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{{about|the island|the island's capital|Lefkada (city)|the administrative unit|Lefkada (regional unit)|the icon painting material|Levkas}}
{{Redirect|Leukas|other uses|Leucas (disambiguation)|and|Leucadia (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox Greek Dimos
|name = Lefkada
|name_local = Λευκάδα
|type = municipality
|image_map = 2011 Dimos Lefkadas.png
|periph = [[Ionian Islands (region)|Ionian Islands]]
|periphunit         = [[Lefkada (regional unit)|Lefkada]]
|pop_municipality   = 21900
|area_municipality  = 333.6
|population_as_of = 2021
|elevation_min =
|elevation_max =
|coordinates        = {{coord|38|43|N|20|39|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code =
|area_code =
|licence =
|mayor =
|party              =
|since              =
|website = {{URL|https://lefkada.gov.gr/}}
|image_skyline      = Lefkada-2007.JPG
|caption_skyline    = View of [[Lefkada (city)]]
}}
'''Lefkada''' ({{langx|el|Λευκάδα}}, ''Lefkáda'', {{IPA|el|lefˈkaða|}}), also known as '''Lefkas''' or '''Leukas'''<ref>{{cite book |title= The Ionian Islands and Epirus: A Cultural History|last= Potts|first= Jim  |year= 2010|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford and New York|isbn= 978-0-19-975416-8|page= ix|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=k5GRqCgw1oEC|access-date=16 June 2011}}</ref> ([[Ancient Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', <small>modern pronunciation</small> ''Lefkás'') and '''Leucadia''', is a [[Greece|Greek]] [[list of islands of Greece|island]] in the [[Ionian Sea]] on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long [[causeway]] and [[Pontoon bridge|floating bridge]]. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is [[Lefkada (city)|Lefkada]].<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL8-SrPzKAEPjjtIl9LGdkF53UIxsx942CdyqxSQYNuqAGCF0IfB9HI6hq6ZkZV96FIukI0UzcPsWCK0LpLhpa7rhiWB4R5ntTnoWw7U8E1Amg.|title=ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref> It is situated on the northern part of the island, approximately 25 minutes by automobile away from [[Aktion National Airport]]. The island is part of the [[Lefkada (regional unit)|regional unit of Lefkada]].

==Geography==
[[File:LefkadaWW.jpg|thumb|left|The island of Lefkada in a NASA World Wind satellite picture.]]

Lefkada measures {{convert|35|km|0|abbr=off}} from north to south, and {{convert|15|km|0|abbr=off}} from east to west. The area of the island is about {{convert|302|km2|0|abbr=out}}, the area of the municipality (including the islands [[Kalamos (island)|Kalamos]], [[Kastos]] and several smaller islets) is {{convert|333.58|km2|2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="stat01">{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-21 }}</ref> Its highest point is the mountain [[Stavrota]], at {{convert|1158|m|0|abbr=off}} [[above mean sea level|above sea level]],<ref name="oreiv">{{Cite web |url=http://www.oreivatein.com/oreivatein/page/mountains/e_mounts1_3.htm |title=Oreivatein.com |access-date=2012-02-21 |archive-date=2012-12-09 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209044140/http://www.oreivatein.com/oreivatein/page/mountains/e_mounts1_3.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> situated in the middle of the island. The east coast section of the island has small [[resorts]] of [[Lygia, Lefkada|Lygia]], [[Nikiana]] and [[Perigiali]], all north of [[Nidri]], the largest resort on the island. It is set in a sheltered location with views across to [[Skorpios]] (formerly owned by [[Aristotle Onassis]]), [[Meganisi]] and other small islands, as well as the Greek mainland. The main coastal road from Lefkada to Vasiliki runs through the village, although a bypass has now been completed which skirts the village to the west. There are regular car ferries to [[Kefalonia]], [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]] and [[Meganisi|Meganissi]].

