History Walks

Join us and discover Ithaca’s history on a walk into the past at some of the island’s most important sites. Learn more about the island’s rich past, while admiring magnificent views, beautiful frescos, and heritage architecture.

Our walks

Check our programme and register below.

Aetos

Friday, 2 August 2024

(Note: date changed!)

Begins at 17.00

Difficulty: Strenuous, steep slopes

*We may announce changes to the time of this walk owing to weather conditions.

Ancient Ithaca

Join us for a walk at one of Ithaca’s main sites of ancient significance.

The acropolis at Aetos is perched on the small strip of land which joins north and south Ithaca, offering a spectacular view of the island’s strategic location in the central Ionian. The site has been explored by several pioneer archaeologists since the early 19th century, including by Schliemann. It is proposed by some scholars as a likely candidate for the political centre of classical Ithaca.

‘School of Homer’ + Northern Ithaca

Saturday, 29 June 2024

Begins at 18.30

Saturday, 20 July 2024

Begins at 18.30

Difficulty: Medium

At the site of Palaiokastro below Exogi, where an old chapel of Agios Athanasios stands, the British pioneer archaeologist Sir William Gell was shown what a priest claimed was the place where Homer once taught. While the tale was already treated as a fictitious invention by Gell and his successors, the name ‘School of Homer’ has stuck, testament to the strong local traditions relating to Ithaca’s antiquity. The site has been excavated several times and is a suitable entry point to understanding the story of modern archaeology in Ithaca. The site presents very interesting architectural remains dating to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and other small finds attest the existence of a Neolithic settlement in the area. Other remains are disputed, with some scholars dating them to the Bronze Age.

View from the acropolis at Aetos

Hellenistic staircase at 'School of Homer' site

Palaiochora

Sunday, 30 June 2024

Begins at 18.30

Saturday 27 July 2024

Begins at 18.30

Saturday 10 August 2024

Begins at 18.30

Difficulty: Medium.

Mediaeval and Venetian Ithaca

Explore world of Ithaca’s recent past, with a walk through abandoned Venetian settlements, including beautiful frescoed chapels and magnificent views.

The main Venetian township of the island was centred here, in the hills behind modern Vathy. The Venetian-period documents talk about how the islanders settled on higher ground for fear of piracy, before descending to the bayside in the 18th century. We will walk a beautiful path through the old township with stunning views, visit ruined 18th-century chapels with impressive frescos, and explore the vernacular architecture of the Venetian period.

Old Anogi

Sunday, 4 August 2024

Begins at 18.30

Difficulty: Medium.

In the north of Ithaca, the largest Venetian-period township was at Anogi, the highest settlement on the island. The old township was located just higher than the modern village, where ruins of houses of impressive dimensions can still be seen, despite damage by earthquakes. This walk allows us to appreciate the vernacular secular architecture of the Venetian period. We will also visit the most important example of religious architecture on the island, the Church of the Dormition, with 17th century frescos, and other wall-paintings claimed to be Late-Byzantine.