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92-513: The Ionian Islands were an overseas possession of the Republic of Venice from the mid-14th century until the late 18th century. The conquest of the islands took place gradually. The first to be acquired was Cythera and the neighboring islet of Anticythera , indirectly in 1238 and directly after 1363. In 1386 the Council of Corfu , which was the governing body of the island, voted to make Corfu

184-432: A capitano , two consiglieri , a capitano della cittadella and a castellano della fortezza . In Cephalonia and Zante there were only one provveditore and two consiglieri . When Lefkada (Santa Maura) was incorporated a Provveditore was appointed, while the archives also record the occasional appointment of a Provveditore straordinario , although, in 1595, another provveditore

276-544: A County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos under William's Greek admiral Margaritus of Brindisi . Following the Fourth Crusade and the signature of the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae , Corfu came under Venetian rule. In 1207 though, doge Pietro Ziani ceded the island as a feudum to ten Venetian nobles, provided that they demonstrate loyalty and devotion and that they pay taxes. Corfu passed in

368-558: A "right to be taught the language they wish, and especially Italian" as "the preferred language in the Ionian Islands and beyond". They defend its place on the regional curriculum as "a tradition" and deem it "necessary (…) owing to the scale of Italian tourism as well as other, e.g. cultural and commercial ties with the country". These cultural remnants of the Venetian period were the pretext of Mussolini 's desire to incorporate

460-586: A branch of the ancient Kallergi family. This family and its followers inhabited settlements on the island, received fiefs from the Venetian Senate and indulged in a tremendously profitable maritime trade as well as piracy against the Ottomans. According to the French traveler Leake during the 18th century the families of Karavia (Latin: Caravia), Petalas and Dendrinos constituted the three main factions of

552-751: A distinct historic region, they date to the centuries-long Venetian rule , which preserved them from the Muslim conquests of the Ottoman Empire , and created a distinct cultural identity with many Italian influences. The Ionian Islands became part of the modern Greek state in 1864. Administratively today, they belong to the Ionian Islands Region except for Kythera , which belongs to the Attica Region . The seven primary islands are, from north to south: The six northern islands are off

644-409: A maximum Mercalli intensity of X ( Extreme ) on August 12, 1953. Building damage was extensive and the southern islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos were practically levelled. The islands were reconstructed from the ground up over the following years under a strict building code. The code has proven extremely effective, as many earthquakes since that time have caused no damage to new buildings. Today, all

736-415: A nobleman. The subordinate Venetian officials were the consiglieri , two on each island, who performed administrative and judicial functions along with the provveditore of each island. The provveditore ' s responsibilities also included security from hostile raids, taxation, religious and other issues. In Corfu the Venetian officials included a bailo , a provveditore and

828-565: A post-war annexation. In 1943, the Germans replaced the Italians, and deported the centuries-old Jewish community of Corfu to their deaths. By 1944, most of the islands were under the control of the EAM / ELAS resistance movement, and they have remained in general a stronghold of left-wing sentiment ever since. The 1953 Ionian islands earthquake occurred with a surface wave magnitude of 7.2 and

920-554: A result of the two prolonged wars of the 17th century—the War of Candia (1645–1669) and the Morean War (1684–1699)—the office acquired a more permanent nature, and was renamed to Provveditore generale delle Quattro Isole after the capture of Santa Maura in 1684. Authorities in the islands were divided into two types: the Venetian ones, occupied by Venetians and represented the sovereign state and its political and military power over

1012-461: A vassal of Venice. During the Venetian period the Council remained the most powerful institution on the island. A century later, Venice captured Zante in 1485, Cephalonia in 1500 and Ithaca in 1503. These three islands modelled their administration on Corfu's model and formed their own councils. The conquest was completed in 1718 with the capture of Lefkada . Each of the islands remained part of

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1104-636: Is Ixołe Jonie , the Italian being Isole Ionie and the Greek Ιόνια Νησιά in Modern Greek and Ἰόνιοι Νῆσοι in Katharevousa . Below are the seven principal islands from north to south, including their Greek and Italian names in parentheses: Cythera and Lefkada were additionally called Çuha Adası or Çuka Adası and Ayamavra respectively by the Ottomans. During