{{convert|20|km|0|abbr=off}} south of Nidri is the resort of [[Vasiliki (Lefkada), Greece|Vasiliki]], a [[windsurfing]] center. There are ferries to Kefalonia and Ithaca from Vasiliki. South of Vasiliki is Cape Lefkada, where [[Cephalus]] and the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] female poet [[Sappho]] allegedly leapt to their death from the 30&nbsp;m high cliffs on two separate occasions.<ref>[[Strabo]] 10.2.20</ref>

The famous beach of [[Porto Katsiki]] is located on Lefkada's west coast. Lefkada was attached to mainland Greece (see below about Homer's Ithaca being Lefkada). The [[Corinth]]ians dug a trench in the 7th century BC on its isthmus.<ref>[[Strabo]] 10.452</ref>

The southernmost tip of the island is called '''Cape Dukato''', a name sometimes applied to the whole island.

===Climate===
[[File:Lefkada dromos eisodos.jpg|thumb|Sunrise in front of the road entrance of the city]]
[[File:20100726 Kalamitsi Beach Ionian Sea Lefkada island Greece.jpg|thumb|Megali Petra beach]]

The island has a typical [[Mediterranean climate]] with hot summers and cool winters, or ''Csa'' according to the [[Köppen climate classification]] system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lefkada climate: weather by month, temperature, rain - Climates to Travel |url=https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/greece/lefkada |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=www.climatestotravel.com}}</ref>

==History==
===Antiquity===
The island is linked to [[Odysseus]], the hero of [[Homer]]'s Odyssey, who ruled it and neighboring islands from Ithaca. The [[Germany|German]] archaeologist [[Wilhelm Dörpfeld]], having performed excavations at various locations of Lefkada, was able to obtain funding to do work on the island by suggesting that Lefkada was [[Homer's Ithaca]], and the [[palace]] of Odysseus was located west of [[Nydri]] on the south coast of Lefkada. There have been suggestions by local tourism officials that several passages in the [[Odyssey]] point to Lefkada as a possible model for Homeric Ithaca. The most notable of these passages pushed by the local tourism board describes Ithaca as an island reachable on foot, which was the case for Lefkada since it is not really an island, being connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway. According to [[Strabo]], the coast of [[Acarnania]] was called Leucas in earlier times. 

The ancient sources call Leucas a Corinthian colony, perhaps with a [[Corcyra]]en participation.<ref>Colony and mother city in ancient Greece By A. J. Graham Page 132 {{ISBN|0-7190-0059-9}}</ref> There was a cult to Apollo Leucatos at the south western cape of the island, where  white cliffs stand that may have given its name to the island. This was a site where criminals were thrown (hence "Leucadian trial") in order to judge their guilt or innocence from their injury at the fall.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=William |date=1854 |title=“Leucas” entry from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Grography |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=leucas-geo02 |website=Tufts}}</ref> Furthermore, according to legend, it was the jumping spot of [[Sappho]] when she committed suicide out of frustrated love and also that of [[Artemisia I of Caria|Artemisia of Caria]], and therefore may have some connection to [[Aphrodite]]. 

During the [[Peloponnesian War]], Leucas joined the [[Peloponnesian League]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bagnall |first=Nigel |title=The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta and the Struggle for Greece |date=25 July 2006 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0-312-34215-2 |page=17}}</ref> Later, the town was conquered during the 3rd century BC by [[Agathocles of Syracuse]] and was annexed to the Roman Republic in the next century, during their conquest of Greece. The famous naval [[battle of Actium]] was fought not far away, to the north east.  

In [[Matter of Britain|medieval British legend]], [[Brutus of Troy]] found Lefkada abandoned after pirate attacks, and after offering a sacrifice to a statue of [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] in the temple of a ruined city there, was granted a vision telling him to go to [[Great Britain|Britain]] and found an empire.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Anthony|last=Adolph|title=Brutus of Troy and the Quest for the Ancestry of the British|isbn=978-1473849181|date=2015|publisher=Pen and Sword }}</ref>

[[File:Expedición de Bruto a Aquitania (recortado).jpg|thumb|[[Brutus of Troy|Brutus]] in the temple on Lefkada (upper left) in a {{circa|1475}} tapestry now in the [[Cathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza]]]]

