Ithaca with a population around 3,500, is the second smallest inhabited island of the Ionian Islands group (Heptanese) and is situated in the Ionian Sea, located between Greece and Italy. Ithaca's history commenced some 6000 years ago and the island has been continuously inhabited since.
Ithaca is famed for being the kingdom of the wily King Odysseus, the hero of Troy who took 20 years to return to Ithaca and was immortalised in Homer's epic "The Odyssey". During its long history, a series of conquerors (Roman, Byzantine, Norman, Venetian, French, Russian, Turkish, English) left their mark on the history and culture of Ithaca.
The capital of Ithaca is Vathy and there are fourteen villages scattered around the island.
Today, these pretty little villages are sparsely populated with many Ithacans migrating to the four corners of the globe.
Ithacans have always been a seafaring people and like their famous ancestor, fond of travelling. Australia was a favourite destination and two of the first Ithacans to migrate here were Georgios Morfesis (in 1840) and Andreas Lekatsas from Exoghi (in 1845).
Indeed the latter took part in the Eureka Stockade uprising.
Click on the Map above to access the Google Map of Ithaca
Then use the zoom and arrow buttons to navigate around the island