Cephalonia
Kefallinia, also known as Kefalonia or Cefalonia (Κεφαλλήνια, ancient Greek), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece.
Its capital of the prefecture is Argostoli. The population has almost reached 45,000. It used to be the fastest growing part of Greece with a growth rate of 35% to 40% in 10 years. 30,000 in the 1990s. The size is around 800 km ² and has the present population density of 55 km² before, it stood at 30 to 35 km². Argostoli is home to one-third of the island's habitants. Lixouri is the second major city. Both makes about nearly two-thirds of the prefecture's population.
It is covered by dense vegetation and includes plenty of natural beauty, including beaches, many of them inaccessible from land, and spectacular caves. Mirtos, the most famous of these beaches, is a major tourist attraction, and has ranked fifth worldwide for its scenic view.
Its tallest mountain is Mount Ainos or Ainos with an elevation of 1628m (almost the same elevation as Denver, Colorado in North America). To the west-northwest is the Paliki mountains where Lixouri is located.
There are five harbours and ports in the prefecture, four main harbours on the island, Sami or Same, port to Patras, Poros carries ferry routes to Kyllini, Argostoli is the largest carrying local boats around, and ferries to Zante and rarely Lixouri. Lixouri is a harbour that does not ferry to its nearest city, Argostoli, because there is a road connects Argostoli for 30 km that runs around the bay. Directly, it runs around 4 km into the sea. Vathy has Ithaca's only harbour.
Kefalonia became famous in the year 2000 with the film "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", based on the book by English author Louis de Berniere. The love story, that is the theme of the film, occurs among a series of events said to be happening during the Second World War and is based on historic facts.
Next to Kefallinia is Ithaca, a well known island worldwide thanks to the Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer. Odysseus was said by Homer to be the leader of the "Kefallinians", which is often offered as an explanation on why modern habitants of those two islands are so keen on travelling to other countries.
Kefalonia is only mildly preferred by tourists and should be considered as a resort place with serenity, appropriate for relaxation and enjoying nature.