Zakynthos

Zakynthos appears in Homer, who lists it among the islands that sent men to Troy and counts twenty of its nobles among Penelope's suitors. In the classical period its city sided with Athens, and the island's natural tar, dredged from a lake near Keri, was valued for protecting ships' hulls; a Spartan force burned the countryside in 430 BC but failed to take the town. Rome conquered it in 191 BC, Vandals raided it in the 5th century, and from 1185 it belonged to the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos.

Venice took the island in the 1480s and held it until 1797, calling it the Fiore di Levante, the Flower of the Levant. Under Venetian rule Zakynthos had closer contact with Italian literature than most of the Greek world, and a literary culture grew up in the town: the poets Dionysios Solomos, whose Hymn to Liberty supplied the words of the national anthem, and Ugo Foscolo were both born here. After French and British rule the island joined Greece in 1864. During the Second World War Mayor Loukas Karrer and Bishop Chrysostomos refused German orders to hand over a list of the town's Jews and hid them in rural villages; both men were later recognised as Righteous among the Nations.

On 12 August 1953 an earthquake destroyed most of the island's buildings, and in the town only three buildings survived, among them the church of Agios Dionysios. The town was rebuilt to a strict anti-seismic code. From the mid-1980s the island became a hub for young tourists, turning the quiet village of Laganas into a clubbing resort. A strong earthquake in 2018 damaged the pier and an old monastery but caused no injuries.

The town's identity rests on its poets and its saint. Solomos's statue stands in the main square, the museum beside it honours him and Andreas Kalvos, and the island's 18th- and 19th-century Heptanese school of poetry and painting is a source of local pride. Saint Dionysios, born on the island in 1547, is its patron; his relics lie in the church that survived the earthquake, and his feast days in August and December are the great dates of the local calendar.

Music runs deep. Zakynthians are known for singing groups that perform old local songs, above all kantades, the Heptanese serenades rooted in the Italian popular music of the early 19th century. Easter brings processions through the town in spring, when the island is green. The Venetian centuries left Italian traces in names and buildings, and the rebuilt squares still recall their Venetian models.

The island has two faces. The capital and the villages keep a settled Greek island life, while the southern resorts, Laganas above all, cater to young package tourists from northern Europe. Respect for the loggerhead turtles is part of local life too: the nesting beaches have rules on sunbeds, night access and watersports.

About 40,500 people lived on Zakynthos at the 2021 census, and about 17,000 in the municipal unit of the town, which covers the capital and nearby villages such as Argasi and Bochali. The island's population fell from about 42,000 in 1940 to about 30,000 in 1981 before growing again, and it is one of the most densely populated islands in Greece.

Tourism is the main source of income, and the airport fills with charter flights from May to October. Farming continues alongside it: olive oil, currants, grapes and citrus fruit are the main crops, with thyme honey and village wine sold at roadside stalls. The Ionian University has had its Department of Environment on the island since 2003, with field stations on Zakynthos and the Strofades islets.

The year divides into a crowded summer, when families work long hours in hotels, bars and boat hire, and a quiet, rainy winter when many resorts close and the town returns to its residents. Fresh water is limited, and the rapid growth of tourism is seen as a threat to the turtle beaches.

Zakynthos shares the Italian-influenced cooking of the Ionian islands, and its best-known product is the Zante currant, the small, sweet, seedless dried grape to which the island gave its English name when it was the main producer and exporter; Greece still grows about 80% of the world's currants. Olive oil, thyme honey and citrus are among its farm products, and fish and seafood are grilled in the harbour tavernas.

Frigania and fritoura are desserts that come from Zakynthos itself. Island tavernas also serve traditional Greek dishes such as stifado, a stew whose name was borrowed from the Italian stufato, and briam. Taverna menus carry the familiar Greek repertoire alongside local wines.

To drink, the village wines are strong, ouzo and Metaxa brandy are the standard spirits, and the Greek lagers Mythos, Alfa and Fix are the usual beers. Some village families distil their own raki, as in Volimes in the north. Resort strips such as Laganas serve international food for package visitors, so the town and the villages are the places for local cooking.