1196-522: Is well attested for Cephalonia, after whose conquest in 1500 the island was colonized not only by civilian and military ( stradioti ) refugees from the lost Venetian fortresses of Modon and Coron , but also received an influx of families from the Venetian-ruled island of Crete . The population eventually increased: in 1765–66 it had reached 111,439; in 1780, the population was 150,908. Fourteen years later, there were 155,770 inhabitants throughout

1288-710: The Pax Nicephori (803), which recognised Venice as Byzantine territory, the influence of the Eastern Roman Emperor slowly faded away. By 814 Venice functioned as a fully independent republic. Even so, Venice became a partner of the Empire and trading privileges were granted to it by the Emperors via treaties, such as the Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1082 . The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204)

1380-628: The Stato da Màr on 24 December 1500, with the Siege of the Castle of St. George . Finally, Ithaca, following the fate of Cephalonia, was conquered by Venice in 1503. Ithaca had become depopulated and rewilded during the period of Turkish rule. In 1504, the Venetians ordered official the repopulation of Ithaca with tax incentives to attract settlers from neighbouring islands. The Venetian authorities found

1472-601: The British Empire . The British government resisted, since like the Venetians they found the islands made useful naval bases. They also regarded the Bavarian -born king of Greece, King Otto , as unfriendly to Britain. However, in 1862, Otto was deposed in a coup by the Great National Assembly and a new king, George I from Denmark, was elected in his place. In 1862, Britain decided to transfer

1564-774: The Bulgarians . The newly established Latin Empire , together with Venice, signed a secret treaty with Ghiyaseddin Kay-Khusraw I , the Turkish Sultan of Rûm for a joint war against the chief Byzantine Greek successor state, the Empire of Nicaea . In response, Nicaean emperor Theodore Lascaris made contact with King Leo I of Lesser Armenia in Cilicia who was also threatened by the Sultanate. The agreement between

1656-648: The Venetian lagoons were called tribunes, and only in about AD 697 were the lagoons made a separate military command under a dux ( doge ). Notwithstanding the election of the first Doge , vassalic evidence such as honours and orders received by the doge from the Emperor implies that Venice was considered part of the Byzantine Empire even after the capture of Ravenna by the Lombards. Despite

1748-770: The fall of Constantinople in 1453. In 1807 the Treaty of Tilsit between France and Russia ceded the Ionian Islands to the French again, and the French Empire took possession . In 1809, the British Royal Navy defeated the French fleet in Zakynthos (October 2, 1809) captured Kefallonia, Kythera and Zakynthos, and took Lefkada in 1810. The French held out in Corfu until 1814. The Treaty of Paris in 1815 turned

1840-596: The 1930s. The novel and movie Captain Corelli's Mandolin are set in Kefalonia, in which Captain Corelli is part of the Italian occupation force during the Second World War. The Ionian Islands' official population, excluding Kythera, in 2011 was 207,855, decreased by 1.50% compared to the population in 2001. Nevertheless, the region remains the third by population density with 90.1/km nationwide, well above

1932-476: The 9th century BC. The early Eretrian settlement at Kerkyra was displaced by colonists from Corinth in 734 BC. The islands were mostly a backwater during Ancient Greek times and played little part in Greek politics. The one exception was the conflict between Kerkyra and its mother-city Corinth in 434 BC, which brought intervention from Athens and triggered the Peloponnesian War . Ithaca

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2024-623: The Catholics as their superiors, though the Venetians placed the interests of the Republic ahead of those of the Papacy . Mixed marriages between Catholic and Orthodox Christians were allowed. These two were the main factors in the decline of Roman Catholicism in the Islands. Jews were also a native religious group to the Islands during the Venetian period. They were even fewer in number than

2116-534: The Catholics; in 1797 the number of Jews in Corfu appears to have been only two thousand. Jewish presence in Corfu can be traced since the times of the Principality of Taranto . In Cephalonia, there is evidence of Jewish habitation in the old capital, the Castle of St. George, since the early 17th century. When the capital of the island was transferred to Argostoli the Jews resettled there. The social structure of

2208-712: The County palatine, which throughout its existence was governed by three families: the Orsini (whose relation to the Roman Orsini family is unattested), the House of Anjou and the Tocco family . The rule of the family of Tocco lasted for 122 years, up until 1479, when Ottomans captured Cephalonia, Zante, Lefkada and Ithaca. On 13 February 1386 Corfu became once more a Venetian possession and this time Venetian rule would last until

