Lefkada boasts a rich tapestry of history that spans from prehistoric times to the modern era. Its strategic location on the route between Greece and the Italian peninsula, and being both an island and connected to the mainland, has made it a crossroads of civilisations and cultures, each leaving an indelible mark on the island. It is both unique and a conglomeration.
The name “Lefkada” is believed to derive from the Greek word “leukos,” meaning white, referencing the island’s striking white cliffs at Cape Doukato (or Lefkatas). The cliffs are steeped in legend; it’s said that the poetess Sappho leapt from them due to unrequited love. Myths also associate the island with Apollo, suggesting it was once sacred to the god. There are still ruins of a temple on the cape.
Prehistory
Lefkada wasn’t always the clear-cut island we see on today’s maps. For thousands of years, it was a peninsula, fused to the Akarnanian mainland by a shallow, rocky sill. This unique landscape, a “wetland paradise” of lagoons and beach ridges, attracted humans long before recorded history. Stone tools found from the Palaeolithic era suggest that early hunter-gatherers walked here from the mainland, camping along the coast millennia before the first boat was launched.
The Golden Age of Steno (Early Bronze Age)
The real excitement begins around 2900 BC during the Early Bronze Age, right on the Nidri plain. This was the era of the Steno Cemetery, on the edge of Nidri, a site where modern DNA testing and metal analysis is rewriting the history books.
Excavated by the famous German archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld, this cemetery contains 33 circular burial mounds known as the “R-Tumuli” (R for round). These weren’t simple pit graves; they were monumental structures built by a wealthy, powerful elite who wanted to be remembered. Inside, archaeologists found gold jewelry, silver bangles, and sophisticated bronze daggers—treasures that prove these early Lefkadians were far from isolated.
Dörpfeld famously argued that these ruins proved Lefkada was actually Homer’s Ithaca and the home of Odysseus. However modern analysis tells us a story that is arguably even more fascinating. They are the earliest examples of such graves anywhere in Greece. They appear to mark the introduction of bronze made with tin, and are concurrent with similar further north on the Adriatic coast and later in the Aegean.
This era, often described by archaeologists as the “International Spirit,” marked the true dawn of global trade, driven by the insatiable hunger for bronze for tools (and weapons). Producing this alloy was the high-tech industry of the ancient world, a logistical feat akin to modern silicon chip manufacturing. The challenge lay in geology: bronze requires combining copper with tin, two metals that almost never exist in the same place. While copper could be sourced from within the Aegean, tin was a rare, that likely traveled thousands of miles from sources as distant as Central Asia or the fringes of Europe.
The Steno chieftains buried under the large mounds were not just local rulers, but key players in this new vast supply chain, securing these disparate raw materials to forge the daggers found in their tombs—weapons that represented the absolute cutting-edge technology of their time.
As well as tin, they imported gold from the Balkans and silver from the Lavrion mines in Attica to make exquisite jewellery in identical styles to Troy 2, also active in the early bronze trade. This can be seen at the Lefkada Archeology Museum and in the National Archeology Museum in Athens. Look at the bronze too, as it was the true driver of wealth and power. If you wanted to arm your soldiers or farm more efficiently you needed access to bronze.
Mycenaean Times
The graves continued to be added to at Steno, and later around the Nidri plain, over several centuries well into the Middle Bronze age. Later, Lefkada seems to have slipped out of the limelight. During the Late Bronze Age (1600–1100 BC), when neighboring Kefalonia was booming with Mycenaean culture, Lefkada appeared to go quiet. We find only scattered traces from this time, such as a small tholos tomb at Agios Nikitas and some pottery sherds, but no great palaces or fortresses have been found.
Classical Antiquity and Hellenistic Period
In the 7th century BCE, Lefkada was colonized by the Corinthians. They founded a city a few kilometres south of the current Lefkada town, and dug the first man-made canal, likely deepening a pre-existing channel.
Little is known for certain about the city, with sources giving conflicting accounts, even the name. A fortified town named Nirikos was originally “on the mainland”. The Corinthians may have moved this to their new city, or not, it is not entirely clear. The city was later known as Leucas, but perhaps from the start too.
Lefkada played very active roles in major historical events, contributing ships to the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE and participating in the Peloponnesian War alongside Sparta.
During the Hellenistic period, Lefkada joined the Acarnanian League, becoming its capital.
A number of major projects were completed during these times demonstrating considerable wealth and importance of the city:
- A southern mole or pier protecting the city from the south, 600m long and 10m wide. This likely existed from the 5th century BCE.
