Enjoy wine tasting in Zante

Some cultural highlights to enjoy with your wine tasting in Zante

Solomos & Kalvos Museum of Zakynthos

The museum dedicated to Dionysios Solomos and Andreas Kalvos (pre-eminent Greek poets of the 19th century) and other distinguished Zakynthians is found in an impressive neoclassic building in Saint Mark’s Square in town. It is part mausoleum and part museum, with monuments containing the remains of both poets on the ground floor and a display of manuscripts and personal belongings of Solomos (most famous for penning Hymn to Liberty, which forms the basis of the Greek national anthem). Elsewhere, the museum has an impressive collection of hagiographies and portraits of local scholars and benefactors as well as folk and period archival material (including furniture and photographs).

Byzantine Museum of Zakynthos

At the back of Solomos Square (at the centre of which stands the statue of Greece’s national poet) is perhaps Zante’s grandest neoclassical building, housing the island’s Byzantine Museum. The museum contains wood-carved icons and 15th-17th century frescoes (through which you can witness the development of post-Byzantine and modern Greek art) and offers a complete picture of the influences of Western art in the Ionian Islands. It is also a memorial to valuable items that survived the devastating earthquake and fire that hit Zante in 1953 and caused widespread destruction and from which today’s Hora emerged. Entering the museum, you are introduced to one of its most important works, the Litany of the Relic of Saint Haralambos by Ioannis Korais, one of the most prominent members of the Heptanese School of Painting.

 

Venetian Castle of Zakynthos

The Venetian Fortress of Zakynthos is found above town where, according to written evidence, the walls of the Ancient Acropolis (Psofis) were located. It is also one of the most picturesque spots, in the Bohali district and with a great view of town. The castle is the product of numerous reconstructions and additions, most notably by the Venetians after the castle’s near-complete destruction by the Turks in 1479. The Venetian administration continued to build and strengthen the castle’s fortifications throughout the 16th century (repairing damage from earthquakes and frequent unsuccessful Ottoman sieges). And the settlements that formed at its base gradually spread into what became the precursor of the present-day town. Most of the walls and fortifications you can see today date from the mid-17th century and are examples of typical fortification architecture of the period. Subsequent additions were also made by the British during their 19th-century Protectorate in Zakynthos when they established their garrison at the castle in 1812. Six churches have been uncovered amongst the remains, of which the most important is the Byzantine Church of San Salvatore.

Church of Agios Dionysios

Zante’s largest church was completed in 1948 and was one of only three main buildings undamaged during the earthquake a few years later, a feat considered by the locals to be one of the island’s most important miracles. Standing just outside the port, it is the centre of the island’s religious life and features a 40m-tall bell tower, marble columns, chandeliers, red velvet seats, a gold iconostasis and numerous impressive icons. However, it is best known for displaying the relics of St Dionysius (Zante’s patron saint and protector) who was born into an aristocratic family in Zakynthos in 1547. He relinquished all wealth and was ordained a priest, rising to be Bishop of Aegina. He famously gave refuge to his brother’s murderer and helped him flee to Kefalonia to protect him from the likely retribution of his family, becoming known as the Saint of Forgiveness. St Dionysius’ feast day is celebrated twice a year in Zakynthos, with three-day festivities on August 23-26 and December 16-19.