Agia Dynati (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Αγία Δυνατή, ) is the second highest

mountain of

Cefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

(1131 m.), after

Mount Ainos Mount Aenos or Ainos (Ancient Greek: '' Ὄρος Αἶνος''; Modern Greek: '' Όρος Αίνος''; Italian: ''Monte Nero'' or ''Montagna Nera'') is the tallest mountain on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, Greece, with an elevation of . It ...

(Mavrovouno). It is also the third highest mountain of the

Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...

, after Ainos and Elati (Lefkada). Between the mountain's peaks are small tablelands, with a larger one named Falari. It is believed that Falari produces the best

feta Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brin ...

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The stretch of the mountain includes parts of the municipalities of

Lixouri Lixouri () is a town and a municipality in the island of Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands of western Greece. It is the main town on the peninsula of Paliki, and the second largest town in Kefalonia after Argostoli and before Sami. It is ...

Pylaros Pylaros () is a former municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sami, Cephalonia, Sami, of which it is a municipal unit. It is lo ...

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

, and Kranaia. At Agia Dynati, during the 16th century, the Holy Monastery of Panagia Thematon was built. Many traditional villages, such as Makriotika,

Divarata Divarata is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Pylaros, in the northern part of the Cephalonia island, in Greece. It is 5km northwest of Agia Effimia, 5km south of Asos, and 18km northeast of Argostoli. The road down to the famous ...

, Poulata, are built in the mountains. In mythology, Agia Dynati is believed to be the rock that

Cronus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or ; ) was the leader and youngest of the Titans, the children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky). He overthrew his father and ruled dur ...

threw to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, after

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

gained power. Rhea, the wife of Cronus, gave him the rock, covered with

swaddling clothes Swaddling is an ancient practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloths so that movement of the Limb (anatomy), limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favour i ...

, to eat, because Cronus had eaten all of her children. When Cronus swallowed the rock, he suffered. So, Rhea could birth his child Zeus in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

without Cronus knowing it. When Zeus gained power, he commanded Cronus to throw the rock, and the children he had eaten, to the Earth. The origin of the name "Agia Dynati" is unknown, as there is no Saint Dynati on the Orthodox calendar. In Agia Dynati, members of the 33 Infantry Division Acqui were killed by

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

during the infamous " Massacre of the Acqui Division."

References

{{Ionian-geo-stub Mountains of Greece Mountains of the Ionian Islands (region) Landforms of Cephalonia