The Ionian island of Myrtos Beach and Melissani Lake — Robola wine poured cold, clifftop villages, and the shadow of Corelli's Mandolin
Kefalonia (Cephalonia) is the largest of the Ionian Islands (781 km², population 35,000), with a landscape of dramatic limestone mountains (Mount Ainos, 1,628m, covered in endemic Kefalonian fir), deep coastal cliffs, and the distinctive turquoise colour of the Ionian Sea. Myrtos Beach (northwest coast) is one of the most photographed beaches in Greece — white pebbles backed by sheer white limestone cliffs dropping into startlingly intense blue water. The Melissani Cave Lake (east of Sami) is a partially collapsed sea cave where a subterranean lake is illuminated by a hole in the roof in the…
Kefalonia was the seat of a wealthy Venetian administration from 1204 to 1797, which left its architecture, wine culture, and the Italian loanwords embedded in the local dialect. The island suffered one of the worst seismic disasters in modern Greek history: the 1953 Ionian earthquake (magnitude 7.2) destroyed 90% of all buildings on the island and prompted mass emigration to Athens, Australia, and the United States. The Acqui Division massacre (September 1943) saw 5,155 Italian soldiers executed by German forces near Argostoli after the Italian armistice — the site is commemorated with a mon…