Vathi (Ithaca)

Vathy, often spelled Vathi, is the capital and largest settlement of Ithaca, an Ionian island lying just east of Kefalonia's northeast coast. The regional unit's population was recorded at 2,862 in the 2021 census, making Ithaca the second-smallest of the seven main Ionian Islands after Paxi. The town occupies the southern arm of Molos Bay, a deep inlet enclosed by the two halves of the island, which gives the harbor exceptional shelter from open-sea swell.

Guarding the entrance to the bay is the small islet of Lazaretto, home to a church and a former quarantine gaol. Ithaca's present-day town largely dates from the early 16th century, when Venetian authorities began repopulating the island with tax incentives after it had been left abandoned following Ottoman raids in 1479. Modern Ithaca is widely identified with the Ithaca of Homer's Odyssey, the legendary home of Odysseus, and archaeologists uncovered the remains of an 8th-century BC palace near Agios Athanasios in 2010.

Framed by steep hillsides and lined with pastel-colored houses, Vathy is a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Greece.