We are in the middle of the Mediterranean. The islands of the Ionian Sea stretch along the western coast of the central part of the Greek mainland and further to the south along the western coast of Peloponnesus. They constitute an independent group of seven small and large islands with their own special character.
One of them is Lefkada, “the white island”, located between Corfu and Kephalonia. Probably owes its name to the steep white rocks of its southern promontory Lefkatas, or to its snow-white dreamlike beaches. The climate is mediterranean and the weather mild. This island is widely known for its award winning beaches (Porto Katsiki, Egkremni, Mylos, Kathisma), the unrivalled emerald beaches with their distinctive sand that resembles in colour ‘‘the egg of a dove’’, in the words of the island’s great poet, Angelos Sikelianos.

Lefkada is inhabited since the ancient times. It was here where Homer set some sections of his poems and it was from Lefkatas, where the temple of Apollo stood, that the poetess Sappho (“the 10th Muse”) is said to have leapt to her death, driven to suicide by her unhappy love for Phaon. In cultural terms, Lefkada is one of the most dynamic areas in Greece. Many Lefkadians have distinguished themselves in the fields of literature, art and sciences. Greece’s ‘‘national poets’’ Valaoritis and Sikelianos were born, lived and worked in Lefkada. Lefkadios Hern also, born in Lefkada, became the ‘‘national poet’’ of Japan!
The island’s capital is the town of Lefkada, with its characteristic multi-coloured timber-framed buildings, and its unique lagoon, home to rare species of birds, and protected by the “Ramsar” Convention. It is also protected by the Ministry of Culture, which has declared its shore a site of outstanding natural beauty.