Key dates:

1194 Matteo Orsini establishes a local government in Zante (County Palatine of Cefalonia, Itaca and Zante)

1479 The Turks seize the island

1485 The Venetians conquer the island

1797 Annexed to France by the treaty of Campoformido

This sonnet was written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1837. The last words are written in Italian and refer to Zante as

Golden Island and Flower of the Levant. The island has a rather large plain between two ridges of hills.

The maps of the Venetian period show that the plain was fully cultivated and that the island was a great producer of wine and oil.

The town of Zante was divided into the upper town (acropolis) on the top of a hill and the lower town around the harbour.

Views of the fortress

Today the upper town is almost invisible from the sea and even from the harbour, because of a beautiful pine wood. The trees hide the walls of

1692 Map of the fortress

Entrances to the fortress

The gates of the fortress were built on the sides of the bastions for greater protection. They were decorated with the winged lion and with the coats of arms

of the governors of the island.

Old and modern winged lions

The symbol of Venice can be seen also in some modern shops (usually selling antiques to tourists). The modern lion shown in the

picture above is painted under the word "Benetzianika" (Venetian), but it is not the Lion of the Republic of Venice. It is the Lion of the

Eptanese Republic, the first Greek (semi)autonomous government after many centuries which ruled the Ionian Islands between 1802-10.

Eptanese means Seven Islands (Corfù, Paxi, Santa Maura, Cefalonia, Itaca,

Zante and Cerigo) and this Lion holds seven arrows. The fact that the Eptanese Republic adopted a flag very similar to that of Venice is evidence

of the good relations built over the centuries between these islands and Venice. This Lion was also in the flag of the Ionian Islands (below a small Union Jack) during the British Protectorate which lasted until 1864.

Gunpowder-magazine, prison and a well of the fortress

Unlike the majority of the Venetian fortresses in Greece, the fortress of Zante is very well preserved and maintained.

There are explanations near the most important buildings, which help the visitor to understand how the life in the fortress was organized.

Views from the fortress: Castel Tornese and Cefalonia

The view from the fortress reaches to the east and to the low coast of the Peloponnese with Castel Tornese on the highest hill.

The view to the north shows the mountains of Cefalonia.

Details of churches in Zante

In 1669 Candia surrendered to the Turks after a siege of twenty years.

Francesco Morosini, the commander of the defence, obtained the right to leave Candia with the still large

Venetian fleet under his command and to carry away not only the soldiers, but also the civilians.

A large number of the refugees, who included both Venetian and Cretan families, stopped in Zante and the island had a significant increase

in population and resources as the incoming people belonged to the upper classes. The town became a little Venice with porticoes and many

churches (the fact that the population was split between Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers added to the number of churches). In 1953

an earthquake destroyed almost completely Zante and Cefalonia. Only some smaller churches were in part spared and they were restored to their

original state.

Bell towers in Zante

The bell towers of Zante fell as a consequence of the earthquake and they were rebuilt. They all show some references to the bell towers of Venice, chiefly the bell tower of St Mark's square.

Monuments to Ugo Foscolo and a stone with the initial lines of his poem dedicated to Zacinto

Zante due to its mixed population had a significant cultural life and it is the birthplace of three great poets: the Greeks Andreas Kalvos and Dionisios

Solomos and the Italian Ugo Foscolo. They lived between the XVIIIth and the XIXth century and they knew each other. Andreas Kalvos acted as secretary to Foscolo and wrote several

poems in Italian. Solomos, of Cretan origin, wrote the commemoration of Foscolo who died in 1827 in England. Solomos is the author of the Greek

national anthem and the largest square of Zante is dedicated to him. Foscolo is remembered by two little monuments one of which is on the site of his house (lost).

Foscolo dedicated to Zante one of his finest sonnets.

Excerpts from Memorie Istoriografiche del

Regno della Morea

Riacquistato dall'armi

della Sereniss. Repubblica

di Venezia printed in Venice in 1692 and related to this page: