Ithaki


The Ithaca is the smallest since Paxos Island Ionian Islands located south of Lefkada and Kefalonia in the northeast, which is divided by the homonymous Strait. This elongated island with an area of 92,6 km ² and a population of 3,646 inhabitants. Together with other smaller islands, Ithaca is the province that belongs to the prefecture of Kefalonia.
The Ithaca has a rich formations in the eastern coast, marked by numerous bays and capes. The northern tip of the island is the Cape Melissa, while the southernmost Cape San Andreas. Between these two extremes inserted the bay horrific, Mavrona Cape, Cape St. Elias, the Molos Bay, Cape Schinias and other capes. The length of coast reach a total of 101 km. On the island there is by definition a mountain, but there are hills Nirito Mountain (806 meters) and Merovigli (669 meters)
Characteristic of the island is infertile soils and drought, which hinder the development of agriculture. The island is funded mainly from tourism and fisheries. The name of the island is known since ancient times, as indicated in the Odyssey, but some recent studies question whether the current Ithaki identical with the Homeric [1]. The general assessment of the specific identification of accepting the present with the Homeric Ithaca, explaining the differences between the topography described in the Odyssey arisen either because of ignorance of the topography of the island by the poet, either because of «poetic license». . .