2300-642: The Crusaders, the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae , the Venetians were to receive three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire, including three-eighths of Constantinople itself. Although Venice did receive the greatest benefit from the Crusade, they renounced direct sovereignty over the territories of Epirus , Acarnania , Aetolia , and the Peloponnese , which were originally assigned to the Republic. Instead,

2392-673: The French general Napoléon Bonaparte conquered Venice . By the Treaty of Campo Formio of October 1797 the islanders found themselves under French rule , which organised the islands as the départements Mer-Égée , Ithaque and Corcyre . In 1798–1799 a Russian-Ottoman fleet under the command of the Russian Admiral Ushakov evicted the French; the victors established the Septinsular Republic of 1800–1807 under joint Russo-Ottoman protection—the first time Greeks had had even limited self-government since

2484-463: The Greek language and religion, such as Ioannis Kapodistrias . In the 18th century, a Greek national independence movement began to emerge, and the free status of the Ionian islands made them the natural base for exiled Greek intellectuals, freedom fighters and foreign sympathisers. The islands became more self-consciously Greek as the 19th century, the century of romantic nationalism, neared. In 1797

2576-476: The Greek names of the islands, particularly in historical writing. Kefallonia is often spelled as Cephallenia or Cephalonia , Ithaki as Ithaca , Kerkyra as Corcyra , Kythera as Cythera , Lefkada as Leucas or Leucada and Zakynthos as Zacynthus . Older or variant Greek forms are sometimes also used: Kefallinia for Kefallonia and Paxos or Paxoi for Paxi. The islands were settled by Greeks at an early date, possibly as early as 1200 BC, and certainly by

2668-545: The Ionian Islands . The civil and military governor of the Ionian Islands was the Provveditore generale da Mar , who lived on Corfu and had the supreme peacetime command of the Venetian navy . In wartime, due to his absence at the head of the fleet, he was sometimes replaced by a Provveditore generale delle Tre Isole ("Superintendent general of the Three Islands"), referring to Corfu, Zante, and Cephalonia. As

2760-697: The Ionian Islands into the Kingdom of Italy . Even before the outbreak of World War II and the Greek-Italian War , Mussolini had expressed his wish to annex the Ionian Islands as part of his wider plans for an Italian Empire centered around the Mediterranean Sea . On 15 October, in a meeting in the Palazzo Venezia , he made the final decision to invade Greece. His initial goal was the occupation of Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia. After

2852-478: The Ionian Islands to work as builders and artisans, forming the basis of the Corfiot Maltese community. Once Greek independence was established after 1830, however, the islanders began to press for Enosis – union with Greece. The British statesman William Ewart Gladstone toured the islands and recommended that having already Malta , giving the islands to Greece would not hurt the interest of

Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue

2944-581: The Islands, and the domestic authorities, which were appointed by the Communal Council ( Consiglio della Comunità ). The Venetians were appointed by the Great Council of Venice . There were three officials constituting the reggimento ("regime") of each island. The head of the reggimento had the title of provveditore in all the islands except for Corfu, where he was called bailo . The title could only be held by

3036-751: The Latin Empire, the major inheritor of Constantinople, Theodore Lascaris, signed a trade agreement with Venice in August 1219 that provided freedom of trade and duty-free imports to the Venetians throughout the Nicaean Empire. In addition to the trading rights, the Doge of Venice , Pietro Ziani , was recognized the titles of Despot and 'Lord of one-quarter and one-eighth of the Empire of Romania' ( dominus quartae partis et dimidiae totius Imperii Romaniae ), that he had claimed after 1204. The Latin text of

3128-474: The Orient. When the central Ionian Islands were captured by Venice their population was very low and Ithaca was completely uninhabited. To address this problem, a small colonisation to the islands took place. Catholic Italians from Terraferma (later called Corfiot Italians ) and Orthodox Greeks from the Stato da Màr were transferred to the islands as part of the colonisation. The phenomenon

3220-601: The Ottoman Empire in September 1798 and in 1799 a Russo-Ottoman naval expedition captured the islands . With the signing of a treaty between Russia and the Porte on 21 March 1800, an independent island republic under the protection of both the empires was established. The name of the new state was agreed to be the " Septinsular Republic " and included all the territories of the three former French departments except for

