesiotae
is a false reading for Pronesiotae, the ethnic form of Pronesus, the name which
Strabo gives to Proni, one of the members of the Tetrapolis. Further south on
the western coast is Tafio, where many ancient sepulchres are found: this is probably
the site of Taphus (Taphos), a Cephallenian town mentioned by Stephanus. Rakli,
on the south-eastern coast, points to an ancient town Heracleia; and the port
of Viskardho is evidently the ancient Panormus (Panormos), opposite Ithaca (Anthol.
Gr. vol. ii. p. 99, ed. Jacobs). (Kruse, Hellas, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 431, seq.;
Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 55, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KRANI (Ancient city) ARGOSTOLI
Kranioi. A town of Cephallenia, situated at the head of a bay on the
western coast. In B.C. 431 it joined the Athenian alliance, together with the
other Cephallenian towns (Thuc. ii. 30); in consequence of which the Corinthians
made a descent upon the territory of Cranii, but were repulsed with loss. (Thuc.
ii. 33.) In B.C. 421 the Athenians settled at Cranii the Messenians who were withdrawn
from Pylos on the surrender of that fortress to the Lacedaemonians. (Thuc. v.
35.) Cranii surrendered to the Romans without resistance in B.C. 189. (Liv. xxxviii.
28.) It is mentioned both by Strabo (x.) and Pliny (iv. 12. s. 19).
The ruins of Cranii are near the modern town of Argostoli. Leake remarks
that the walls of Cranii are among the best extant specimens of the military architecture
of the Greeks, and a curious example of their attention to strength of position
in preference to other conveniences; for nothing can be more rugged or forbidding
than the greater part of the site. The enclosure, which was of a quadrilateral
form, and little, if at all, less than three miles in circumference, followed
the crests of several rocky summits, surrounding an elevated hollow which falls
to the south-western extremity of the gulf of Argostoli. The walls may be traced
in nearly their whole circumference.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PALI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
Eth. Paleis, Pales, Thuc.; Palenses: the city itself is usually called
Paleis: also he Palaieon polis, Polyb. v. 3. A town in Cephallenia on the eastern
side of a bay in the north-western part of the island. It is first mentioned in
the Persian wars, when two hundred of its citizens fought at the battle of Plataea,
alongside of the Leucadians and Anactorians. (Herod. ix. 28.) It also sent four
ships to the assistance of the Corinthians against the Corcyraeans just before
the commencement of the Peloponnesian War (Thuc. i. 27); from which circumstance,
together with its fighting along with the Corinthian Leucadians and Anactorians
at the battle of Plataea, it has been conjectured that Pale was a Corinthian colony.
But whether this was the case or not, it joined the Athenian alliance, together
with the other towns of the island, in B.C. 431. (Thuc. ii. 30.) At a later period
Pale espoused the side of the Aetolians against the Achaeans, and was accordingly
besieged by Philip, who would have taken the city but for the treachery of one
of his own officers. (Pol. v. 3, 4.) Polybius describes Pale as surrounded by
the sea, and by precipitous heights on every side, except the one looking towards
Zacynthus. He further states that it possessed a fertile territory, in which a
considerable quantity of corn was grown. Pale surrendered to the Romans without
resistance in ra. c. 189 (Liv. xxxviii. 28); and after the capture of Same by
the Romans in that year, it became the chief town in the island. It was in existence
in the time of Hadrian, in whose reign it is called in an inscription eleuthera
kai autonomos. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 340.) According to Pherecydes, Pale was the
Homeric Dulichium : this opinion was rejected by Strabo (x. p. 456), but accepted
by Pausanias (vi. 15. § 7).
The remains of Pale are seen on a small height, about a mile and a
half to the north of the modern Lixuri. Scarcely anything is left of the ancient
city; but the name is still retained in that of Palio and of Paliki, the former
being the name of the plain around the ruins of the city, and the latter that
of the whole peninsula. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 64.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PRONI (Ancient city) KEFALLINIA
Pronni, or Pronesus (Pronnoi, Pol.; Pronaioi, Thuc.; Pronesos, Strab.).
One of the four towns of Cephallenia, situated upon the south-eastern coast. Together
with the other towns of Cephallenia it joined the Athenian alliance in B.C. 431.
(Thuc. ii. 30.) It is described by Polybius as a small fortress; but it was so
difficult to besiege that Philip did not venture to attack it, but sailed against
Pale. (Pol. v. 3.) Livy, in his account of the surrender of Cephallenia to the
Romans in B.C. 189, speaks of the Nesiotae, Cranii, Palenses, and Samaei. Now
as we know that Proni was one of the four towns of Cephallenia, it is probable
that Nesiotae is a false reading for Pronesiotae, which would be the ethnic form
of Pronesus, the name of the town in Strabo (x. p. 455). Proni or Pronesus was
one of the three towns which continued to exist in the island after the destruction
of Same. (Comp. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.) The remains of Proni are found not far above
the shore of Limenia, a harbour about 3 miles to the northward of C. Kapri. (Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 66.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SAMI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
Same, Samos, Eth.: Samaios: Samo. The most ancient city in Cephallenia,
which is also the name of this island in the poems of Homer. The city stood upon
the eastern coast, and upon the channel separating Cephallenia and Ithaca. (Strab.
x. p. 455.) Along with the other Cephallenian towns it joined the Athenian alliance
in B.C. 43. (Thuc. ii. 30.) When M. Fulvius passed over into Cephallenia in B.C.
