Lixouri () is a town and a municipality in the island of

Kefalonia 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 ...

, the largest 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 ...

of western

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 ...

. It is the main town on the peninsula of

Paliki Paliki () is a peninsula and a former municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. At the 2011 local government reform it became part of the municipality Kefalonia. In 2019 this municipality was divided into three municipali ...

, and the second largest town in

after

Argostoli Argostoli (, Katharevousa: ) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the island. It has been the capi ...

and before

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 ...

. It is located south of Fiskardo and west of

. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the island. It has one municipal unit that is coterminous with the municipality:

History

Lixouri was founded when citizens of the ancient town of Pale/Pali found a new location suitable for inhabitation. The new town was named after Paleas or Pileas, one of the four sons of the mythical king Kefalos (the island was named after king Kefalos). The old city was abandoned completely by the 16th century, but some ancient ruins can still be seen north of the town. The oldest document which contains the name "Lixouri" was sent in 1534 by local authorities to the

Senate of Venice The Senate (), formally the ''Consiglio dei Pregadi'' or ''Rogati'' (, ), was the main deliberative and legislative body of the Republic of Venice. Establishment The Venetian Senate was founded in 1229, or less likely shortly before that date. ...

. In the 19th century Lixouri was a popular tourist destination;

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

visited the town. Many houses were destroyed in the earthquakes on January 23, 1867, and in August 1953. In the early 1950s the Royal Family of Greece sent their children for summer holidays to Lixouri. In the 1990s Lixouri increased in popularity as a tourist destination and some larger hotels were built south of the town near the beaches.

Literature

Lixouri is the home town of the poet and satirical author Andreas Laskaratos, who wrote about life in his home town. The Kay Cicellis book "Death of a Town" (1954) begins in Lixouri and describes the time of the earthquake. In 1720 Petros Katsaitis, who lived in Lixouri, wrote his play "Iphigenia"; Spyros Evangelatos' edition of the play in 1995 retitled it "Iphigenia in Lixouri".

Ilka Chase Ilka Chase (April 8, 1905 – February 15, 1978) was an American actress, radio host, and novelist whose career spanned stage, film, and television. Born into a well-known New York family, she made her stage debut as a child and later became a ...

wrote about the town in "The Varied Airs of Spring" (1969) as did Georges Haldas in "A la recherche du rameau d'or" (1976).

Infrastructure

Lixouri has a few primary schools and few middle schools (gymnasia), and high schools (lyceums). The 1st Primary School of Lixouri is one of the few buildings in the town that still stands from before the 1953 earthquake. The

Ionian university The Ionian University (IU; ) is a university located in the Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. It is one of the newest institutions of Higher Education in Greece, created in 1984 pursuant to presidential order 83/84 ΦΕΚ 31 Α/2 ...

has a campus in Lixouri, where the department of Ethnomusicology. The public library and a museum are located at the Iakovateios building, also preserved from before the earthquake. Since 2003 Lixouri also has a theatre.

Transportation

Lixouri has a small port with a ferry to

for vehicles under 5 tons, running every hour or half-hour in peak season. In the summer, there is a service to Patras and Killini on the mainland. The KTEL bus service has a station in Lixouri with routes to Patras and Athens, via the port of Sami. There is a twice-daily bus service to the villages of the

peninsula. Some hotels provide offer bus services, including to the XI-Beach and Kounopetra.

Demographics

Subdivisions

The municipality of Lixouri contains one municipal unit:

. This municipal unit consists of the following communities (that were independent municipalities and communities before the 1997

Kapodistrias reform Kapodistrias reform (, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman (Ioannis Kapodistrias), passed the Hellenic Parliamen ...

). Constituent settlements are given in brackets. * Agia Thekli (Agia Thekli, Kalata) * Atheras * Chavdata * Chavriata (Agios Ioannis, Chavriata) * Damoulianata * Favatata * Kaminarata (Kaminarata, Moni Kipouraion) * Katogi ( Mantzavinata, Vardianoi (island), Vouni) * Kontogenada * Kouvalata (Kouvalata, Livadi) *Lixouri ( Agios Dimitrios, Agios Vasileios, Lepeda, Lixouri, Loukerata, Michalitsata) * Monopolata (Delaportata, Monopolata, Parisata) * Rifi * Skineas (Skineas, Vlychata) * Soullaroi

Notable people

* Georgios Bonanos (1863–1940), sculptor * Antiochos Evangelatos (1903–1981), composer and conductor * Andreas Laskaratos (1811–1901), poet * Spyridon Marinatos (1901–1974) archaeologist * Dionysios Zakythinos (1905–1993), Byzantinist * Giovanni Francesco Zulatti (1762–1805), physician and author

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Cephalonia Municipalities of the Ionian Islands (region)