Kourkoumelata & Metaxata in Kefalonia

Kourkoumelata is located a few kilometres east of the tourist resort of Svoronata (near the airport). The village was completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1953, not a single house remained. Everyone in the village were left homeless, rich and poor. A man named Giorgio Vergotis belonged to the wealthy. He early decided to finance the rebuilding of the once so beautiful village. They began to build a cafe so the workers had somewhere to eat. Then they built new streets and new buildings. Electricity was installed. (Previously only Argostoli and Sami had electricity.)

Kourkoumelata is a flourishing village today with attractive houses and nice gardens. The architecture is neoclassical, which the Culture art centre is an excellent example of.

Metaxata, a couple of kilometres north of Kourkoumelata, has remains from ancient times. The Greek archaeologist Professor Marinatos discovered a Mycenaean tomb in the southern part of the village in 1930. Excavations have shown that the village has been inhabited since 1700 BC. Parts of the findings are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Argostoli.

Metaxata is however best known for the reason that Lord Byron lived here for a few months in 1823. A bust of him stands on the square. The Englishman Lord Byron is considered as one of the foremost poets of the English Romanticism. He fought for Greece's freedom against the Turks in the early 1820s. He died in 1824 in Messolonghi on the Greek mainland.

Lord Byron also lived on the neighboring island of Ithaka, where he wrote some famous words that you can read about here.