3312-653: The Republic of Venice claimed the islands in the Aegean Sea , most importantly Crete , and a chain of ports and coastal forts along the Greek shores, thus coming to dominate the trade centers and routes all across the former Byzantine Empire. With Venetian support, the Latins continued their campaign into the Balkans to assert their control over former Byzantine lands, but were halted at the Battle of Adrianople in 1205 by

3404-636: The Roman Empire, the Ionian Islands were variously part of the provinces of Achaea and Epirus vetus . These would form, with the exception of Cythera, the Byzantine theme of Cephallenia in the late 8th century. From the late 11th century, the Ionian Islands became a battleground in the Byzantine–Norman Wars . The island of Corfu was held by the Normans in 1081–1085 and 1147–1149, while

3496-763: The Treaty of Passarowitz. Napoleon Bonaparte declared war against Venice on 3 May 1797. The signing of the Treaty of Campo Formio , on 17 October 1797, marked the dissolution of the Republic of Venice and the sharing of its territories between France and Austria. The lands of the Terraferma up to the River Adige , the city itself and the possessions of the Balkan peninsula of Istria and Dalmatia were yielded to Austria. The Ionian Islands, part of Venetian maritime territories, were ceded to France. Napoleon organized

3588-399: The Venetian Stato da Màr until Napoleon Bonaparte dissolved the Republic of Venice in 1797. The Ionian Islands are situated in the Ionian Sea, off the west coast of Greece . Cythera, the southernmost, is just off the southern tip of the Peloponnese and Corfu, the northernmost, is located at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea . It is believed that the Venetian period on the Ionian Islands

3680-480: The Venetian Republic and remained under its control until its fall, in 1797. The Turkish rule in the three islands of Cephalonia, Zante and Ithaca was short-lived. In 1481, two years after the beginning of the Turkish rule, Antonio Tocco invaded and briefly occupied Cephalonia and Zante but he was soon driven out by the Venetians. Zante was officially recovered by the Venetians in 1485. Then, Cephalonia, after sixteen years of Turkish occupation (1484–1500), became part of

3772-425: The Venetian period has shaped modern-day Heptanesian culture into an amalgamate of its Greek and Italian heritage in all aspects of everyday life. In 1800 the Septinsular Republic was established; its flag design was based on the flag of the Republic of Venice. In addition, Italian was the co-official language of both the Septinsular Republic and the United States of the Ionian Islands . Because of its status, Italian

Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue

3864-433: The Venetians freedom of trade and imports without customs duties throughout the Empire, in exchange for not supporting for the newly created Latin Empire . Following the Sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the Venetians, who had played a crucial role in the Crusade's diversion and the eventual sack of the Byzantine capital, stood preeminent amongst the victors. In the subsequent arrangement between

3956-433: The Venetians in 1204, after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade . These became important overseas colonies of the Republic and were used as way-stations for their maritime trade with the Levant . From 1204, the Republic of Venice controlled Corfu and slowly all the Ionian islands fell under Venetian rule. In the 15th century, the Ottomans conquered most of Greece, but their attempts to conquer

4048-448: The Venetians unsuccessfully besieged it in 1122–1123. The island of Cephalonia was also unsuccessfully besieged in 1085, but was plundered in 1099 by the Pisans and in 1126 by the Venetians. Finally, Corfu and the rest of the theme, except for Lefkada, were captured by the Normans under William II of Sicily in 1185. Although Corfu was recovered by the Byzantines by 1191, the other islands henceforth remained lost to Byzantium, and formed

4140-432: The administration of the defense of all the islands was delegated to an official seated in Corfu. This official was being referred to as "the General Provveditore of the Three Islands" ( Provveditore Generale delle Tre Isole ) and resided at the fortress of Angelokastro from 1387 to the end of the 16th century. The Three Islands refer to Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia. The Venetian equivalent for "Ionian Islands"

4232-443: The air. Venetians, being Catholics, retained the privileges enjoyed by the Latin bishopric of the islands under the Count Palatine dynasties. The Catholics were not numerous, and during the Venetian period, they were mainly concentrated in Corfu and Cephalonia. Most of them were descendants of Italian settlers but there were some conversions by Greeks to Catholicism. According to the law, Greek Orthodox priests and monks had to accept