189, Samos at first submitted to the Romans along with the other towns of the
island; but it shortly afterwards revolted, and was not taken till after a siege
of four months, when all the inhabitants were sold as slaves. (Liv. xxxviii. 28,
29.) It appears from Livy's narrative that Same had two citadels, of which the
smaller was called Cyatis; the larger he designates simply as the major arx. In
the time of Strabo there existed only a few vestiges of the ancient city. (Strab.
l. c.; comp. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19.)
Same has given its name to the modern town of Samo, and to the bay
upon which it stands. Its position and the remains of the ancient city are described
by Leake. It stood at the northern extremity of a wide valley, which borders the
bay, and which is overlooked to the southward by the lofty summit of Mount Aenus
(Elato). It was built upon the north-western face of a bicipitous height, which
rises from the shore at the northern end of the modern town. The ruins and vestiges
of the ancient walls show that the city occupied the two summits, an intermediate
hollow, and their slope as far as the sea. On the northern of the two summits
are the ruins of an acropolis, which seems to have been the major arx mentioned
by Livy. On the southern height there is a monastery, on one side of which are
some remains of a Hellenic wall, and which seems to be the site of the Cyatis,
or smaller citadel. There are considerable remains of the town walls. The whole
circuit of the city was barely two miles. (Leake, Northern Greece. vol. iii. p.
55.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KEFALLONIA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
The modern Cefalonia; called by Homer Same (Same) or Samos (Samos);
the largest island in the Ionian Sea, separated from Ithaca by a narrow channel.
It is very mountainous. Its chief towns were Same, Pale, Cranii, and Proni. It
never obtained political importance. It is now one of the seven Ionian islands
ceded by Great Britain to Greece in 1864.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KRANI (Ancient city) ARGOSTOLI
Kranioi. A town of Cephallenia on the south coast.
PALI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
A city of Cephallenia opposite Zacynthus.
KEFALLONIA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
The largest of the Ionian
Islands, along the western coast of Greece.
Cephalonia owes its name to the mythological hero Cephalus, son of
Deion and of Diomede. After Cephalus had killed his wife, he was exiled from Athens
by the Areopagus and joined Amphitryon, then in exile in Thebes,
whom he helped in his war against the Taphians, the inhabitants of the nearby
island of Taphos. After the
war was over, Cephalus settled in the island that was named Cephallenia (now Cephalonia)
after him Cephalus is sometimes listed as the father, or grandfather, of Arcisius,
the father of Laertius, who became king of the nearby island of Ithaca
and was the father of Ulysses.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ARGOSTOLI (Municipality) KEFALLONIA
ELIO - PRONI (Municipality) KEFALLONIA
SKALA (Village) KEFALLONIA
Skala is a region in the South - Eastern edge of Kefalonia, endowed by nature with incomparable beauties, a fantastic sea and fabulous beaches. Here, you can enjoy the countless kilometers of a mixture of sandy and shiny, colorfull, pebbled beaches, surrounded by impressive rocks, creeks and mystic caves. In this place where the land embraces the sea, people have lived for thousands of years and myths have been born. Your stay in this area of beautiful Kefalonia, the island of contradictions, will be an unforgettable experience. The District of Skala comprises of the villages Skala, Ratzakli, Alimatas, Koytrokoy, Fanies and Spathi. Skala is about 37 km away from the island's capital, Argostoli, and 12 km away from the port of Poros. The entire area seems to be smothered with the pine - trees forest separating the land from the sea. Then you have the periwinkles and the flowers topping up the courtyards. Colorful bougainvillea's and jasmines pour out their beautiful scent at night
AGIA EFIMIA (Village) KEFALLONIA
ENOS (Mountain) KEFALLONIA
FISKARDO (Village) KEFALLONIA
SAMI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
VLACHATA (Village) KEFALLONIA
ELIO - PRONI (Municipality) KEFALLONIA
SAMI (Municipality) KEFALLONIA
SKALA (Village) KEFALLONIA
KEFALLONIA (Island) IONIAN ISLANDS
Total results on 13/7/2001: 76 for Cephallenia, 6 for Cephalenia, 9 for Kephallenia, 4 for Cephallonia, 1 for Kephalonia.
SAMI (Ancient city) KEFALLONIA
In the Palaeocastro location..
The Homeric name (Il. 2.634; Od. 1.246; 4.67 1; 9.24; 15.29) has been
handed down, designating either the entire island or only its E part (cf. Hdt.
9.28; Plin., HN 5.54). The present name refers to a small port not far from the
ruins of the ancient city. Same, the capital of the island, was taken and destroyed
in 189 B.C. by M. Fulvius Nobilior because of its resistance to the Romans. Situated
at the center of a fertile, well-watered zone near the sea, the city developed
considerably and was defended by a vast wall of ca. 3500 km. In ancient times
Same had two acropoleis, of which the one farthest S has been identified in the
locality of Kyathis.
Several Hellenistic tombs, a grotto sacred to the cult of Pan, and
a notable thermal complex datable to the late 2d-early 3d c. B.C. have been excavated
near the urban center. A fine male portrait in bronze from the late period of
the Emperor Gallienus has recently been found.
N. Bonacasa, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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