Ionian islands

Kefalonia Sightseeing

Kefalonia has many sights, starting from its natural beauties and continuing to the great creations of all the people that have lived here during its history.

Unfortunately, this travel in history will have to include only the preserved and restored monuments, as there are not many historic buildings standing tall because of the disastrous earthquakes in the 20th century.

Kefalonia Archaeological Sights and Castles

Kefalonia, probably, is named after the hero Cephalus or because of the fact that it is the biggest of the Ionian islands (heading island, head in greek is kephali). The kingdom of Cephalus included Kefalonia (Sami), neighbouring Ithaca, Zante, Lefkada and a part of Akarnania (Western Greece) is first mentioned by Homer.

The archaeological excavations in Kefalonia’s land, during the 20th century have brought to light findings of ancient civilizations of the third millennium B.C., some of which are considered to be of the pre Mycenaean period.

Kefalonia Churches and Monasteries

The monastery of Aghios Gerasimos is definitely one of most popular sights on the island. If you are fond of religious tourism and cultural events, you can arrange to come at Kefalonia, one of the two times of the year that the Saint is celebrated on 16 August (the day of his death) and on 20 October (the day of the translation of his relics). The experience will be unforgettable.

Kefalonia Museums and Historical Monuments

At Argostoli, two important museums are located; the Archaeological and the Historic Folklore Museum, that is worth visiting. In the Archaeological museum, you will see the first evidence of the island’s culture, whilst, in the Historic Folklore museum, you will have the chance to enjoy unique creations of the recent history of folkloric civilization.

Kefalonia Settlements and Destinations

Kefalonia has beautiful natural beauties to show; wonderful beaches, many caves, some of which, because of the strong earthquakes in 1953, have been transformed into unique geological phenomena, like Melissani cave. Every route you will follow, you will see the imposing mount of Ainos above you.

Main feature of island’s villages is that their names end with “–ata”, like Lourdata, Favata, Delaportata, Ntomata, Peratata etc., something that is considered to have started in the 13th century A.D. It is speculated that the number of the settlements in Kefalonia are 365, like the days of a whole year, but they are not all inhabited.