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The island’s capital and port, also called Zakynthos, is located on the southeast coast. Although the 1953 earthquakes destroyed public buildings and churches of great architectural value, this is still a beautiful town, with spacious squares, elegant buildings, charming arcades (the most characteristic is the Rouga) and important churches, adorned with works by Zakynthian and Cretan icon painters (Virgin of the Angels, Virgin Phaneromene, St Nicholas of the Mole, all built in the 17th century).

Majoritarea clădirilor din centrul vechi al oraşului Zakynthos, capitala insulei, au fost distruse în timpul cutremurului devastator din 1953, în urma căruia au rămas în picioare foarte puţine clădiri. Noile construcţii ridicate au păstrat arhitectura tradiţionala a insulelor Ioniene şi creează o atmosferă pitorească şi elegantă. Oraşul Zakynthos are note de nostalgie şi romantism şi o panoramă deosebită asupra golfului în care se află.

Bougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina. Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus.They are thorny, woody vines growing anywhere from 1 to 12 metres tall, scrambling over other plants with their spiky thorns. They are evergreen where rainfall occurs all year, or deciduous if there is a dry season. The first European to describe these plants was Philibert Commerçon, a French botanist accompanying French Navy admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville during his voyage of circumnavigation (in fact the first European to observe these plants was Jeanne Baré, Commerçon's lover and assistant whom he sneaked on board (despite regulations) disguised as a man (and who thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe).

The town was destroyed by the earthquake in 1953 but almost all buildings were restored, some of them trying to keep the original outlooks. Only a few churches survived the earthquakes and today they can be visited as museums. On the top of hill above the town, the ruins of an old Venetian castle can be seen, with panoramic view to the town and the sea.

Castelul veneţian, situat pe culmea dealului înverzit, la Bohali, aproximativ 3 km nord de Zakynthos Town, a fost construit în 1480 pe ruinele acropolisului antic al insulei dar la scurt timp după aceea o parte din el a fost distrus de invadatorii turci. Astăzi este o ruină, dar merită să-l vizitaţi, deoarece de aici aveţi o vedere minunată de sus, asupra oraşului şi a Mării Ionice

The ruins of the Venetian Castle crown the top of the Bochali Hill, while directly beneath is the delightful, flower-filled suburb of Zoodochos Pigi, named after the church dedicated to the Life-Bearing Source.

Insula Zakynthos, cunoscută şi sub numele de “Fior di Levante” (“Floarea Orientului”), este cea de-a treia, ca mărime, dintre Insulele Ionice

Panoramic view from Bochali Hill

Solomos square This is the main square in Zante town and is named after the Greek National poet Dionysios Solomos. Born on Zakynthos he found inspiration on the island for his poem “Hymn to Freedom” which forms the lyrics of the Greek national anthem.

Piaţa principală din oraşul Zante poartă numele poetului naţional grec Dionysios Solomos, născut la Zakynthos. El şi-a găsit inspiraţia pe această insulă pentru poemul „Imn pentru libertate", care constituie versurile imnului naţional al Greciei

Solomos square, Statue of Dionysus Solomos the Zakynthos poet

A statue of Solomos at which base it is engraved a line of his poem “Hymn to Freedom” dominates the square, which is a popular place on summer evenings for locals and tourists alike to take a pleasant stroll or stop for coffee in one of the nearby cafes.

O statuie a poetului naţional grec Dionysios Solomos, pe postamentul căreia este un vers din Oda libertăţii, domină piaţa, care este un preferat loc de plimbare în serile de vară pentru localnici şi turişti deopotrivă

Solomos square, Statue of Dionysus Solomos the Zakynthos poet

The square is also surrounded by many important buildings such as: the Church of Saint Nikolas on the Mole, the Byzantine Museum of Zakynthos, The Cultural Centre of Zakynthos and also the cinema.

Piaţa este înconjurată de multe clădiri importante, cum ar fi: Biserica Sf Nicolaie, Muzeul Bizantin, Centrul Cultural sau cinematograful.

Solomos square,

the statue, representing the Glory to which the national poet is addressing his poems, is flanked at both sides by two cannons and the stele that remembers the writings of another poet very much loved by the people of Zakynthos, Kalvos.

Statuia reprezentând Gloria căreia poetul naţional îi adresează poemele sale, este flancată pe ambele părţi de două tunuri şi are alături o stelă, care aminteşte de scrierile unui alt poet foarte iubit de locuitorii din Zakynthos, Andreas Kalvos din Zakynthos.

Solomos square, Statue of Dionysus Solomos the Zakynthos poet and the statue, representing the Glory to which the national poet is addressing his poems

Dionysios Solomos tomb in his mausoleum, Zakynthos City

To remember Ugo Foscolo, famous Italian poet born in Zante in 1778, there is a bust in Solomos square that has been dedicated to him.

It is also possible to see, in the street to him dedicated, the cenotaph of Foscolo with the statue of the “Weeping Angel”.

Museum of Grigorios Xenopoulos

Distrus aproape în totalitate în 1953, de un cutremur cu o magnitudine de 7.3 pe scara Richter, urmat de un incendiu devastator,  Zante Town a fost reconstruit din temelii, piatră cu piatră

Byzantine Museum of Zakynthos  The Museum was built after the earthquake of 1953. It was organised by the Academician Manolis Hadzidakis and was opened to the public in 1960.

Muzeul Bizantin, construit după cutremurul din 1953, are foarte multe exponate interesante, dar în primul rând este cunoscut pentru picturile sale şi exponatele care datează din secolul 12 până în secolul 18.

The Byzantine Museum houses an impressive collection of hagiographies from the Byzantine era, as well as Hellenistic and Byzantine sculptures and statues, and fine icons from many of the churches on the island.

Strada Marina Zante.

Text : InternetPictures: Gabriela Cristescu & InternetCopyright: All t he images belong to their authors

Arangement: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Agnes Baltsa - Xarhakos - Songs my country taught me•Garífallo st'aftí (A carnation behind your ear)•Oniro pedión tis gitoniás (Dream of urban children)