===Middle Ages===
====Byzantine period====
No information survives on the island during the early [[Byzantine Greece|Byzantine period]],{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}} when the town possibly disappeared in the turmoils of the [[Migration Period]].{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}} Nevertheless, unlike the Epirote mainland, where widespread [[Slavs|Slavic]] settlement is attested from the late 6th until mid-8th centuries,{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=51–52}} only a handful of traces attest to a Slavic settlement in Lefkada.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}}

Information continues to be sparse during the middle Byzantine period. The island is attested as a bishopric at the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)|Fourth Council of Constantinople]] in 879, and was raised to archbishopric under Emperor [[Leo VI the Wise]] ({{reign|886|912}}).{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}} Administratively, it was likely part of the [[Theme of Cephallenia]].{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}} [[Liutprand of Cremona]] visited the island during his 968 embassy to Constantinople. In 1099 it was raided by [[Dagobert of Pisa]], and it is mentioned in [[al-Idrisi]]'s geography in the mid-12th century.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}}

====Epirote and Latin rule====
{{further|Latinokratia}}
The [[Republic of Venice]] was accorded privileges in the island in 1198 and possession of the island in the [[Partitio Romaniae|treaty of partition]] of the Byzantine Empire in 1204.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}} Lefkada apparently became part of the [[Despotate of Epirus]], although this is not explicitly attested until 1259.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}}

The name '''Santa Maura''' is first attested for the island and its capital in 1292, when Genoese ships in Byzantine employ raided it.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=195, 203}} In 1295, the [[Despot of Epirus]] [[Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas]] ceded the island to his son-in-law, the [[Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos]] [[John I Orsini]].{{sfn|Brooks|2013|p=102}} Orsini soon after received permission from [[Charles II of Naples]] to build a castle there,{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=203}} which became the core of the [[Castle of Santa Maura]].{{sfn|Brooks|2013|p=102}}

[[File:Leuchate Sta Maura - Buondelmonti Cristoforo - 1420.jpg|thumb|Map of Lefkada by [[Cristoforo Buondelmonti]], {{circa|1420}}]]
The Orsini family lost Lefkada in 1331 to [[Walter VI of Brienne]], who in 1343 ceded the ''castrum Sancte Maure'' and the island to the Venetian [[Graziano Giorgio]].{{sfn|Brooks|2013|p=287}}{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=195, 203}} In 1360/62, [[Leonardo I Tocco]] seized Lefkada, assuming the title of duke (''dux Lucate''), whence the island is sometimes also referred to as "the Duchy" (''el Ducato'' and variants thereof) in Western sources of the period.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}}{{sfn|Brooks|2013|pp=102, 287}} The local Orthodox archbishop was evicted.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}} After [[Albanians|Albanian]] clans took over much of Epirus in the 1350s and 1360s,{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=348–351}}{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=70–71}} they launched frequent attacks on the island between 1375 and 1395.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}} [[Carlo I Tocco]] ({{reign|1376|1429}}) made the island the capital of his domains, which apart from the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos also included much of the Epirote mainland, and enlarged the fortified town.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}}

In 1413, the [[Prince of Achaea]], [[Centurione II Zaccaria]], launched an attack on Lefkada and its castle with Albanian mercenaries, but were defeated with help from the [[Republic of Venice]].{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=195, 203}} The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] captured most of Epirus{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}} and raided the island, leading the Tocci to consider ceding it to the Venetians.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=195}}

Faced with expanding Ottoman power in the mainland, the Tocci became vassals of the Ottoman sultans.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}} The last of them, [[Leonardo III Tocco]] ({{reign|1448|1479}}) was helped to maintain his rule through his marriage to [[Milica Branković]], a niece of [[Mara Branković|the highly esteemed stepmother]] of the Ottoman sultan [[Mehmed the Conqueror]] ({{reign|1444|1446|1451|1481}}); but when she died, he married the Aragonese Francesca Marzano. The couple quickly became hated by their Greek subjects due to their oppressive taxation.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|pp=725–726}} Lefkada, along with Cephalonia and Zakynthos, was captured by the Ottoman admiral [[Gedik Ahmed Pasha]] in 1479. Part of the population was deported to [[Istanbul|Constantinople]] as part of Mehmed's policy to repopulate his capital.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=726}}

