13 Facts About Cephalonia

Kefalonia or Cephalonia, formerly known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia, is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios.

Cephalonia was rewarded with the island of Same, which thereafter came to be known as Cephallenia.

Mardaites were resettled in Cephalonia to serve as marines, and political prisoners were sometimes exiled there.

Cephalonia was captured during the Third Norman invasion of the Balkans in 1185, and it became part of the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos under the Kingdom of Sicily and Venetian suzerainty, until its last Count Leonardo III Tocco was defeated and the island conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1479.

Turkish rule lasted only until 1500, when Cephalonia was captured by a Spanish-Venetian army, a rare Venetian success in the Second Ottoman–Venetian War.

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From 1799 to 1807, Cephalonia was part of the Septinsular Republic, nominally under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, but protected by Russia.

Cephalonia is well known for its endangered loggerhead turtle population, known as the Caretta caretta turtle, which nests on many of the beaches along the south coast of the island.

The most famous breeding ground in Cephalonia is a cave on Foki beach, located on the north-east coast near Fiskardo.

Cephalonia is a popular holiday destination for many Italians, due to its proximity to Italy.

Cephalonia has one airport, Kefalonia Island International Airport, named Anna Pollatou with a runway around 2.

Cephalonia is a distinct regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and since 2019 it consists of three municipalities: Argostoli, Lixouri and Sami.

Between the 2011 Kallikratis government reform and 2019, there was one single municipality on the island: Cephalonia, created out of the 8 former municipalities on the island.

Cephalonia is the home of Kassandra and Alexios, main characters of the videogame Assassin's Creed Odyssey .