Paliki () is a peninsula and a former municipality on 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. At the 2011 local government reform it became part of the municipality

. In 2019 this municipality was divided into three municipalities, and the municipal unit Paliki became the only municipal unit of the new municipality Lixouri. The municipal unit has an area of 119.341 km². The name comes from the ancient town of Pale/Pali, which was north of Lixouri and is now an archaeological site. The peninsula is the westernmost part of Kefalonia. The seat of the municipality was the town Lixouri (3,752).

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Paliki is subdivided into 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 villages in brackets): * Agia Thekla (Agia Thekla, Kalata) * Atheras * Chavdata * Chavriata * Damoulianata * Favatata * Kaminarata * Katogi ( Mantzavinata, Vardianoi, Vouni) * Kontogenada * Kouvalata (Kouvalata, Livadi) * Lixouri (Lixouri, Agios Vasileios, Agios Dimitrios, Lepeda, Longos, Loukerata, Michalitsata) * Monopolata (Monopolata, Dellaportata, Parisata) * Rifi * Skineas (Skineas, Vlychata) * Soullaroi

Province

Pali Province () was one of the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

of Cephalonia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipal unit Paliki. It was abolished in 2006.

Geography

Paliki is a peninsula in the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

, attached to mainland Cephalonia in the northeast. On the east side, the Gulf of Argostoli separates Paliki from Cephalonia. Mountains up to 500 m cover the western and northern part of the peninsula.

History

The oldest document which contains the name "Lixouri" was sent in 1534 by local authorities to the Senate of Venice. Many houses were destroyed in the earthquakes of January 23, 1867 and August 1953.

Sights

*Iakovatios Library, the communal library with a small museum. Typical classic Ionian building from 19th century. *Former primary school near the harbour. Avant-garde 20th-century building from 1933, representing the modernist architecture movement in Greece *Pantokrator Church *A few ruins of ancient ''Pali'' in the north *Mania beach with beautiful untouched landscape *Mantzavinata - Agios Spyridon Church and classical house of the Vittoratos Family *Classical house of the Danelatos Family in Damoulianata *Agia Paraskevi Church in Atheras *Kipouria monastery * Vatsa Bay * Xi Beach

Homer's Ithaca

According to Robert Bittlestone's 2005 book '' Odysseus Unbound'', Paliki was

Homer's Ithaca Ithaca (; , ) was, in Greek mythology, the island home of the hero Odysseus. The specific location of the island, as it was described in Homer's ''Odyssey'', is a matter for debate. There have been various theories about its location. Modern I ...

, the home of

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

, the central figure in the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Persons

* Andreas Laskaratos teacher, a satirical poet and writer * Spyridon Marinatos (1901–1974) archaeologist

References

External links

Official website

{{Prefectures and provinces of Greece Populated places in Cephalonia Provinces of Greece Landforms of Cephalonia