Kythira, also seen as Kythera, Cythera or Tsirigo, is an island, one of the Ionian Islands. It lies opposite the eastern tip of the Peloponnesos peninsula in Greece. It has an area of 284 square kilometers. The rugged terrain is a result of prevailing winds from the surrounding seas which have shaped its shores into steep rocky cliffs with deep bays. The island's architecture is a blend of traditional, Aegean and Venetian elements.

At the start of the second millennium B.C. it was a Minoan colony and in 424 BC it came under the sway of Athens. Over the centuries it knew a succession of conquerors from the Romans to the Byzantines, Venetians and Turks, and it was frequently looted by Barbary pirates. In 1864, the island was reunited with the Greek state.

Like many of the smaller Aegean islands, Kythira is depopulated. Its present population hovers around 2,500 people, but the modern Greek diaspora has produced perhaps 100,000 Kythiran descendents in Australia alone.

The town is located on the southern part of the island having no ports connected to Vatika. Its port for Viatika is in Agia Pelagia Kythira.

A November 5, 2004 earthquake shook the areas of the island. The Richter scale is around 5.6/5.8 R?.

Municipalities

Kythera and Antikythera

Communities

• Agia Pelagia Kythira
• Antikythira on Antikythira island
• Aroniadika
• Avlemoras
• Btara
• Charchaliana, on Antikythira
• Drimo
• Fratsia
• Friligianika
• Galaniana, on Antikythira
• Gerakaria
• Kalamos
• Kapseli
• Karava
• Karvounades
• Kontolianika
• Kythira
• Logothetianika
• Louriantianika
• Milopotamos
• Potamos
• Viaradika
• Vouno

External link

• A Kythira website: (http://www.Kythera-Family.net) images, data, villages, family names; a cultural archive
• The Kythera Island Project: (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/kip) an archaeological, ecological, and historic research project of the island and its peoples.