ARGOSTOLI Argostoli has been the capital and administrative centre of Kefalonia since 1757. Prior to this the island’s capital was nearby Agios Yeorgios, also known simply as Kastro (i.e. the castle of St. George). This fortress had provided a safe haven against marauding invaders for centuries but, when the pirate threat receded, the population started to move down to Argostoli in order to take better advantage of the trading opportunities offered by the sheltered bay off the Gulf of Argostoli where the trading warehouses were situated. As Argostoli prospered the inhabitants petitioned Venice, the colonial power, to make Argostoli the capital of the island and, much to the vexation of rival Lixouri, this request was granted in 1757. |
Argostoli,
around
1970
|
Argostoli prospered and became one of the busiest Greek island ports, exporting raisins and grain and importing mainly Italian clothes and furniture. Argostoli expanded but, in terms of administration, little changed between 1866 and 1999 when, following application of the ‘Kapodistrias Law’ of 1997, communities around the town united to form the Municipality of Argostoli, which included the settlements of Spilia, Kompothekrata, Helmata, Lassi, Minies and ten former communities: Agona, Davgata, Dilinata, Zola, Thinia, Kourouklata, Nifi, Troyiannata, Faraklata and Farsa. The census of 2001 recorded a population of 12,589 in the Argostoli municipality with around 75% of those people living in Argostoli town. |
Under ‘Kallikrates Law’, w.e.f.
January, 2011, Kefalonia became one unitary
municipality with Argostoli as its capital. This
didn't entirely work and recently Kefalonia has been
divided into three municipalities: Argostoli, Paliki
and Sami. To the east of Argostoli town, at the end of the bay, beneath the aforementioned Castle of St. George, sits the Koutavos Lagoon, a feeding ground for the loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). Now a waterfowl reserve, the Koutavos Lagoon was once an almost impassable swamp with mosquitoes and malaria rife. |
Under
the
British governor of the island, General Sir Charles James
Napier, a wooden bridge was constructed across the lagoon
in 1813 by Colonel Charles Philip de Bosset, a Swiss
engineer in the employ of the British army. Four years
later stone arches were added and, after some 26 years,
the entire bridge was rebuilt in stone. In continuous use until 2005, when it was closed to traffic, part of the bridge collapsed in December, 2011. |
Recently the bridge has been tastefully renovated and is accessible only to pedestrians (and two-wheelers) thus offering a very pleasant, mostly flat, walk around the lagoon. Almost halfway along the Drepano Bridge stands a stone obelisk built by the British to commemorate their stay. At the end of the low, dog-legged bridge a right turn, followed by the first left, leads uphill to the small Agia Barbara church, built into the rock at the end of the narrow gorge. Continuing straight on over the bridge leads shortly to the well-tended British Cemetery and, a little further on, the equally well-tended Greek Orthodox cemetery at Drepano. The contrast in styles is quite noticeable. |
The coastal road out
of Argostoli to the west was known during the Venetian
period as the ‘Piccolo Gyro’ (Piccolo Yiro), a very
pleasant (if rather long) circular walk to some superb
beaches in the (now very popular) Lassi area. Along the Piccolo Gyro, in the Vlikha area facing Lixouri, lie the ‘Swallow Holes’ of Katovothres, a unique geological phenomenon. Sea water disappears underground, travels under the island to re-emerge fourteen days later in the Karavomylos area of Sami, having passed through the nearby, and very spectacular, underground Melissani lake. |
Katovothres
(above)
and Thalassomilo (right)
The power of this sea water was harnessed, in 1835, to power a mill via a waterwheel. A further water mill, a little nearer to Argostoli, was added in 1859. This mill, with the waterwheel inside the building, is now the popular Thalassomilo (literally ‘sea mill’) café bar and taverna. A recently refurbished (and rather unsympathetically styled) bar-come- nightclub sits on the site of the first mill, next to the restored wheel by the swallow holes. The earthquake of 1953 shifted the balance of the island and rendered the mills, as they were, unworkable. You can still see the sea water trickle down the swallow holes. |
A
little further along the Piccolo Gyro is the Agion
Theodoron lighthouse, named after the small adjacent
church. More commonly known as the Fanari lighthouse,
this too was built during the British occupation, in
1829. The original building was destroyed in the ’53
earthquake and re-built, complete with Doric-style
columns, from the original plans (which the British had,
of course, filed away somewhere). Around 2002 it was
tastefully restored to its former glory and remains a
romantic venue for watching the sunsets. Agion Theodoron (Fanari) lighthouse |
During World War II Argostoli suffered,
as did the rest of Kefalonia, at the hands of the Nazi
occupation force. Argostoli was occupied by the more
sympathetic Italian forces but when they tried to
evacuate by sea, having surrendered to the Allies, they
were bombed by the Nazis. A number of Italian officers
were held captive by the Nazis in the Red Villa, almost
next to the Fanari lighthouse. They were then marched
along the Piccolo Yiro to the junction, on the left.