===Ottoman period===
[[File:Manesson-Travaux-de-Mars 9927.tif|thumb|The castle and walled town of Santa Maura ("Ste. Maure"), by [[Manesson Mallet]], 1696]]
The Ottomans called the island '''Levkada''' ({{langx|ota|لفكادة}} or {{lang|ota|لفقادة}}), with the name Aya Mavra ({{lang|ota|ايامورة}}, from Greek {{lang|el|Αγία Μαύρα}}, meaning "Santa Maura") reserved for the castle and capital of the island, where almost the entire population lived.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}} Under Ottoman rule, it was initially a ''[[kaza]]'' of the ''[[sanjak]]'' of [[Karli-Eli]], which from {{circa|1550}} belonged to the [[Eyalet of the Archipelago]], subordinated to the chief admiral of the [[Ottoman navy]], the ''[[Kapudan Pasha]]''.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}} The ''kaza'' of Lefkada comprised not only the island, but also part of the adjoining mainland.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=726}} The Venetians briefly occupied the island in 1502–03 during the [[Second Ottoman–Venetian War]], but returned it to the Ottomans in the final peace settlement.{{sfn|Brooks|2013|p=102}}{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=196}} With about a thousand inhabitants in {{circa|1530}}, the town of Lefkada was both the largest settlement and the main military installation in the ''sanjak'', with 111 soldiers and 9 artillerymen.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=726}} As with the rest of the ''sanjak'', at the time the entire population appears to have been Christian, and only the fortress garrisons and administrators were Muslim; thus the only mosques were located inside the fortresses.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=726}}

A lack of water led to the construction of a {{convert|3|km|mi}} long [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] from the island's interior to the town in 1564, during the reign of Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] ({{reign|1520|1566}}). Bringing water to the walled town as well as to the much larger—some 700–800 houses—open town that had grown around it was one of the most important works of Ottoman civil architecture in the western Balkans. On top of the aqueduct was a footpath that provided the only access to the island other than by the sea.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|pp=725, 726, 737}} In the aftermath of the Ottoman defeat at the [[Battle of Lepanto]], the castle was unsuccessfully besieged by the forces of the [[Holy League (1571)|Holy League]]. As a result, it was completely rebuilt and enlarged by the ''Kapudan Pasha'' [[Kılıç Ali Pasha]] in 1572–1574 into a hexagonal fortress with large towers as artillery platforms.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|pp=725, 726}}

In the 17th century, Lefkada became a separate ''sanjak'' within the Eyalet of the Archipelago, although according to [[Evliya Çelebi]] it belonged briefly to the [[Morea Eyalet]] in the 15th and 17th centuries.{{sfn|Birken|1976|pp=61, 103}} Evliya visited the island in 1670/71 and left a long and accurate description of the fortifications as well as of the town, where Islam had apparently made considerable progress. According to Evliya, the walled town boasted five [[Friday mosque]]s, including an Imperial Mosque (''Hünkar Camii''), which was a converted church, a minor mosque (''masjid''), a ''[[madrasa]]'', two schools (''[[Maktab (education)|maktab]]''), a bath (''[[Turkish bath|hammam]]''), and five public fountains (''çeshme''). The walled town with its 200 stone houses was now occupied exclusively by Muslims, while the two suburbs (''varosh'') to the east and west were built of wood and had a mixed population. The western one was far larger, with 300 houses to 40–50 in the eastern one, and had a wooden mosque and ''masjid'', a ''[[Khanqah|tekke]]'', a ''maktab'', two [[caravanserai]]s, as well as seven small churches. Evliya remarks that this suburb had many wineshops, which were popular with both the inhabitants and the garrison.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|pp=726–727}} Another suburb (the ''Varosh-i Lefqada'') was located on the island itself, with some 700 houses, all of them inhabited by Christian Greeks, who had 20 churches.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}} Evliya's account is corroborated by [[Jacob Spon]] and [[George Wheler (travel writer)|George Wheler]]'s account that the town had about 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants, mostly Greeks or Turks.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}}

