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Zakynthos (Greece)

Ζακυνθοσ, Zante

by Thanos Tzikas

Presentation of Zakynthos
Flag of Zakynthos
National Marine Park of Zakynthos

See also:

Greece

Presentation of Zakynthos

The island of Zakynthos (401 sq. km; 40,000 inhabitants), also known as Zante, is the southernmost of the Ionian islands. It is separated from Peloponnesis (Greek mainland) by the strait of Zakynthos.

Zakynthos was settled by the Acheans, and was part of Ulysses' Kingdom. It was an important harbour station on the trade road to West. Zakynthos was forced to set up an alliance with Athens in 455 BP; Sparta failed to invade the island in 430 BP.
In the Middle Ages, Zakynthos was trashed by the Vandals, the Sarracens and the Norsemen, and eventually conquered by Count Tocchi in the XIVth century. The island was trashed once again by the Turks in 1479 and taken over with the other Ionian islands by Venice from 1485 to 1797. France occupied the island from 1797 to 1800. From 1800 to 1807, Zakynthos was one of the seven components of the Septinsular Republic, placed under Russian protectorate. In 1807, Russia retroceded the islands to France, which incorporated them into the Illyrian Provinces. After the fall of Napoleon, Britain set up a protectorate on the islands, which were eventually ceded to the Kingdom of Greece in 1864. Zakynthos was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1953.