4324-421: The biggest increase nationwide by 13.11% compared to 2011, while Corfu had an increase of 6.31%. Nicaean%E2%80%93Venetian Treaty of 1219 The Nicaean–Venetian Treaty of 1219 was a trade and non-aggression defense pact signed between the Empire of Nicaea and the Republic of Venice , in the form of an imperial chrysobull issued by Emperor Theodore I Laskaris (r. 1205–1222). This treaty provided

4416-400: The continental possessions of Parga, Preveza , Vonitsa and Butrint. With the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, the seven islands were given back to France by Russia. In October 1809, the United Kingdom took possession of all the islands with the exception of Corfu and Paxos, which was only surrendered in 1814. In 1815, the Ionian Islands became a British protectorate under the name United States of

4508-472: The control of the Roman Empire - increasingly as the furthest Northwestern outpost of the now Constantinople centered power. During Justinian I 's reconquest of Italy from the Visigoths, Venice was an increasingly important stronghold for the Empire's Exarchate of Ravenna . The political centre of the exarchate, and the most senior military officials of the Empire, were situated in Ravenna . The subordinate military officials who were their representatives in

4600-437: The control of the Macedonian Kingdom until 146 BC, when the Greek peninsula was gradually annexed by Rome . After 400 years of peaceful rule, the islands continued under the control of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . Under Byzantine rule, from the mid-8th century, they formed the theme of Cephallenia . The islands were a frequent target of Saracen raids and from

4692-424: The currency of Venice, was also the currency of the islands. Some features of the culture of Venice were incorporated in the culture of the Ionian Islands, thus influencing to this day local music, cuisine and language. Venice was founded in 421 after the destruction of nearby communities by the Huns and the Lombards . In the shifting Italian borders of the following centuries, Venice benefited from remaining under

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4784-431: The decline of their traditional industries, fishing and marginal agriculture. Today, their major industry is tourism. Specifically Kerkyra, with its harbour, scenery and wealth of ruins and castles, is a favourite stopping place for cruise liners. British tourists in particular are attracted through having read Gerald Durrell 's evocative book My Family and Other Animals (1956), which describes his childhood on Kerkyra in

4876-502: The eastern on the penult ( IPA: [ioˈnia] ). In English, the adjective relating to Ionia is Ionic , not Ionian . The islands themselves are known by a variety of names. During the centuries of rule by Venice , they acquired Venetian names, by which some of them are still known in English (and in Italian ). Kerkyra was known as Corfù , Ithaki as Val di Compare , Kythera as Cerigo , Lefkada as Santa Maura and Zakynthos as Zante . A variety of spellings are used for

4968-430: The end of the Republic. This was accomplished voluntarily by the people of Corfu. On 10 May, the Corfiotes appointed five ambassadors to submit to the Venetian senate. The Ottomans made several attempts to capture Corfu, the first of which was in 1537 . This attack led Venice to an alliance with the Pope and Emperor Charles V , known as the Holy League , against the Ottoman Empire. Another major unsuccessful Ottoman attack

5060-407: The fall of Greece, in early April 1941, the invaders divided its lands into three occupation zones; the Italians occupied much of the country, including the Ionians. Mussolini informed General Carlo Geloso that the Ionian Islands would form a separate Italian province through a de facto annexation, but the Germans would not approve it. The Italian authorities nevertheless continued to prepare

5152-415: The ground for the annexation. Finally, on 22 April 1941, after discussions between the German and Italian rulers, German Führer Adolf Hitler agreed that Italy could proceed with a de facto annexation of the islands. From then on, until the end of the war, the islands passed through a phase of Italianization in all areas, from their administration to their economy. Ionian Islands As

5244-426: The hands of the Despotate of Epirus around 1214, and was captured in 1257 by Manfred of Sicily , who put his admiral Philippe Chinard there in charge of his eastern possessions. Nonetheless, with the defeat of Manfred at Benevento and the signature of the Treaty of Viterbo on 27 May 1267, Corfu became a possession of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples . Meanwhile, the rest of the islands continued to form part of

5336-405: The island was already being repopulated by members of the Galatis family, who laid claim to it as their property, having received rights over Ithaca under the Tocco regime. However, according to historians, the island received a great population revival in the period before and after the fall of Khandaka (Heraclion) when numerous people from Crete arrived there as well as the noble Karavia family,

