Greece - Korina Miller [579]
Getting Around
There’s no bus service between Zakynthos Town and the airport, 6km to the southwest. A taxi costs around €10. Frequent buses go from Zakynthos Town’s KTEL bus station ( 26950 22255) to the developed resorts of Alikes (€1.50), Tsilivi, Argasi, Laganas and Kalamaki (all €1.40). Bus services to other villages are infrequent. Several useful local buses take the upper or lower main roads to Katastari and Volimes. Ask at the bus station.
Car- and moped-hire places are plentiful in the larger resorts. In Zakynthos Town a good option is Motor Club Rentals ( 26950 53095) whose rentals can also be arranged through the Zante Voyage office (see opposite). Also reliable is Europcar ( 26950 41541; Plateia Agiou Louka), which also has a branch at the airport.
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ZAKYNTHOS TOWN
pop 11,200
Zakynthos Town is the capital and port of the island and straggles round an enormous bay. The town was devastated by the 1953 earthquake, but was reconstructed to its former layout with arcaded streets, imposing squares and gracious neoclassical public buildings. A Venetian fortress on a hill provides an attractive backdrop. The town has a strong Greek feel and is patently more of a vibrant commercial centre than a tourist one. It still has some outstanding cultural attractions, however, while the northern area (around Plateia Agiou Markou) has plenty of cafes, bars, and restaurants.
Orientation & Information
Plateia Solomou is at the northern end of the waterfront road of Lombardou, opposite the ferry quay. Plateia Agiou Markou is behind it. The bus station is out on the western bypass. The main thoroughfare is Alexandrou Roma, running several blocks inland, parallel to the waterfront.
Zakynthos Town has no tourist office. The helpful Zante Voyage ( 26950 25360; 12 Ágiou Dionysou) promises ‘travel solutions’ and does a good job of delivering on queries, accommodation, car hire and tours.
There are banks with ATMs along Lombardou and just west of Plateia Solomou. The post office ( 26950 44875; Tertseti 27; 7am-2pm) is one block west of Alexandrou Roma. Home Internet (12 L Ziva; per hr €3; 10am-1am) has reasonable connection.
Sights & Activities
The Byzantine museum ( 26950 42714; Plateia Solomou; admission €3; 8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun) houses two levels of fabulous ecclesiastical art, rescued from churches razed by the earthquake. It’s all displayed in a beautiful setting overlooking the main plaza. Inside, the 16th-century St Andreas Monastery has been artfully ‘replicated’ to house its restored frescoes. The nearby Museum of Solomos ( 26950 28982; Plateia Agiou Markou; admission €4; 9am-2pm) is dedicated to Dionysios Solomos (1798–1857), who was born on Zakynthos and is regarded as the father of modern Greek poetry. His work Hymn to Liberty became the Greek national anthem. The museum houses his memorabilia and archives. Just north of Plateia Agiou Markou is the fascinating Romas Mansion ( 26950 28343; 19 Louka Karrer; admission €5; 10am-2pm Mon-Sat Apr-Oct). Built in the 17th century by an English merchant, the house was British-owned (Gladstone addressed the locals from its balcony) until bought by the Romas family during the 1880s. The house suffered badly in the 1953 earthquake but was partly rebuilt a few years later. Its period furnishings and decor are splendidly intact and the library has an astonishing 10,000 volumes.
The Church of Dionysios, the patron saint of the island, in Zakynthos Town’s south has some amazing gilt work and notable frescoes. Behind the church is an ecclesiastical museum (admission €2; 9am-1pm & 5-9pm). It contains intriguing icons from the Monastery of Strofades, home to Dionysios, plus speech scrolls from the 13th and 14th centuries and a 12th-century book