Copyright@2004 Maria Drogitis-Stoufis

Zakynthos, or Zante, was not incidentally named the 'Fioro Di Levánte' - Flower of the East, by the Venetians who occupied the island for over 4 centuries.  A friendly, outgoing people, we are, with a rich history which goes hand in hand with the Greek Spirit for independence, freedom and hospitality.
 
Zakynthos was inhabited as far back as the Neolithic Times (sometimes I believe we still have a few living 'remnants' on the island) and was spoken of by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey and also referred to, by him, as 'Iliessa' - Forested.  The first inhabitants of the island were brought by Zakynthos, son of Dardanos of Arcadia, King of Troy about 1,600 B.C.  The modern city of Zakynthos was then completely covered by water and the capital was found on Bohali Hill which now overlooks the town.  Under the remains of the Venetian Castle there have been found the remnants of the ancient capital:  the acropolis of Psofida.
 
Mythology delights us with a tale of Zeus the father of the Olympian gods.  Apparently he often bathed in the channel between Zakynthos and Cephalonia.  As he finished his swim he would then stand on Zakynthos, take up hands full of water to wash his face.  Whatever rocks were also picked up he would throw on Cephalonia.  Hence why Zakynthos is hilly but generally flatter and Cephalonia is mountainous.
 
The island had an abundantly rich procession of conquerors and occupations from that point in history and on.  Among them King Arkeisios of Cephalonia and  Ulysses (Odysseus) of Ithaca.  Keeping in mind that Ancient Greece was  a collection of independent city states Zakynthos was then given her independence as a democracy which lasted almost 700 years.
 
Because of the island's strategic geographical position and its rich fertile land conqueror after conqueror followed in attempt to make Zakynthos another jewel in their crowns.  Lacedemonian rule, Macedonian and Roman in ancient times.  Christianity was introduced onto the island in about 34 A.D. by Mary Magdalene herself who docked her ship on the North Eastern side of the island.  The village she rested in still carries her name today - 'Mariés'.  Christianity then bloomed under the Byzantine Empire with Constantine the Great.  Following the decline of the Byzantine Empire the 7 Ionian Islands or 'Iónia Eptánissa'- Corfu (Kerkyra), Stroffádes Islands (Paxi & Antipaxi), Lefkas (Lefkáda), Ithaka (Ithaki), Cephalonia and Zakynthos, all came under Venetian and Frank Rule followed by the Rule of the King of Naples and the Prince of Florence.

 

While the rest of Greece was having an unbelievably fantastic experience of Ottoman Rule, which lasted over 4 centuries, the Ionian Islands remained under Venetian Occupation for about just as long.  These islands differed from the remainder of Greece politically because the Venetians had established quite a nasty aristocratic oligarchic system.  Following French promises of political change and reform in 1797, when the masses revolted and burnt the 'Libro D'Óro - the golden book of the aristocracy' in Saint Marcos Square, nothing really changed and Russian and Turkish Rule followed, even if only for a short time.  The French and English then took the island again between 1809 - 1864.  Zakynthos, not having ever accepted Ottoman principals, played a large part in helping Greece organise and accomplish the Revolution and Independence against the Turks in 1821.
 
The cry of joy which sounded on 21st May, 1864 was so great it could be heard throughout the Mediterranean when the 7 magnificent Ionian Islands were re-united with the Independent Greek Democratic State - Hellas, and the Greek flag was triumphantly and proudly raised once again on Greek soil.  Zakynthos was the home of great Greek poets such as Andréas Kálvos, Hugo Fóskolos, Xenópoulos and of Dionýsios Solomós, the inspired poet who wrote the Greek National Anthem - Hymn to Liberty.    A nest of cultural and artistic minds, from Venetian times, Zakynthos continues this cultural level even today as the blend of Venetian and Greek traditions have given the island and its people a very unique culture.
 
In World War II Zakynthos came under Axis Occupation.  Nazi and Italian between 1941 - 1943.  On the north eastern coast of the island, in the village of Kambi on the Cliff of Skiza, you will find an enormous imposing concrete cross, which can be seen from miles away, which stands there honouring the fallen who were thrown off the cliff during WWII.  In the city of Zakynthos can also be found the only Synagogue on the island.  A special synagogue with a special plaque on the entrance thanking the Zakynthians for their courageous efforts during WWII.  Zakynthos most certainly shares similar experiences as regards WWII Jewish history as unfortunately many many places throughout the world do,  with the exception, however, that all 275 Zakynthian Jewish inhabitants survived the atrocities of the Holocaust.  Zakynthos has been included in the 'Righteous Among Nations' for her efforts and actions.
 
In 1944 having been ordered at gunpoint to present a list with the names of the Jewish inhabitants of the island, Mayor Carrer and Bishop Chrysóstomos did so.  But the list contained only 2 names.  That of the Mayor and of the Bishop.  The Mayor looked directly at the Nazi Kommandant and unwaveringly said 'Here are your Jews.  If you choose to deport them from Zakynthos you must also take me and I will share in their fate.'
 
In the meanwhile the Jews were safely hidden in the mountains.  It was a publicly kept secret among the Zakynthians.  Everyone knew and yet not a single person gave up a single Jew.  Not a sole spoke.  Evidence has been presented that Bishop Chrysóstomos actually communicated with Hitler directly pleading for their lives.  Given the devastating earthquake of August 1953 and the fact that it destroyed the island so completely, proof of the communication with Hitler has been rendered impossible.  However, no-one ever came for the Jews, no boat ever arrived in Zakynthos and all 275 Jews survived the Holocaust.  The island was freed from the cruel choking grasp of the Axis occupation in 1944.
 