Directly opposite this junction are green railings and
inside is a natural horseshoe-shaped rocky pit. Here the
Italians were massacred by the Nazis. A plaque on the
rock face, in Greek and Italian, commemorates this
in-humane event. If you take the left turn here it leads past the Italian War Memorial, near the brow of the hill, and back down in to the Old Harbour area of Argostoli (short route). Continue past the junction for Lassi. The return route, over the hill between Lassi and Argostoli, is much shorter that the outward journey. |
Original buildings that weren’t shattered by German
bombing in 1943 were destroyed ten years later in the
earthquake that razed virtually all of Kefalonia, apart
from the Fiskardo area, to the ground. Very little
remains of old Argostoli and any colour photographs you
may see of ‘old Argostoli’ are invariably from the film
set of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin which, although set
largely in Argostoli, was actually filmed in the (much
quieter) town of Sami. One of the few remaining
buildings is the Kosmetatos Mansion, just off Plateia
Valianos, the main square in Argostoli. This is now a
small, private museum (open to the public) housing a
numismatic collection and sets of lithographs. A
little further along, past the prefecture offices (town
hall) on the opposite side, is the Archaeological Museum
(generally open from 09:00-15:00, Tuesday-Saturday, not
feast days), which contains the most important finds
from Kefalonia, including those from the Mycenaean tomb
at Tzanata, near Poros. Across from the Archaeological Museum is the Kefalos Theatre and, up the road to the left of the theatre, the interesting Folklore and Cultural Museum (beneath the Koryialenios Public Library – both open 09:00-14:00, Monday-Friday, not main festival days). Opposite the Archaeological Museum are the law courts, originally constructed by the British with stone (allegedly) from the Cyclopean site at Krani. |
Next to the courts is the start of Lithostroto, the pedestrian shopping centre of Argostoli which, along with Plateia Valianos, is ‘the place’ to be in the evening, when casual shoppers mingle with café society in a very pleasant ambience. Along Lithostroto, next to the Catholic Church, is a tiny museum (open some mornings and most evenings) dedicated to the soldiers of the Italian Acqui Division. A little further along is the Bell Tower. Rebuilt in 1985 to house the original clock mechanism, the ground floor is a pleasant, community-run, street café on Campanile Square providing employment for local people with learning difficulties. A climb to the top of the bell tower is rewarded with views along Lithostroto and across the bay. A sprawling fruit and vegetable market runs along the seafront while the local produce market is accommodated just behind the bus station. Here you'll find the buses which connect Argostoli with the other towns and some of the villages on the island, as well as with Patras and Athens on the mainland. |
Further along, by the Rock Café,
loggerhead turtles can often be seen, particularly in
the morning when the local fishing boats are selling
their catch. Waste scraps tend to be tossed over the
side of the boats and the turtles get a free lunch. This part of the seafront is busy with visiting yachts and a number of local tour boats in the summer months. The local Lixouri - Argostoli ferries (twice an hour in summer, once an hour in winter) dock just a little further along, past the Port Police / Coast Guard building. A little further along the coast is the 'pier' where the big cruise ships disgorge their passengers. |
Opposite the Port
Police office is a short road leading to the main
square, Plateia Valianos. Behind the square are the
recently restored Napier Gardens where vineyards once
stood on the Koutoupi hill. Although
architecturally uninspiring following the post ’53
re-build, Argostoli has a certain charm about it,
enhanced by a refurbishment of the centre in 2019, and
can manage to be busy but unhurried at the same time.
The only ‘serious’ shopping centre on the island, it can
be very busy week-day mornings when everyone is going
about their daily business, yet it’s still possible to
sit and relax outside one of the many coffee shops and
enjoy an unhurried frappe while watching the world
wander past. Evenings in Argostoli are even more pleasant. By 14:00 most of the crowds have drifted away and Argostoli goes very quiet: just about everything, bar some tavernas, closes for siesta. Sometime after 17:00, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the shops will re-open. With all the business completed in the morning – or left until another day – the atmosphere is very unhurried as, later in the evening, people indulge in relaxed retail therapy or meet up in the coffee shops and tavernas to sit and chat. |
Most, if not all, the lovely date palm trees (a.k.a. "pineapple" trees due to their appearance) that lined many of the streets have been removed due to weevil infection and are being replaced with graceful coconut trees (hard hats available on request!). During 2019 there may be some disruption in Argostoli due to refurbishment of the centre. |
Adapted from an original contribution to Wikipedia, 04 March, 2006 |