5428-408: The island, with the Karavia family controlling its most productive part. Lefkada, part of the Despotate of Epirus since the latter's foundation in 1205, was incorporated by Leonardo I Tocco into the County of Cephalonia in 1362. The Despotate of Epirus was one of the three Byzantine Empires in exile created after the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Following the fate of the other central Ionian Islands, it

5520-403: The islands are part of the Greek region of the Ionian Islands ( Ionioi Nisoi ), except Kythera, which is part of the region of Attica . Kerkyra has a population of 103,300 (including Paxoi), Zakynthos 40,650, Kefallonia 39,579 (including Ithaca), Lefkada 22,536, Ithaki 3,052, Kythera 3,000 and Paxi 2,438. In recent decades, the islands have lost much of their population through emigration and

5612-417: The islands during Venetian rule was the Venetian lira , as in Venice. There was a special issue for the Islands; the obverse side of it has the complete or shortened inscription CORFU/CEFALONIA/ZANTE in three lines. The reserve depicts the winged and haloed lion of Saint Marc in a front view, holding the book of the Gospel in his fore-paws. The Ionian Islands formed part of the Venetian maritime trade route to

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5704-451: The islands followed that of Venice. The whole population was divided into three classes: the nobles ( nobili ), the bourgeoisie ( citadini ) and the common people ( populari ). Across formerly Venetian-owned Greek territory, particularly the Ionian Islands, the memory of the Republic lives on in the social consciousness of the local population with a sentiment of nostalgia despite its troubled history. The sheer duration of

5796-537: The islands into the " United States of the Ionian Islands " under British protection (November 5, 1815). In January 1817, the British granted the islands a new constitution. The islanders elected an Assembly of 40 members, who advised the British High Commissioner. The British greatly improved the islands' communications, and introduced modern education and justice systems. The islanders welcomed most of these reforms, and took up afternoon tea, cricket and other English pastimes. The British also brought thousands of Maltese to

5888-475: The islands into three departments : Corcyre , Ithaque , and Mer-Égée . The first included the islands of Corfu and Paxos, as well as the former Venetian settlements of Butrint and Parga situated in Epirus . The second department was formed by the islands of Cephalonia, Ithaca and Lefkada and the cities of Preveza and Vonitsa, whereas Zante and Cerigo were part of the third department. The French rule, however, did not last as Russia allied with

5980-562: The islands of Cephalonia and Zante the main exports were raisins , olive oil and wine . One of the most significant exports was olive oil. Groves of olive trees were planted throughout the islands during the Venetian period as olive oil was important to Venice's economy. Although the production of it was successful, the Republic only allowed exportation to Venice. Statistics for the years 1766–70 indicate 1,905,917 olive trees on Corfu, 113,161 on Zante, 38,516 on Cephalonia, 44,146 on Lefkada and 31,884 on Cythera. Nevertheless, raisin exports were

6072-428: The islands to Greece, as a gesture of support intended to bolster the new King's popularity (probably as a counterbalance to the newly established Italian state). On May 2, 1864, the British departed and the islands became three provinces of the Kingdom of Greece, though Britain retained the use of the port of Corfu. On 21 May 1864 the Ionian Islands officially reunited with Greece. Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark

6164-451: The islands were largely unsuccessful. Zakynthos passed permanently to Venice in 1482, Kefalonia and Ithaki in 1483, Lefkada in 1502. Kythera had been in Venetian hands since 1238. The islands became the only part of the Greek-speaking world to escape Ottoman rule. During this time, large numbers of Greeks moved to the Ionian islands to escape Ottoman persecution. Smaller numbers of Albanian, Aromanian and Slavic-speaking Christians also fled to

6256-515: The islands, though they quickly assimilated into the Greek majority. Venetian was the official language of the islands during this period, and many Greeks adopted the Venetian language for social advancement. This was bolstered by the arrival of thousands of settlers from other parts of the Venetian Republic, forming the basis of the Corfiot Italian community. The majority of the island, however, remained ethnically, linguistically and religiously Greek. Many Corfiot Italians later Hellenised, adopting

6348-409: The islands. These are some figures concerning the population of each island during the Venetian period: During the Venetian period all public acts were drawn up in the Venetian language , the official language of the Government. Greek remained spoken by the peasantry whereas Venetian was adopted by the upper class and it was generally preferred within the towns (like in Corfu city, where nearly all

