SAMI Sami, on the east coast of Kefalonia facing Ithaka, played the leading role on the island for many years of in the early history of Kefalonia. Remains of the ancient citadel can be found on the acropolis to the south-east of present Sami, near the Agios Fanentes monastery on the way to AntiSamos. At this time Kefalonia was not one entity but divided into four self-governing city-states: Same (Sami), Pronnoi, Krani and Palliki. These ancient cities minted their own coins and conducted their own ‘foreign’ policy, e.g. Sami’s participation in the Trojan War. The administrative areas still exist today, largely the same, although the Kallikratis changes of 2011 have merged the former local municipalities into one whole-island municipality. Photo
from
the Municipality of Sami
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The
large, natural, safe harbour offered an ideal trading and
military base
between western Europe and the East and so the Roman
Empire made
acquisition of the island a main priority. Only the
city-state of Sami
offered much resistance, yielding in 188 BC after a
four-month siege.
During the Roman occupation Sami benefited from the
construction of
elaborate public and private buildings, supplied by
aqueducts, and a
breakwater around the harbour. Following the demise of the Roman Empire, Sami remained an important port but, under Venetian rule, the fortress of Agios Georgios, outside Argostoli, became the capital of the island until the threat of marauding pirate attacks receded. Then, in 1757, Argostoli became the principal trading centre and capital. Over the last decade or so, Sami has become something of a cultural capital of Kefalonia. Every summer Sami hosts the Eortia, the Sami Festival of performing and visual arts, featuring an extensive and impressive international array of talent alongside the work of local artists. |
Today
Sami
is Kefalonia’s second busiest port, connecting the
island with
nearby Ithaka and with mainland Greece on both sides of
the Gulf of
Corinth, mostly importantly with Patras, the third
largest city in
Greece. In the high summer season Sami also connects
Kefalonia with
Corfu and a couple of Italian ports via regular ferry
services. The
marina facilities attract a number of private and
flotilla yachts and
the large harbour attracts a number of cruise boats. In
May, 2008
the QE II called in for the first (and last) time before
it was retired. As a working town Sami offers all the usual facilities: post office, medical centre, grocery and gift shops, tour and car offices in addition to tavernas, bars and hotels. |
Between
Sami
and Karavomylos is a narrow beach, mostly pebbly but
with clear, clean
water; it’s a pleasant stroll from Sami, along the
footpath, to the
taverna by the duck pond and back. A short drive away, about four kilometres either side of Sami, are better beaches; to the south the stunning white pebble beach of AntiSamos, the hills and valley behind it covered with deep green pine trees, while to the north is the small but pleasant Agia Paraskevi beach. Today, Sami’s main claim to fame is as the location for the filming of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, based on the novel by Louis de Bernières. |
Based on the
Venetian architecture still to be found in Corfu old
town, present-day
Sami (mainly the area from the port entrance to the
Hotel Kastro) was
very realistically transformed to resemble pre-war
Argostoli. When the filming finished the sets had to be removed but many of the locations, such as AntiSamos beach, the remains of the old village of Dikhalia and the monastery of Agia Fanentes, can easily be visited. Also within easy reach of Sami are three of Kefalonia’s fascinating natural phenomena: |
the
huge
Drogarati cavern, the subterranean Melissani lake and
the pond at
Karavómilos, the latter two naturally fed by seawater
from Argostoli. Melissani
lake
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