The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: Ιόνια νησιά, Ionia nisia; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: Ἰόνιαι Νῆσοι, Ioniai Nēsoi) are a group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; Ἑπτάνησα, Heptanēsa or Ἑπτάνησος, Heptanēsos; Italian: Eptaneso), but the group includes many smaller islands in addition to the seven principal ones.
As a distinct historic region, the collective of islands date to the centuries-long Venetian rule, which kept them outside Ottoman control, and created a distinct cultural identity with many Italian influences. The Ionian Islands became part of the modern Greek state in 1864. Administratively today, they belong to the Ionian Islands Region except for Kythera, which belongs to the Attica Region.
The seven primary islands are, from north to south:
Lefkada (Λευκάδα), also known as Lefkas in English
Kefalonia (Κεφαλονιά), often known as Cefalonia, Cephalonia and Kefallinia in English
Zante (Ζάκυνθος), sometimes known as Zakynthos in English
Kythira (Κύθηρα), sometimes known as Cythera in English
The six northern islands are off the west coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. The seventh island, Kythira, is off the southern tip of the Peloponnese, the southern part of the Greek mainland. Kythira is not part of the region of the Ionian Islands, as it is included in the region of Attica.
In Ancient Greek, the adjective Ionios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea between Epirus and Italy in which the Ionian Islands are found, because, according to myth, Io swam across it. Although they have the same Latin transliteration and Modern Greek pronunciation, the Ionian Sea and Islands are not related to Ionia, an Anatolian region; in Greek, the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelled with an omicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has an omega (Ιωνία), reflecting a classical difference in pronunciation. The two words are still distinguished by stress: the western "Ionia" is accented on the antepenult (IPA: [iˈonia]), and the eastern on the penult (IPA: [ioˈnia]).
The islands themselves are known by a variety of names. During the centuries of rule by Venice, they acquired Venetian names, by which some of them are still known in English (and in Italian). Kerkyra was known as Corfù, Ithaki as Val di Compare, Kythera as Cerigo, Lefkada as Santa Maura and Zakynthos as Zante.
A variety of spellings are used for the Greek names of the islands, particularly in historical writing. Kefallonia is often spelled as Cephallenia or Cephalonia, Ithaki as Ithaca, Kerkyra as Corcyra, Kythera as Cythera, Lefkada as Leucas or Leucada and Zakynthos as Zacynthus. Older or variant Greek forms are sometimes also used: Kefallinia for Kefallonia and Paxos or Paxoi for Paxi.
The islands were settled by Greeks at an early date, possibly as early as 1200 BC, and certainly by the 9th century BC. The early Eretrian settlement at Kerkyra was displaced by colonists from Corinth in 734 BC. The islands were mostly a backwater during Ancient Greek times and played little part in Greek politics. The one exception was the conflict between Kerkyra and its mother-city Corinth in 434 BC, which brought intervention from Athens and triggered the Peloponnesian War.
Ithaca was the name of the island home of Odysseus in the epic Ancient Greek poem the Odyssey by Homer. Attempts have been made to identify Ithaki with ancient Ithaca, but the geography of the real island cannot be made to fit Homer's description. Archeological investigations have revealed findings in both Kefalonia and Ithaca.
By the 4th century BC, most of the islands were absorbed into the empire of Macedon. Some remained under the control of the Macedonian Kingdom until 146 BC, when the Greek peninsula was gradually annexed by Rome. After 400 years of peaceful rule, the islands continued under the control of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Under Byzantine rule, from the mid-8th century, they formed the theme of Cephallenia. The islands were a frequent target of Saracen raids and from the late 11th century, saw a number of Norman and Italian attacks. Most of the islands fell to William II of Sicily in 1185. Corfu and Lefkas remained under Byzantine control.
Kefallonia and Zakynthos became the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos until 1357, when this entity was merged with Lefkada and Ithaki to become the Duchy of Leucadia under French and Italian dukes. Corfu, Paxi and Kythera were taken by the Venetians in 1204, after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade. These became important overseas colonies of the Republic and were used as way-stations for their maritime trade with the Levant.
From 1204, the Republic of Venice controlled Corfu and slowly all the Ionian islands fell under Venetian rule. In the 15th century, the Ottomans conquered most of Greece, but their attempts to conquer the islands were largely unsuccessful. Zakynthos passed permanently to Venice in 1482, Kefalonia and Ithaki in 1483, Lefkada in 1502. Kythera had been in Venetian hands since 1238. The islands became the only part of the Greek-speaking world that did not come under Ottoman rule. During this time, large numbers of Greeks moved to the Ionian islands. Smaller numbers of Albanian, Aromanian and Slavic-speaking Christians also fled to the islands, though they quickly assimilated into the Greek majority.
Venetian was the official language of the islands during this period, and many Greeks adopted the Venetian language for social advancement. This was bolstered by the arrival of thousands of settlers from other parts of the Venetian Republic, forming the basis of the Corfiot Italian community. The majority of the island, however, remained ethnically, linguistically and religiously Greek. Many Corfiot Italians later Hellenised, adopting the Greek language and religion, such as Ioannis Kapodistrias.