6440-429: The late 11th century, saw a number of Norman and Italian attacks. Most of the islands fell to William II of Sicily in 1185. Corfu and Lefkas remained under Byzantine control. Kefallonia and Zakynthos became the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos until 1357, when this entity was merged with Lefkada and Ithaki to become the Duchy of Leucadia under French and Italian dukes. Corfu, Paxi and Kythera were taken by

6532-436: The most important export of the islands during the Venetian rule. By the early 18th century Zante, Cephalonia, and part of Ithaca had become a major centre of the currant trade. Because of the fierce competition in the raisin trade between Venice and the United Kingdom, Venice prohibited the free export of raisins from the islands. Another measure was the nuova imposta , a heavy export tax for foreign ships. The currency of

6624-420: The national of 81.96/km . The most populous of the major islands is Corfu with a population of 104,371, followed by Zakynthos (40,759), Kefalonia (35,801), Lefkada (23,693) and Ithaca (3,231). The foreign-born population was in 2001 19,360 or 9.3%, the majority of which was concentrated in Corfu and Zakynthos. Most of them originate from Albania (13,536). The fertility rate for 2011 according to Eurostat

6716-618: The population spoke the Veneto de Mar ). Thus, the Venetian language became, if not the common language of the Ionians, at least the prestigious language . The Venetians did little in the area of education, mainly due to the fact that schooling was not considered a responsibility of the state at that time in Europe but a private matter. Some authors believe that this was done intentionally by Venice, as part of its colonial policy. People belonging to

6808-509: The same Latin transliteration and Modern Greek pronunciation, the Ionian Sea and Islands are not related to Ionia , an Anatolian region; in Greek, the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelled with an omicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has an omega (Ιωνία), reflecting a classical difference in pronunciation. The two words are still distinguished by stress: the western "Ionia" is accented on the antepenult ( IPA: [iˈonia] ), and

6900-465: The same time, 2,541 Ionians (1.0%) gave Italian as their mother tongue, making it the second most frequent language by number of speakers. The Italian language remains popular on the islands. The Hellenic Union of Heptanesians, a civil non-profit organization working to promote Septinsular culture, objected to the Ministry's decision to abolish the teaching of Italian in schools, arguing that students had

6992-516: The town of Corfu and the Angelokastro . On Cephalonia there were two, the castle of St. George or the Fortress of Cephalonia ( Città di Cefalonia ) and the Fortress of Asso ( Fortezza d'Asso ) in the northern part. The Ionian economy during the Venetian period was largely based on exporting local products. The most important of the agricultural products of Corfu was olive oil . On

7084-555: The treaty itself was subsequently undermined by Theodore Lascaris's fiscal austerity and policies of autarky : he forbade his subjects to buy foreign luxury goods and admonished them to be content with "the products of Roman soil and the craftsmanship of Roman hands". This protectionism was obviously directed against Venice, but they could do little as it would have been the Emperor's right to deny his subjects excessive luxuries. This treaty remained in effect with few complications, until

7176-662: The treaty was published in the collection of Venetian diplomatic documents compiled by Gottlieb Tafel and Georg Thomas for the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna . The treaty gave the newly established Nicaean Empire sufficient breathing space to consolidate and later expand its territory at the expense of the Latin Empire, while Venice gained access to markets that had not been open to them before, including recognition of their presence in Constantinople. However,

7268-551: The two realms was concluded by the marriage of Philippa of Armenia , niece of Leo to Lascaris as his second wife in 1214. There had been a long trading relationship between the Venetians and the Byzantines before, starting with the Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1082 . However, with the chaotic events of 1204, the relationship between the two powers had greatly changed. In order to undercut the Venetian military support from

7360-515: The upper classes were more likely to be educated and to have studied at an Italian university, usually the University of Padua . Modelled after the academies operating at that time in Venice, the first literary academy, Accademia degli Assicurati , was founded in Corfu in 1656 by individuals. It had as an emblem two rocks beneath a winged lion, with an inscription His Semper hovering in

7452-618: The west coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea . The seventh island, Kythira , is off the southern tip of the Peloponnese , the southern part of the Greek mainland. Kythira is not part of the region of the Ionian Islands , as it is included in the region of Attica . In Ancient Greek , the adjective Ionios ( Ἰόνιος ) was used as an epithet for the sea between Epirus and Italy in which the Ionian Islands are found, because, according to myth, Io swam across it. Although they have

