Lying in the Ionian Sea – to the left of the mainland – Kefalonia is the largest of the 15 inhabited islands in that region. It is roughly 30 miles long and 30 miles wide, although by road, north to south is 50 miles. Mount Ainos is the dominant physical feature at over 1600m high, with the rest of the island being quite mountainous. 

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Pottery and tools from the Neolithic age (5000-2400 bc), have been found on the island, but the most significant phase in the islands history is the Mycenaean period, when the island was ruled by Odysseus (Ulysses). Settlements, cemeteries and tombs dating from this period are dotted all over the island. 

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The Romans attacked Kefalonia in 189 bc, and the Normans in 1085, but in more recent times the massacre, by the Germans of 5000 Italian officers and men during the second world war and the earthquake of 1953 show how the island has suffered.