Cultural Heritage in Zakynthos

Without ever losing touch with its Greek identity, Zakynthos was in close contact ever since ancient times with foreign, European people, thus obtaining access to different civilizations and attitudes. The influence of these people is evident in the island's cultural heritage and its position in recent, contemporary Greece. The love of its inhabitants for arts, letters and theatre was fostered in Zakynthos at a period where the rest of Greece was suffering under the Turkish occupation that deprived the country of freedom and intellectual progress.

Zakynthos was known from prehistoric times with Homer referring to the island as Υλήεσσα ("Iliessa") meaning 'forested'. According to legend, its first settler was Zakynthus, son of the Trojan king Dardanus. Zakynthus came to island, was enchanted by its beauty and, as a result, built a city and gave it its name. In ancient times, the island was seized by Ithaca's king, Ulysses, whereas during the Byzantine era it was one of Byzantine's provinces. The era of the Roman empire contributed to the island's intellectual progress and development.

After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, the island changed many hands and saw times of hunger and misery. In 1488, it came under the Venetians' occupation for a considerable number of years. Deliverance came in 1797 by the French who stayed in the island for a year. From 1809 to 1864, the island was occupied by the English and the inhabitants were forced to live under great oppression fighting heroically for their freedom. Their dream of unity and incorporation to the Greek state came true on May 21st, 1864, when the Greek flag was raised for good in the island.

Its distinctive architecture was shaped during the last centuries with Western European standards/ influences, as the Venetian, French and English colonialism had its impact on the important field of civilization. However, the destructive earthquakes, primarily the earthquake of 1953, played a crucial role in the current form of the island's architecture and layout. The said earthquake practically leveled to the ground the largest - if not all - part of the island destroying buildings and monuments of remarkable historical value.