- The recently discovered 3,000-seat theatre, unique in the Ionian islands. The theatre was probably constructed in the 4th century BCE.
- A 750m long stone bridge connecting the city to the mainland; said to be the longest stone bridge in ancient Greece. It crossed where the isthmus was located when the city was built. Evidence shows the isthmus was swept away about 300 BCE by a tsunami, so we can infer the bridge was built after that.
The remains of the city wall and theatre can be seen on Lefkada Trail day 1.
Roman Period
The Romans arrived in 197 BC, when the consul T. Quinctius Flamininus besieges and takes Leucas, which Livy calls the capital of Acarnania. In describing the place, Livy notes that Leucas was “now an island,” split from the mainland by a shallow, man-cut strait—a neat Roman-era snapshot of the canal and its chronic shoaling.
After Actium (31 BC), Augustus reorganised the whole coast by founding Nicopolis across the gulf. Ancient writers say he gathered and resettled nearby communities into the new city; modern scholarship places Leucas within that orbit, even as the old harbour and channel kept serving traffic (Cicero casually tells a friend to “catch us up at Leucas,” and Pliny explains the Dioryctus (canal), “three stadia” long, often drifting shut). In other words, under Rome the island is firmly integrated into imperial administration and sea-routes, while daily life still revolves around keeping that narrow waterway open.
Byzantine and Medieval Eras
Following the division of the Roman Empire, Lefkada became part of the Byzantine Empire. Its position made it vulnerable to pirate attacks, prompting the Byzantines to fortify the island. In 1204, after the Fourth Crusade, Lefkada came under the Despotate of Epirus. Later, in 1294, it was given as a dowry to Giovanni Orsini, who initiated the construction of the Castle of Agia Mavra, a structure that still stands today .
Ottoman and Venetian Rule
The island’s control oscillated between various powers over the centuries, although the islanders frequently rebelled. The Ottomans ruled the island from 1479, during which they made significant architectural contributions, including the construction of an aqueduct to supply water to the Castle of Agia Maura. In 1502 – 1503 there was a short-lived Venetian occupation. From 1503 to 1684 the island is re-conquered by the Turks. Then in 1684 to 1797 it reverted to Venetian sovereignty with another brief interval of Turkish rule between 1715-1716.
Modern Era and Greek Independence
The fall of Venice in 1797 led to Lefkada’s brief occupation by the French, followed by a Russo-Turkish alliance. The island became part of the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the fall of Constantinople. After another period of French control, the British took over in 1810, incorporating Lefkada into the United States of the Ionian Islands. In 1819 there was an armed rebellion against the British that was brutally supressed. A monument now stands on the road up to Sfakiotes where the main battle took place. Then in 1821 Lefkada acted as a base during the independence wars in mainland Greece. Finally, in 1864, Lefkada was united with the Kingdom of Greece and achieved independence too.
20th Century
In the last century, Lefkada experienced significant challenges and transformations that shaped its modern identity. At the century’s outset, the island’s economy, heavily reliant on viticulture, suffered a series of blows starting with a plant disease known as Peronospora around 1900. The ongoing crisis plunged many residents into poverty, prompting a wave of emigration to countries like America and Canada in search of better opportunities. Continued problems with fixed low pricing led to the 1935 winegrowers march on Lefkada Town where protesters were shot. The shift to dictatorship in Greece lead to further unrest.
During World War II, Lefkada, like the rest of the Ionian Islands, was occupied by Axis forces. Initially under Italian control from 1941 to 1943, the island came under German occupation following Italy’s capitulation. The local population organized a resilient resistance movement against the occupiers. However, the subsequent Greek Civil War brought further horrors, leaving deep scars on the community. More people left the mountain villages, both to escape and through government policy.
The latter part of the century and the return of Greek democracy marked a turning point for Lefkada. Improvements in infrastructure, such as the construction of a floating bridge connecting the island to the mainland, facilitated economic recovery and growth. More recently the development of Preveza-Aktion airport added to this. Tourism has played a large part in renewal, but being based on sailing and beaches, left the interior largely untouched.
Present
The future for Lefkada remains poised between the demands of tourism and the needs of the islanders. The island is now linked into the motorway network of Greece and the Balkans. Along the coasts and overlooking hills many villas are being built, but arguably infrastructure (water, waste management, and roads) lag behind. The interior is being restored more slowly, but perhaps the slow way is better. Hopefully Lefkada will retain its unique charms despite these challenges. We believe hiking and other sustainable tourism will help – both giving more for visitors and preserving Lefkada’s unique history and culture.