Lefkada’s hidden treasures, Museums and exhibitions

 

Lefkada Island is well known for the ineffaceable natural beauty and extraordinary beaches that become etched in our minds forever.

However Lefkada is an island with rich history and is also called the Island of poets. This is due to having bred indissoluble poets and academics. People that have added a stone in the Greek and international cultural enhancement.

Let’s go sightseeing!

 

Santa Maura Castle

Lefkada is connected to Greece together with the rest of the 7 islands, in 1863. Prior to that, Lefkada is thought to be first inhabited from Greeks from the 1200 BC. Started from private ownership. Then the Romans and the Venetian, Slaves, Ottomans, to the Napoleonic and British era. Lefkada or Santa Maura which was its original name, kept elements from every rule. In fact Lefkada was not always an island. In 650 BC the Corinthians built a canal, separating Lefkada from the main land, for the purpose of commercial ease. Until then the boats had to do the round of the island to move merchandise. This was time consuming and costful.

It is on this canal, that the fortress of Santa Maura raised its walls in c. 1300. Later in early 15^th century the fortress got larger and came to its current shape. 

Angelos Sikelianos Museum

As a Nobel Prize of Literature nominee, Angelos Sikelianos is credited a position amongst the best in Western Literature for his finest lyrics.

Even if you are not yet aware of Angelos Sikelianos’s work, you still have to see and live the experiential tour of the house that the poet lived his young life in. This will also give you an insight of the local way of life in the late 19^th century in Lefkada. 

 

Cultural center of Lefkada

The Cultural Center plans and conducts every year the “Speech and Art Events” implemented in Lefkada since 1955. Plus the annual International Folklore Festival of Lefkada-since 1962. In the Cultural center you will see:

Folk intercultural exhibition

The Folk intercultural exhibition that exhibits gifts of the participants of the annual international folklore festival of the world. This event takes place every August, with the participation of dance crews from many different countries. It is a rare occasion that one can take a glimpse of the multiculturalism of the world gathered in, what feels like, a  pin sized part of the globe.

 

Lefkadios Hern

Lefkadios Hern or Koizumi Yakumo, author born in Lefkada with witty and enquiring mind traveled the world. He was the first western visitor to capture the Japanese way of life in his famous book “Japanese Culture”. He was considered as one of the most important authors of Japan. And was also inspiration for many other intellectuals. Rare collection of his life experiences are exhibited in the cultural center Lefkadios Hern hall. 

Archeological museum

The Archeological museum has findings that cover a period from the mid

dle of the Paleolithic times to the later Roman times. In the exhibition you will also see the findings of the German archeologist Willhelm Dairpfeld. Dairpfeld was the first to support the theory that Homer’s Ithaka was in fact Lefkada island. One visit to the exhibition room may get you to share his vision…

 

Museum of Phonograph

In the picturesque narrow roads of Lefkada old town, you will find an old house with many little treasures collected with the love and devotion of the engaged to the task Mr Takis Katopodis. It is a small, but full with history, room where every piece has a story to tell. Better yet Mr Takis shares the stories and use of every item. It is a free entrance exhibition. You only leave a tip to Mr Takis for his effort and care.

 

 

Karya folklore museum “Maria Koutsochero”

In the traditional village of Karya in the center of Lefkada, you can enjoy your coffee

 under the plane trees of the main square. You get a good sense of the current way of life of the Lefkadians. But since you are there, take some time to visit the folklore museum. That can better give you an understanding of the routs of our culture.

Olive Oil Museum (Fabbrica)

Greece has a long history in olive oil production and has the greater consumption of olive oil (24 liters per person!) annually. Olives were the gold of the past and was considered wealth. Not long ago the roots of olive trees it included, defined the value of the land. While the olive trees are the marital “gift” (pricka) given with the daughters. To get the groom to say “yes” to this commitment the “deal” has to be very favourable. The oil is the currency of the old ages, instead of money, for all sorts of transactions. The oil exchange, covers the wedding expenses. Still the Olive Oil factories are paid in oil and not cash.

If you wish to get a glimpse of the oil process and the antic tools that accompany the cultural heritage, do not miss the chance to visit the Olive Oil Fabbrica in Syvros, and buy local and oil products. 

Kontomicheio Folklore Museum in Kavalos

The exhibition in Kavalos opened its doors in 2004 and holds the narration of an old age that was led to extinction. The items exhibited are rare and indicative of the Lefkadian life before the adoption of the modern ways. More specifically, more than 2500 tools and artifacts with use in all sorts of traditional professions were donated by the collector Mr Lazaris. Plus a great variety of traditional fabrics and costumes, were given to the museum by Mr Katopodis, making the creation of a folklore museum possible. Following these donations many of the locals added their items, leading to a really interesting exhibition. The museum gets its name after Pantazis Kontomichis, a well known folklorist with origin from Kavalos. Visit the folklore museum in Kavalos and enjoy also the beautiful scenery and picturesque villages of Sfakiotes.

Public Library

In an imposing neoclassic building built in the end of 19^th century -from the few that remain intact from the catastrophic Ionian earthquake of 1953- you can find the Lefkada’s Public Library. The building was initially the mansion of the Zoulinos family. Then was sold and used by the National bank of Greece and later on became property of the Greek State.

The library was founded in 1953 when some locals took the initiative to collect books and other valuable items from the ruined historical buildings and private collections. The library hosts more than 60.000 publications on the first floor, as well as the engravings of the Italian artist and traveler Vincenzo Coronelli.

On the 1^st Floor hagiographies -Byzantine iconography- created by the most famous of the Heptenisian Hagiographers of the Ionian School as well as Russian origin icons, are beautifully displayed. There you will see, vessels and objects of worship as well as vestments dated back to 1769, religious books and other items of the Orthodoxy from the 16^th century.

 

Visit Lefkada-Rentals and let our team share the local knowledge you need to unlock the chest of Lefkada’s treasures and guide you through the lovely choices of our majestic island. Trust us to help you find the accommodation that fits your needs, organize the extra services for quality vacation and lead you to explore the Lefkada Island in all its dimensions.

Enjoy!