!!!Zakynthos Island, Greece

Photos by Ádám Plézer,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

12 June 2019

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Zakynthos Island, Greece

Greece possesses a very famous archipelago — the Ionian Islands, and
each of them had influenced the history and the cultural heritage of the
country. Ithaki is considered to be the homeland of Odysseus; Lefkada is
the place where the Greek female poet Sappho went to her death; Kythira
was one of the main abodes of celestial goddess Aphrodite; Kefalonia,
according to legends, was given to the mythological figure of Cephalus
as a reward; the island of Kerkyra was named in honour of the beautiful
nymph Korkyra who was stolen by Poseidon and brought here; Paxi was
created by Poseidon by striking with his trident.

[{Image src='01_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Zakynthos Island, Greece\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='570'}]

The seventh island of the group is Zakynthos. According to mythology, it
was named after Zakynthos, the grandson of Zeus, who was believed to be
the first inhabitant of the island. During its history, the island was
under the rule of Athens, Sparta, the Venetians, the Kingdom of Naples,
the French, the Russians, the Germans, the British and the Italians. The
major part of the historical monuments could not survive till nowadays —
not only because of the turbulent history but due to several destructive
earthquakes, as well.

[{Image src='02_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Zakynthos Island, Greece\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='575'}]

But still, Zakynthos is the genuine treasure of the archipelago and
entire Greece, too. Back in the epoch of Homer, he mentioned this place
as "the island sinking in emerald forests", and this feature has not
changed. Mighty pines, bright southern vegetation, golden dunes,
peculiar mountain ranges, vineyards, orange groves and small cosy
villages with narrow streets make up a unique local charm of the
legendary island.

[{Image src='03_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Zakynthos Island, Greece\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]

Zakynthos has a lot of grottoes and the most famous of them are the Blue
caves — three stone arches created by the sea waves. They are
inaccessible by land so one can watch them only by the side of the sea.
The other cave system is called the Keri Caves and is a part of the
National Sea Reserve because of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta
caretta) coming here. This species is considered vulnerable and there
are only a few places on the planet where they can come for breeding.

[{Image src='04_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Zakynthos Island, Greece\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='564'}]

The genuine proud of the island is its clean picturesque beaches. One of
them is particularly known and is named Shipwreck Beach, or Navagio Bay.
A smugglers' ship found its final resting place here after it had been
washed ashore by a strong storm.

[{Image src='05_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Zakynthos Island, Greece\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]

There are some man-made landmarks on Zakynthos, as well. It is, for
example, Askos Stone Park — the only park of this kind in Greece
gathering unique animal and plant species from all over the world. In
addition, one can see the remnants of the ancient Venetian fortress and
charming temples surrounded by bright vegetation against the blue sky.

Visit this tranquil and relaxing place together with AirPano!

[{Image src='06_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Zakynthos Island, Greece\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='526'}]

With great pleasure we thank Ádám Plézer, our old friend and a great
photographer for his very beautiful and high quality panoramas of
Zakynthos. This is the fifth virtual tour, which Ádám captured for our
website. We highly recommend you to check another 360° photos by Ádám:
Aldabra, Seychelles and French Polynesia (Part I, Part II).

[{Image src='07_Zakynthos.jpg' caption='Blue caves\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='575'}]

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[21 panoramas of Zakynthos|Geography/Europe/Greece/Pictures/Panoramas_Zakynthos]

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