City of Vathy in Ithaca.
09/06/2013
After leaving the Gulf of Corinth we go to Ithaca, historical and mythological destination, that had drawn our attention since the beginning of this journey by the Ionian Sea. We begin with the main town of the island: Vathy.
The entrance to Vathy is spectacular. We see in the picture the entrance to the great bay of Aetos, which may have been one of the places Ulysses lived. Once inside we see the small bay of Vathy fully protected. This is one of the best natural harbors in Greece.
Then sailing through the port of Vathy we see a small island to the right with a small church that was a pesthouse and also prison in the past. If we continue on the right side we find the old port and the main square of the city.
In this same dock we find Coast Guard house, and from there we can see the way out of the small bay in the distance and Anogi mountain in the background. In this picture we see perfectly the protection of this natural harbor. On the dock first thing you finds is the statue of Ulysses. In this same image it can be seen the beginning of the west of Vathy which is known as Karavata.
The eastern part is known as Petalata. On the side of Patelata stands the steeple of the church. This bell did not exist at the time when the Archduke took that same image. We also observed that large pine trees did not exist at that same time, now covering the church.
In Petalata we find also the place from which the Archduke drew one of the pictures showing the islet with the leper colony. From the church we have a magnificent view to the entire shore of Petalata and the end of the bay, and also towards the city center and the start of the shore of Karavata.
The leper now has only a small church that is often used for weddings. We see the remains of the ancient walls of the building that collapsed in the earthquake, and the church in the center surrounded by pine trees.
Once in the downtown area there are wide streets in which we see relatively few people. We can also see a picture of the main square in the distance taken from the start of the edge of Karavata.
In the same corner where it starts Karavata we see a church with a steeple quite high, and walking along the shore of Karavata, after a few hundred meters, and in second line, we find another nice little church.
If we continue from Karavata towards the end of the bay, we find two places that also photograph the Archduke took towards Vathy. In the first we occupied the roof of a building which has now been built there. For the second we found the same rocks that painted the Archduke. In the past they were completely bare, while now covers them a large mastic.
Finally we leave you with a picture in which the Archduke said to see the face of Ulysses (lying horizontally) as seen in ancient coins, especially late in the afternoon before the sunset. He did not indicate what time of year, but here we can see in a sunset of June.
So far the description of Vathy. In upcoming posts will develop both inside Ithaca (shore excursions), as their costs (boat trips) and, as usual, the general topics: architecture, customs, economic activities, flora and fauna, etc.