According to the descriptions of travellers like Evliya, Lefkada was an urban centre of some importance, boasting "two of the largest works of Ottoman civil and military architecture in the Western Balkans", namely the aqueduct built by Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] ({{reign|1520|1566}}) and the [[Castle of Santa Maura]], which was completely rebuilt by [[Kılıç Ali Pasha]] in the reign of Sultan [[Selim II]] ({{reign|1566|1574}}).{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=725}}

===Venetian period===
[[File:20140412 lefkada050.JPG|thumb|Church of the Theotokos, Lefkada city.]]
[[File:20140412 lefkada040.JPG|thumb|Church of the Pantokrator, Lefkada city.]]

The island was conquered by the Venetians under [[Francesco Morosini]] following a [[Siege of Santa Maura (1684)|sixteen-day siege]] in 1684, during the opening stages of the [[Morean War]].{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=196}}{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}} Morosini evacuated the walled town and demolished both it and the two suburbs directly outside the walls, turning them into the castle's ''[[glacis]]''. Only the island suburb remained, known as "Amaxiki" until the 19th century. With the evicted inhabitants settling there, this became the main town of the island, the predecessor of the modern city of Lefkada. The Venetians also removed all buildings associated with Islam.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}}

The Venetians modernized the castle in the 1710s, removing the last traces of the medieval castle and adding [[outworks]] towards the eastern, mainland side.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}} During the [[Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War]], following the [[Ottoman reconquest of the Morea]] in 1715, the Venetians initially abandoned Lefkada to focus their resources on the defence of [[Corfu]]. The castle was abandoned and partly demolished, but after the [[Siege of Corfu (1716)|Siege of Corfu]] ended in a Venetian victory, the island was reoccupied and the fortifications restored.{{sfn|Brooks|2013|p=103}}

Venetian rule over the island was uninterrupted, apart from a rebellion of the local Greeks in 1769, until the [[Fall of the Republic of Venice]] in 1797.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}}

===Post-Venetian period until the union with Greece===
Following the end of the Republic of Venice in 1797, Lefkada, like the other [[Venetian Ionian Islands]], was [[Republican French rule in the Ionian Islands|occupied by the French]], who held it until a Russo-Turkish expedition under [[Fyodor Ushakov]] captured it in 1799.{{sfn|Brooks|2013|pp=103–104}} In 1800, the [[Septinsular Republic]] was established, a Russian protectorate under ''de jure'' Ottoman suzerainty. The Russian Empire employed troops recruited from fugitive [[klepht]]s and [[armatoloi]] in the Ionian Islands, particularly of Lefkada. Among these were captains Anastasios Tselios and Apostolos Levendakis, the latter of whom in 1802 offered to raise a company of 60 fighters on Lefkada to support the Russians.<ref name="Pappas1982">{{cite book|author=Nicholas Charles Pappas|title=Greeks in Russian military service in the late eighteen and early nineteenth centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMtEAQAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Stanford University|quote=These troops were recruited from among the fugitive klephtes and armatoloi residing on the Ionian Islands, particularly Lefkas. Among these men were the Captains Anastasios Tselios and Apostolos Levendakls. Tselios was a member of a prominent family of armatoloi from Xeromeros in southwestern Greece. As early as 1802, he had offered his services to the Septinsular Republic, proposing to raise and command a company of sixty men on Lefkas. ... In April 1806, this kapitanios and his men were among a number of refugee armatoloi on Lefkas. including the kapitanaioi Skylodemos, Stratos, Giannes Kolovelones, Konstantes Poules, Giorgakes — — 72 Varnakiotes and others. By June ...}}</ref> [[Ali Pasha of Ioannina]], who coveted possession of the Ionian Islands, besieged Lefkada in 1807. For this purpose he erected two forts on the mainland shore, the [[Tekke Castle]] and the [[St. George's Castle, Preveza|St. George's Castle]], but his attacks on the Castle of Santa Maura were successfully repulsed by the local Russian and Greek forces of the Septinsular Republic.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}}{{sfn|Moschonas|1975|p=399}} [[Imperial French rule in the Ionian Islands|French rule was restored]] in 1807 after the [[Treaty of Tilsit]], but in 1810, the British [[Siege of Santa Maura (1810)|captured the island]].{{sfn|Brooks|2013|p=104}}{{sfn|Moschonas|1975|pp=399–400}} In 1815, the United Kingdom set up the [[United States of the Ionian Islands]] as a protectorate, including Lefkada.

