‘History’ Archives
Towers of Naxos, Part 2
We begin the day with preparations for another journey through the hill country of Naxos in search of old fortified towers built by the Venetians. Immediately after leaving the main ring road of Naxos Town we are traveling through rich farm country, where vegetables, olives and wine grapes are grown commercially. This is important to [Read More]
Towers of Naxos, Part 1
Arriving in the port of Naxos, the first thing that you notice about the town is a large cluster of houses around and upon a substantial castle built upon a hill. This is a reminder of how dangerous it was to live in this part of the world – almost since the first human settlements [Read More]
Piraeus . . . Once Again
We have come to the last day of our visit to Kefalonia. Usually, we load our backpacks, carry them down to the ferry landing, and then compete with other passengers for available seats. Fortunately, upon arriving in Sami, we learned it is possible to take a bus to mainland Greece. All we do is take [Read More]
Caves and Villages
During the Stone Age, before anyone had houses (and long before castles were built), Kefalonians lived in caves. There was plenty of cave space to go around, because the island is mostly made of limestone, a rock that tends to dissolve when exposed to water for a long time. The action of water and frequent [Read More]
Searching for Odysseus
Kefalonia was an important late Bronze Age center and probably was the island known to Homer as Same (or Sami, pronounced Sah-mee in English). Our sources declare that Kefalonia was probably the hub of the kingdom of Odysseus. Ancient Sami was the most important Mycenaean city in the Ionian and it bore the old name [Read More]