The fighting spirit, the humane giving soul of the Zakynthian people was almost completely broken in August 1953.  My mother, only a girl at the time, recalls her memories and her eyes always cloud over.  Speak to any Zakynthian who experienced and survived the 1953 earthquake and they will always look away before they can muster the strength to speak about the tragedy.
 
The morning of Tuesday 11th August 1953 found the locals going about their lives as they normally did and in preparation of the great celebration of the Day of The Virgin Mary August 15th.  Everything was as it should have been until about 10 - 11 a.m. when nature, with one sweep of her hand, brought Zakynthos to her knees.  The first earthquake measured 6.8 on the scale and was so close to the surface it wiped out the entire city.  My heart breaks, my throat tightens and my eyes fill when I remember photographs I have seen of the devastation.  A devastation so complete that only 4 buildings out of 7,000 in Zakynthos City were left standing.  The Church of Saint Dionýsios, the island's Patron Saint, the church of Saint Nicólaos of Molou, the Primary School of Ammos and the National Bank of Greece.
 

Saint Marcos Square 1907

Zakynthos City 1930

Explosions resounded throughout the city as the buildings crumbled.  People still cooked with petrol 'bottles' and the bottles exploded one after the other wrapping the city in a tight suffocating embrace of flames.  The earthquake also severely damaged Cephalonia, north of Zakynthos, where 476 people died.  Unfortunately only a fraction of the people who died and who were yet to die in Zakynthos.  People were burnt alive in fires under the collapsed buildings.  My mother recalls running through the field to warn her brothers who were working in the vineyards at the time.  As she ran she noticed the bell tower of the local church swaying back and forth so violently the bell was ringing on its own.  On her way back the tower was no longer there.  It lay in a long heap of rubble.  People had been crushed alive under it.
 
SOS calls went out one after another.  The island was shaking and the city was entirely in flames.  One after another our cries for help were answered.  Our Jewish friends were the first to answer.  Their response:  'We will never forget World War II'.  Israel sent 4 ships, then the Royal British Navy followed sending 6 ships.  The U.S.A. sent 5 and our Italian neighbours 2.  So complete was the devastation of the island that the United States also sent the Fr. Roosevelt to our aid.  Nothing could prepare them for the site that met them.  In the early 1980's, when I first returned to Zakynthos, I had the good fortune to meet one of those brave men who had served on British ships that were sent to our aid.  His personal account:  'Walking on Zakynthos was like walking on a live bowl of jelly (jello).'
 
Such complete misery and disaster was not enough however.  The human spirit was to be tested even more cruelly.  The next day, Wednesday 12th August, at noon the second earthquake struck.  Even bigger and deadlier than the first at 7.3 on the scale.  Anything that had withstood and had been left standing no longer existed.  70% of the buildings on the entire island were wiped out by the second wave.  Thousands were killed by the crumbling buildings, explosions and fires.  There are so many gruesome details I could tell by my heart breaks at the suffering my people endured.  A people so warm, outgoing and fighters with an enormous sense of duty and right and wrong.  Proudly Greek with such a unique culture. 

 

The 'rind of the Pomegranate' cracked...

 

And it was the blacked out city, so grim,

that, with the antennas of our souls we had to tread,

to find a corner,

to dream....

This fighting Greek Spirit prevailed however.  As it always has, time and again, throughout Greece's rich and abundant history.  Zakynthians pulled together, strong as one, and with the help of our friends in Israel, Britain, U.S.A. and Italy, raised their heads in a defiant 'No!' and would not lie down.  God bless the people of the world.  Help kept coming in from every corner of the globe.  And slowly, with pain and sacrifice, we rebuilt our island, our homes and our lives.  We cannot and will not ever forget the nations and the people that helped us so willingly.  Nor will they, however, ever be able to wipe from their mind's eye the horrific images they encountered when they came to our aid in 1953.
 
Zakynthos today has been completely rebuilt.  Unfortunately so much was lost of the Venetian charm of the city with such complete devastation but, nonetheless, it's a beautiful city.  Built in attempts to keep that Venetian note, with buildings with arches, narrow streets, squares and cafés on almost every corner. 
 
It is the home of the giant loggerhead sea turtle 'Carretta Carretta' and the Mediterranean Seal 'Monachus Monachus'.  Endless beaches greet visitors to the island in the thousands every year.  The island has a population of almost 40,000 and in every village, in every neighbourhood you will always find a friendly Greek 'Yiássou fílle' to greet you my friend.  Still a very spontaneous people we're known, good naturedly, all over Greece as 'crazy Zakynthians'.
 
In the past I have been asked quite a number of times by my foreign friends where my surnames originate from as they apparently don't sound as Greek as Papadopoulos, for instance.  My paternal surname of Drogitis is Celtic dating back before Christian times to Drogheda in Ireland.  From there my ancestors crossed to Scotland then to France and travelled to the Near East.  From the Near East they crossed to the island of Crete and then spread throughout Greece.  My husband's surname Stoufis is Ancient Athenian.  I am most certainly proud to be Greek but also love and respect the good things I have absorbed from other people of other nations .  I am a living part of an island that is a living part of a nation that has extended the hand of friendship to everyone and anyone and that has received that hand of friendship in return.  A pacifist nation who loves its independence and heritage.  The oldest Christian nation on earth.
 
Maria Drogitis - Stoufis,
www.authentic-greek-recipes.com
 

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