Much of the town, including the Ottoman aqueduct, was destroyed in an earthquake in 1825. After this, the town was rebuilt in wood to prevent similar damage.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|pp=727–728}} In 1864 the islands were [[Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece|ceded to Greece]].{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}} The island then numbered about 24,000 inhabitants.{{sfn|Kiel|1986|p=727}}

==Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center==
The first museum in Europe for [[Lafcadio Hearn]], who was born on the island and is named after it, was inaugurated in Lefkada on July 4, 2014, as Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center. It contains early editions, rare books and Japanese collectibles. The visitors, through photos, texts and exhibits, can wander in the significant events of Lafcadio Hearn's life, and also in the civilizations of Europe, America and Japan of late 19th and early 20th centuries through the open mind of his lectures, writings and tales. The municipalities of Kumamoto, Matsue, Shinjuku, Yaizu, as well as Toyama University, the Koizumi family, and other people from Japan and Greece contributed to the establishment of the Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center.
[[File:Ionian sea islands, pic6.JPG|thumb|200px|View of Nydri]]

==Municipality==
The present municipality of Lefkada was formed in the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 7 former municipalities, which became municipal units:<ref name=Kallikratis/>
*[[Apollonioi]]
*[[Ellomenos]]
*[[Kalamos (island)|Kalamos]]
*[[Karya, Lefkada|Karya]]
*[[Kastos]]
*[[Lefkada (city)]]
*[[Sfakiotes]]

The municipality covers the island of Lefkada and the smaller islands of  [[Kastos]] and [[Kalamos (island)|Kalamos]].

==Education==
Regional Development department, part of [[Ionian University|Ionian university]] based in Lefkada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rd.ionio.gr/location|title=Τοποθεσια – Τμήμα Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης}}</ref>

== Sport ==
The Island of Lefkada and the town of [[Vasiliki, Lefkada|Vasiliki]] are known as a hotspot for extreme sport lovers. The island has become a favorite spot for windsurfers. Another sport is the 4X4 events and opportunities for offroad activities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-27 |title=VISIT VASILIKI |url=https://visitvasiliki.com/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=VISIT VASILIKI |language=en}}</ref> 

==Transport==
*[[Greek National Road 42]]
*[[Aktion National Airport|Aktion (Preveza) Airport]]
<!-- PLEASE RESPECT CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER -->

==Notable people==
[[File:Valaoritis Aggelos 6177.JPG|thumb|180px|Bust of [[Aristotelis Valaoritis]]]]
(in chronological order)

*[[Marcos Christino Fioravanti]] (1775–1862), co-founder of [[Santo Antônio da Patrulha]] in Brazil 
*[[Frederick Temple]] (1821–1902), Archbishop of Canterbury
*[[Aristotelis Valaoritis]] (1824–1879), poet and politician
*[[Lafcadio Hearn]] (1850–1904), Greco-Irish orientalist and writer, born on and named after the island
*[[Petros Soumilas]] (1861–1955), Greek Army officer who reached the rank of lieutenant general.
*[[Dimitrios Golemis]] (1874–1941), athlete
*[[Angelos Sikelianos|Aggelos Sikelianos]] (1884–1951), poet and playwright
*[[Tzavalas Karousos]] or Karoussos (1904–1969), actor
*[[Aristotle Onassis]], (1906–1975), Greek shipping tycoon
*[[Panos G. Rontoyannis|Panos Rontoyannis]] (1911–1996), philologist and historian
*[[Theodoros Stamos]] (1922–1997), Greek-American painter
*[[Apostolos Kaklamanis]] (1936-), politician
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170510113110/http://www.elections.gr/koinovoulio/koinovoulio2000/VlassopoulosNEvagellos.html Evaggelos Vlassopoulos] (1935–2002), politician
*[[:el:Γεώργιος Κτενάς|George Ktenas]] (1938–2004), politician
*[[Agnes Baltsa]] (1944-), opera singer
*[[Maria Vamvakinou]] (1959- ), Australian politician
*[[Spyros Vrettos]] (1960-), poet
*[[Spiros Marangos]] (1967-), footballer
*[[Marina Lambrini Diamandis]] (1985-), singer and songwriter

