Kythira

Kythira, also known as Kythera, Cythera, Cerigo or Tsirigo, is an island, one of the Ionian Islands. It lies opposite the eastern tip of the Peloponnesos peninsula in Greece. It has an area of 284 square kilometers. The rugged terrain is a result of prevailing winds from the surrounding seas which have shaped its shores into steep rocky cliffs with deep bays. The island's architecture is a blend of traditional, Aegean and Venetian elements.

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At the start of the second millennium B.C. it was a Minoan colony and in 424 BC it came under the sway of Athens. Over the centuries it knew a succession of conquerors from the Romans to the Byzantines, Venetians and Turks, and it was frequently looted by Barbary pirates. In 1864, the island was reunited with the Greek state.

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Like many of the smaller Aegean islands, Kythira is depopulated. Its present population hovers around 2,500 people, but the modern Greek diaspora has produced perhaps 100,000 Kythiran descendants in Australia alone.

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The capital - Hora - is located on the southern part of the island having no ports connected to the southern Peloponnese or Vatika. Kythera's port for Viatika is in Agia Pelagia Kythira.

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Most of the over 60 village names end with "-anika" and a few end with -athika, -iana and -ades.

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A November 5, 2004 earthquake shook the areas of the island. The Richter scale is around 5.6/5.8 R.

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Ports are Agia Pelagia (Neapolis - Vatika) and Diakofti (Gythion, Antikythira, Piraeus, Crete & Neapolis - Vatika)

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Island: An island or isle is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets. Although seldom adhered to, it is also proper to call an emergent land feature on an atoll an islet, since an atoll is a type of islan...

Ionian Islands: :This article is about the group of islands west of Greece. For the ancient region in western Anatolia, see Ionia....

Peloponnesos: REDIRECT Peloponnese...