History of Ithaki

Ithaca has been inhabited since the end of the 3rd millennium B.C. However, from an archaeological point of view, the most interesting time is when, according to Homer, the cunning Odysseus reigned on the island, i.e. the 12th century B.C. At that time the Greeks were at war with Troy. This war lasted a full ten years, after which Troy fell thanks to the construction of the Trojan horse, invented by Odysseus. However, Odysseus had to wander across the seas for another ten years for his return to native island..

In the ninth century B.C., a period of growth begins for the island, which becomes an important trading point. In the Archaic, Classical and then in the Hellenistic era, there is quite an active life here. Two acropolises were built (at Aetos and Stavros), pottery production developed, contacts with Greece and East continued.

In 1499, a period of Venetian domination began, but the island was soon overrun by pirates and destroyed. For about a century the pirates used Ithaki as a base for their raids, until the inhabitants of neighboring Kefallinia became established there.

Because the soil of Ithaca is poor, the occupations of most of its inhabitants were associated with the sea. Thus the island developed a maritime tradition. In 1797, the island was captured by Napoleon's French forces, and a few years later by the British.

Ithaca was united with Greece, as the other Ionian islands, in 1864.