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:Lefkas Grèce 0023.JPG|Traditional street of [[Lefkada (city)]]
File:20140412 lefkada184.JPG|Panagia ton Xenon, Lefkada city
File:Porto Katsiki 6108.JPG|[[Porto Katsiki]] beach
File:Kalamos Town 2.jpg|Kalamos village
File:Vraka Lefkas Greek Costume.JPG|Traditional dress 
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Egremni]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches}}
* {{cite book | last = Brooks | first = Allan | title = Castles of Northwest Greece: From the Early Byzantine Period to the Eve of the First World War | publisher = Aetos Press | year = 2013 | isbn = 978-0-9575846-0-0 | url = {{Google Books|Xc5HAQAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes}}}}
* {{The Late Medieval Balkans}}
* {{EI2 | volume = 5 | last = Kiel | first = M. | title = Levkas | pages = 725–728 | doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_4663}}
* {{cite book | last=Moschonas | first=Nikolaos | chapter = Τα Ιόνια Νησιά κατά την περίοδο 1797-1821 |trans-chapter=The Ionian Islands in the period 1797-1821 | pages = 382–402 | script-title=el:Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους, Τόμος ΙΑ′: Ο ελληνισμός υπό ξένη κυριαρχία, 1669–1821 | trans-title=History of the Greek Nation, Volume XI: Hellenism under foreign rule, 1669–1821 | location = Athens | year = 1975 | publisher = Ekdotiki Athinon | language = el }}
* {{Tabula Imperii Byzantini | volume = 3}}
* {{Cite book|last=Zečević|first=Nada|title=The Tocco of the Greek Realm: Nobility, Power and Migration in Latin Greece (14th-15th centuries)|year=2014|location=Belgrade|publisher=Makart|isbn=9788691944100|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcqfAQAACAAJ}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://lefkadaslowguide.gr/en/ Lefkada Travel Guide] 
*[https://lefkadaports.gr/ Municipal Port Fund of Lefkada Official page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125213635/https://lefkadaports.gr/ |date=2022-11-25 }}
*[http://www.lefkada.gr Lefkada Prefecture]
*[http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/greek_islands/ionian_islands/lefkada The official page of Greek National Tourism Organization]
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Santa Maura |volume= XXI | page=297 |short=1 }}
* [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/doerpfeld1927bd2/0152/image?sid=fcf216d51bfa1ce778d308c6ebc0fcb8 Map of Homer's Ithaka] (Lefkada), [[Same (ancient Greece)|Same]] and Asteris according to Wilhelm Dörpfeld. Digital library of [[Heidelberg University]].
* [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/doerpfeld1927bd2/0077/image?sid=fcf216d51bfa1ce778d308c6ebc0fcb8 Photo of Dörpfeld's excavation site] at Lefkada near [[Nydri]], early in the 20th century. Digital library of [[Heidelberg University]].
*[https://lefkasculturalcenter.gr/en/lafcadio-hearn-history-center/ Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center]
*[https://www.lefkadaofficial.com/enjoy-the-island/ Lefkada Official App]

{{Ionian Islands}}
{{Kallikratis-Ionian Islands}}
{{Lefkada div}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lefkada| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Ionian Islands (region)]]
[[Category:Islands of Greece]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the Ionian Islands (region)]]
[[Category:Corinthian colonies]]
[[Category:Septinsular Republic]]
[[Category:Landforms of Lefkada (regional unit)]]
[[Category:United States of the Ionian Islands]]
[[Category:Populated places in Lefkada (regional unit)]]