7544-913: The whole Empire of Romania" after the Crusade, the Doges of Venice contributed to the deterioration of the relations between the two states. Efforts to improve relations, for example through the Nicaean–Venetian Treaty of 1219 , proved unsuccessful. A period of friendly relations only followed the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, when Venice, foreseeing the fall of Charles , the French King of Sicily , began forming closer relations with Byzantium. Venice had been bound by an alliance with Charles against Byzantium in 1281. The Islands were referred to, both individually and collectively, by various names. After Venice captured Cephalonia on 24 December 1500,

7636-504: Was that of July 1716 . After the partition of the Byzantine Empire in 1204, Cythera fell into Venetian hands in 1238 through the marriage of Marco Venier with the daughter of the Greek lord of the island. Cythera and Anticythera constituted part of the Stato da Màr for the first time in 1363 followed by an interruption of a three-year Turkish rule, between 1715 and 1718 . With the Treaty of Passarowitz Cythera and Anticythera passed to

7728-463: Was 1.35 live births per woman during her lifetime. The regional gross domestic product for 2010 was 4,029 million euros. The GDP per capita for the same year was 18,440 euros per capita which was lower than the national median of 20,481. However, the GDP per capita of Kefalonia and Zante, 23,275 and 24,616 respectively, was much higher than the national figure. Additionally, unemployment for 2012

7820-463: Was 14.7, the lowest among all Greek regions, and much lower compared to the national unemployment of 24.2. The region is a popular tourist destination. The airports of Corfu, Zante and Kefalonia were in the top ten in Greece by number of international arrivals, with 1,386,289 international arrivals for 2012, with Corfu being the sixth airport by number of arrivals nationwide. While Kefalonia Airport had

7912-493: Was also taught in schools alongside Greek and English (the Ionian Islands were a protectorate of the United Kingdom from 1815 until 1864). In the first year of secondary education, for instance, Greek was taught four times a week, Italian three times and English twice. In the 1907 Greek census, 4,675 people from the Ionian Islands stated Catholicism as their denomination, about 1.8% of the total population (254,494). At

8004-463: Was appointed to the Fortress of Asso. In Cythera the reggimento included both a provveditore and a castellano . In imitation of the metropolis, the domestic authorities comprised both a Consiglio Maggiore and a Consiglio Minore composed of members of the local aristocracy. There were ten fortresses throughout the islands, with one on each island serving as its capital. On Corfu, however, there were three fortresses; two in

8096-460: Was born in Corfu in 1921 and grew up to become Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh . In 1923, following orders by Mussolini, the Italians temporarily occupied Corfu . In 1941, when Axis forces occupied Greece, the Ionian Islands (except Kythera) were handed over to the Italians. Long a target of Italian expansionism , the Greek civil authorities were replaced by Italians in preparation for

8188-463: Was captured by the Turks in 1479 and then by the Venetians in 1502. However, Venetian rule did not last, as Lefkada was given back to the Ottoman Empire one year later. Turkish rule over Lefkada lasted for over 200 years, from 1479 to 1684, when Francesco Morosini attacked and subdued the island during the Morean War . Lefkada, however, did not become officially Venetian until 1718, with the signature of

8280-562: Was generally prosperous, especially compared with the coinciding Tourkokratia — Turkish rule over the remainder of present-day Greece. The governor of the Ionian Islands during the Venetian period was the Provveditore generale da Mar , who resided on Corfu . Additionally, each island's authorities were divided into the Venetian and the domestic authorities. The economy of the islands was based on exporting local goods, primarily raisins , olive oil and wine , whereas Venetian lira ,

8372-426: Was initially intended to invade Muslim-controlled areas; instead, the Crusaders attacked the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople , resulting in the temporary dissolution of the empire and the sack of its capital . As Venice was one of the participants in the Crusade its relations with the Byzantine Empire were strained during this period. Moreover, by styling themselves "Lord of one-quarter and one-eighth of

8464-496: Was the name of the island home of Odysseus in the epic Ancient Greek poem the Odyssey by Homer . Attempts have been made to identify Ithaki with ancient Ithaca, but the geography of the real island cannot be made to fit Homer's description. Archeological investigations have revealed findings in both Kefalonia and Ithaca. By the 4th century BC, most of the islands were absorbed into the empire of Macedon . Some remained under

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