ABOUT LEFKAS TOWN
Lefkas Town, also known as Levkas or Lefkada Town is the capital of the island of Lefkada. It is situated on the north east coast, where the island is joined to the mainland by a causeway and a 50 metre swing bridge. It is the most important town of the Lefkada island, with a population of about 13,000 inhabitants whose major occupations are tourism and the cultivation of the land and the sea. As well as being the administrative and commercial capital of Lefkas Island, Lefkada Town is also a tourist destination in it’s own right. Since it was opened, Lefkas Town’s new Lefkada Marina has become enormously popular and has led to an influx of new visitors, bringing new shops and restaurants to cater for them. Lefkada Town is a very pleasant, friendly, typical Greek town. It is an ideal place to stay on holiday. As well as travellers staying for one night before they board their yacht, many tourists use the town’s hotels as a base for visiting the local beaches.
ABOUT LEFKADA ISLAND
Lefkada, also known as Lefkas or Levkas, is one in the group of the Eptanisa or “seven-islands” in the Ionian Sea in Western Greece. Except Lefkada, the Eptanisa are made up of Zakinthos, Kefalonia, Kerkyra, Paxi, Kythera and Ithaki. Lefkada is the fourth largest Greek island, after Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Corfu. Its capital city is also called Lefkada. The island is separated from mainland only by a narrow canal, Drepanos, 50 meters wide. There is a long boardwalk and a floating bridge connecting Lefkada with land, which makes it one of only two Greek islands that accessible by car. Every year, especially during summer months, thousands of tourists from Greece and abroad visit Lefkada to enjoy its mild climate, beautiful beaches, spectacular mountains, clean sea, amazing waterfalls, and to explore the island’s rich culture and charming traditional villages.
Lefkada is named by the white rocks (Greek leukos=white) in the Lefkata cape, southern part of the island. According to mythology, the poetess Sappho threw herself to the sea at Cape Lefkada because of the love for Phaon. The German archeologist Wilhelm Dorpfeld suggested that Lefkada in fact was Homer’s Ithaca and that the palace of Odysseus was located west of Nidri on the south coast of the island. Levkas played an important role in many wars through history, like Persians Wars or Peloponnesian War.
Lefkada enjoys characteristic Mediterranean climate with mainly wet, hot summers and cool winters. Summer temperatures begin in May and continue through until October. The hottest months are July and August with average temperatures of 25°C.
A huge earthquake destroyed the major part of Lefkada first time in 1948 and after that in 1953, so a very few examples of the traditional architecture are still standing on the island. However, the Island’s architecture was influenced by numerous western civilizations, especially the Venetian, but also lots of traditional houses can be found across Lefkas. Especially interesting are the wooden houses covered with colored metal sheets. Byzantine architecture can be seen through many churches on the island.
ABOUT LAFCADIO HEARN
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 – 26 September 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲), was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Hearn was born in and named for the island of Lefkada, on 27 June 1850. He was the son of Surgeon-Major Charles Bush Hearn (of County Offaly, Ireland) and Rosa Antoniou Kassimatis, a Greek woman of noble Kytheran lineage through her father, Anthony Kassimatis. His father was stationed in Lefkada during the British occupation of the islands, where he was the highest-ranking surgeon in his regiment.
The first museum in Europe for Lafcadio Hearn, was inaugurated in Lefkada on July 4, 2014, as Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center. It contains early editions, rare books and Japanese collectibles. The visitors, through photos, texts and exhibits, can wander in the significant events of Lafcadio Hearn's life, but also in the civilizations of Europe, America and Japan of late 18th and early 19th centuries through the open mind of his lectures, writings and tales. The municipalities of Kumamoto, Matsue, Shinjuku, Yaizu, Toyama University, Koizumi family and other people from Japan and Greece contributed to the establishment of Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center.
Our building is located on Lafcadio Hearn Street, named after Lafcadio Hearn to commemorate his legacy. This is the same street where Lafcadio Hearn was born back in 1850.