About Lixouri

The city was found, when citizens of Pale/Pali found a new location for a town. The old city was left completely until 16th century. The oldest document which contains the name "Lixouri" was sent in 1534 by local authorities to the Senate of Venice. In the 19th century Lixouri was a popular tourist destination; Richard Strauss visited the town.

Many houses were destroyed in the earthquakes on January 23, 1867 and in August 1953. In the early 1950s the Royal Family of Greece sent their children some times for summer holidays to Lixouri. In the 1990s Lixouri became again a popular tourist destination and some larger hotels were built south of the town near the beaches

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Lixouri is the home town of the poet and satirical author Andreas Laskaratos, who wrote about the life in his home town. Kay Cicellis book "Death of a Town" (1954) begins in Lixouri and describes the time of the earthquake.

In 1956 Petros Katsaitis wrote his play "Iphigenia in Lixourion". Ilka Chase in "The Varied Airs of Spring" (1969) and Georges Haldas in "A la recherche du rameau d'or" (1976) wrote also about the town.

Lixouri has a few schools and few lyceums or middle schools, a few gymnasia or high schools and a college. The public library is located at the Iakovateios building. On the Lixouri campus of the “Technological Education Institute (T.E.I) of the Ionian Islands” two faculties are established: business administration and acustics. Since 2003 Lixouri has also a theatre.

Lixouri has a small port with a ferry line with services to Argostoli (in the season every 1 or 1/2 hour) that is used for vehicles under 5 tons. Other services are in summer to Patras and Killini on the mainland.

The KTEL bus service has a station in Lixouri and offers routes ending in Patras and Athens (via the port of Sami). Some Hotels offer own bus services e.g. from Lixouri to the XI-Beach and Kounopetra. One bus line is driving twice a day through all villages of the peninsula, Paliki but it is not very often used.

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