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| Country | Greece | |
| Region | Ionian Islands | |
| Population | 40758 (2011) | |
| High | 0-756m | |
Zakinto (Greek: Ζάκυνθος Zakynthos, itale: Zante) is a small island and eponymous town in the Ionian Islands in the west Greece.
Understand
Zakynthos is an island in western Greece, in the Ionian Sea - the southernmost of the main Ionian Islands.
Its area is about 400km² (exactly 406km²) and thus it is the 11th largest island in Greece. The eastern part is flat, except for a few hills; in the western part there are almost only hills, in some places steep, between which lies the highest peak of the island, Mount Vrachonias (756m).
Near the southern shore of Zakynthos are two very small, uninhabited islands: Μαραθονήσι (Marathonisi) and Πελούζο (Fluff). They, along with the surrounding sea, the southern coast of Zakynthos and the islands of Strofades), two islets about 100 km further south, form the Zakynthos Marine National Park, which is very important for the protection of sea turtles.
About 40,000 people live in Zakynthos. The capital is called the same as the island and is the seat of the municipality, which contains the entire island and the four islets mentioned. In the town itself there are approx. 16 thousand inhabitants.
History
According to Greek myth, Zakynthos, the founder of the island's capital, was the son of Dardanus and the grandson of Zeus.
In fact, prehistoric people lived on the island more than 100,000 years ago. Because the island is close to the Peloponnese, it has strictly followed its history. Entered Zakynthos the Mycenaean civilization, la Achaeans, the ancient Greeks. The island fought on the side of Athens, then Sparta, and was conquered, like the rest of Greece, by Alexander the Great and later by the Romans. Always like the rest of Greece, when the Roman Empire was broken up into the western and eastern part, Zakynthos passed to the eastern part, later called the Byzantine Empire.
The year 1185 important in the history of Zakynthos, because since that year the history of Zakynthos has separated from the history of neighboring mainland Greece.
In that year, the Normans, coming overseas from Apulia, established the Palatine County of Zakynthos and Cephalonia, part of the Kingdom of Sicily (later Naples) and in fact semi-independent. The first count was Margaret of Brindisi, formerly a Byzantine pirate.
The County of Zakynthos and Cephalonia lasted three centuries. After the Ottomans conquered Greece, in 1479 the county was divided between them and Venice: Cephalonia became Turkish, Zakynthos Venetian. And it remained in the Republic of Venice until Napoleón (1797). After Napoleon's defeat, the Ionian Islands were a new republic, however not fully independent but under British control.
And finally, in 1864, after seven centuries, the history of Zakynthos was again united with the history of Greece, as it became part of the newly born Kingdom of Greece.
Unfortunately, many traces of this particular history were destroyed by earthquakes, especially in 1893 and 1953.
