Page 37 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Corfu & the Ionian Islands

Zákynthos Town ❮❮ 35

Prophet David Portrait
saints, St Charalambos held aloft on 9
a cathedra. The painting was rescued The vibrant colours of Nikólaos
from the church of the same name. Doxaras’ 18th-century portrait of the
Prophet David, are typical of the
Panagia Amolyntos
8 Heptanese school, which blended
The title translates to mean the
Venetian and orthodox influences.
“Immaculate Virgin”,
Church of the
and this painting by 0
Cretan Emmanuel Soter Wall
Tzanes shows Mary Fresco
holding the infant Dating from the 12th
Christ. It once century, this is one of the
adorned the walls of oldest and most impor-
the Phaneromeni tant exhibits here. It was
Church in Zákynthos rescued from the Church
Town. Considered an of the Soter (Saviour) in
important example of the town’s Venetian fort -
17th-century art, it ress (the Kástro) and
is one of the muse- shows Saint Theodote
um’s main exhibits. Panagia Amolyntos with her children.
ZÁKYNTHOS’S HISTORY
Named after Zákynthos, the son of the Arcadian TOP 10
hero Dardanos of Troy, this island has a stormy ZÁKYNTHOS’S HISTORY
past, according to myth. It was con quered by 1 Before 459 BC
King Arkesios of Kefalloniá, then Odysseus of Arkesios of Kefalloniá and
Ithaki before an alliance was formed with Odysseus of Ithaki rule
Athens during the First Peloponnesian War 2 c.459–446 BC
around 459 BC. Zákynthos came under Alliance with Athens in
Byzantine rule from around the 8th century, First Peloponnesian War
followed by Neapolitan rule when it became 3 c.700–1185
part of the Kingdom of Naples in 1185. Venetian The Ionian Islands came
rule followed in the 15th century, a time of under Byzantine rule
progress for the island. The French, Russians and 4 1185–1479
British all left their legacy on Zákynthos until, Zákynthos becomes part
in 1953, it was all but destroyed in a mighty of the Kingdom of Naples
earthquake. Zákynthos Town has now been 5 1479–1797
rebuilt in keeping with its original architecture. Venice rules the island
6 1797–8
Briefly part of the French
department of Mer-Égée
7 1798–1807
Part of Ottoman Empire,
in alliance with Russia
8 1809–64
After brief French rule, the
British take control
9 1864–present
The Ionian Islands form a
union with Greece
10 1953
Huge cracks in the ground opened up following Major earthquake, after
the catastrophic 1953 earthquake in Zákynthos. which the towns are rebuilt

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