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The Ionian has a long history of invasion and a culture that incorporates elements from all over Europe. Zakynthos is no exception. Here's how it all happened...
Known by the Venetians as Fleur di Levante, the flower of the east, the landscapes of Zakynthos are green, luscious and fertile.
Like the other Ionian islands, Zakynthos, or Zante as it is also known, has a long and turbulent history bound up with most of Europe.
It is said that the history of the people of Zakynthos began with the arrival of the Trojan Prince Zakynthos on the island, together with Achaean and Arcadian settlers, some 1500 years BC.
Roman & Byzantine Zakynthos
The successful invasion of Zakynthos by Philip II of Macedonia in 217 BC was shortly followed by a Roman attack.
In 214 BC the island was captured by the Romans who burnt down every building on Zakynthos when the islanders stood up against their new conquerors.
The Zakynthians did successfully drive out the Romans but suffered the next seventy years under siege from both Romans and Macedonians until the Romans finally settled their supremacy in 150 BC. Zakynthos was then part of the kingdom known as Achaea. Several periods during the Roman occupation saw Zakynthians granted unusual privileges. According to Pliny, during the reign of Octavius, the island was practically autonomous, having its own legislation and coinage.
Legend tells of Mary Magdelene bringing Christianity to the island on her way to Rome, but it is more probable that it was Saint Beatrice who spread the Christian message on Zakynthos.
In the first half of the fourth century AD, Zakynthos endured a series of attacks from pirates and barbarians. When Constantine was declared Emperor of Rome, the island was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire. Attacks became less frequent due to the defences of the Byzantines, but they by no means ceased.
Venetian & Ottoman Zakynthos
The Venetians launched several attacks on Zakynthos and the Ionian islands during the Crusades, until they finally took control in 1209, incorporating the island once more into the Principality of Achaea.
Maio Orsini - Count Palatine of Kefalonia and Zakynthos - was in command of the island administration.
One of his first changes was to replace the Greek Orthodox Bishop, Agapios, with a Latin one. Some twenty years after the islands came into to the possession of Naples, in 1337, they were given over to the control of Leonardo Tocco, Prince of Florence, in gratitude for services to Naples. In order to ally himself further to Rome, Tocco attempted to impose the Catholic faith onto the inhabitants of Zakynthos, persecuting Greek Orthodox clergy and forcing the people to convert. They were not reinstated for nearly a century.
With the Turks attacking the island, one of Tocco successors, Leonardo II Tocco, perhaps in fear that it might encourage civil war, reinstated the Orthodox priests and ordered them to elect a bishop. The Turks, under the blood-thirsty Ahmed Pasha, had already sacked Kefalonia and Ithaca, slaughtering or selling into slavery the majority of their inhabitants.
Having made some attempt to build up the defences of Zakynthos, Tocco left the island, selling much of his land to the Venetians before leaving. Sailing through Ionian waters in 1480, the Venetian Admiral Loredano was granted permission by Pasha to evacuate Zakynthos. The whole population of the island was moved to safety in the Peloponnese. In 1485 the Turks agreed to allow Venice to occupy the island - at a price of 500 Ducats per year. Venice was to recoup their money in later years by demanding that Zakynthians export wheat to the value of 500 Ducats to Venice each year until their 'debt' was repaid. The Venetians were to rule Zakynthos for nearly three hundred and fifty years. The island was so under-populated by the time of their arrival, that the Doge of Venice offered tax exemptions, titles and other privileges to Venetians who would relocate to the island. There were enough people taking up the offer to swell Zante population once more.
Venetian culture is deeply embedded in that of the island; in its art, music, fashions, laws, health and education systems and architecture. Even the alternative name to the island, Zante, was coined by the Venetians.
The social system of the Venetians and wealthy Zakynthians impoverished the majority of the island inhabitants who rose up against the nobility in the Rebellion of the Populari (1628). This was probably the first popular revolution in.
Despite the fact that Venice was still able to collect taxes throughout this period, dignitaries were sent across the water to take control once more. During the seventeenth century a considerable number of Cretian artists took refuge on Zakynthos, as the Turks occupied their native island during the Cretian wars. The Ionian School of Painting was founded on Zakynthos, out of which came artists such as Kantorinis and Douxaras. In the eighteenth century, two national poets, Andreas Kalvos and Dionysios Solomos, were born on the island. Solomos, who was known as the Poet of the War of Independence wrote the poem, Hymn to Liberty, which was later set to music as the Greek National Anthem.
The song cult of Kantades flourished in the eighteenth century and this Italianate singing, accompanied by Mandolins and string instruments, can still be heard on Zakynthos today.
French & British Zakynthos
Most Zakynthians welcomed the French and their revolutionary ideology and the movement of the Populari was to take another step forwards. Trees of Liberty were planted in town squares and Zantiots formed their own Jacobin Club, which undertook to wipe out the aristocracy. The government of the island was taken over by commoners.
A British blockade on the island worsened the economic situation and destroyed the French fleet.
In 1798 Russians besieged the French garrison for several months, eventually forcing its occupiers to surrender. Foreign aristocrats were established on Zakynthos but the islanders rose up against them in 1801. After a messy few years of political upheaval, the British Protectorate of Zakynthos was established under Sir Thomas Maitland in 1814.
Independence & modern Zakynthos
During the Greek War of Independence, many Greek rebels took refuge on the island. Not surprisingly, with their long history of occupation, the Zantiots were ardent supporters of Independence. The poet, Dionysis Solomos, was one of the leading figures inthe war. His vision of Liberty rising up from out of the bones of all those who had suffered or died in her cause can be seen in the Statue of Liberty at Solomos Square in Zante Town.
Despite official British opposition to Independence, the island became a centre for British supporters of the war, the most famous of whom was Lord Byron. Even Sir Thomas Maitland sent help to Independence fighters on mainland Greece.
The struggle for Independence spanned several decades; war was first declared in 1824 but Zakynthos was not united with Greece until 1864. The island was occupied by both Nazis and Italian soldiers during the Second World War.
Zakynthos suffered more damage than any other island during the huge earthquake that devastated the islands of the Ionian in 1953.
Buildings that were once considered to be the finest architecture in Greece were shaken to their ruins - only four buildings in Zante Town were left standing. Those that were not destroyed by the earthquake itself perished in the fires that were still burning a week later! The whole of Zante Town was rebuilt on top of the rubble so that it is now elevated several feet from it s original position.
The inhabitants of the town insisted that reconstruction take place along the lines of its previous construction and Italianate design so that it still retains some of its former glory. Today there are strict anti-seismic building regulations on the island.
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