Syvota

Syvota, also spelled Sivota and still widely known by its older name Mourtos, is a coastal village in Thesprotia, in the region of Epirus on Greece's northwestern mainland, lying roughly opposite the southern tip of Corfu. Since the 2011 local government reform it has formed a municipal unit within the municipality of Igoumenitsa. The 2021 census recorded 1,089 residents in the village itself and 2,693 across the wider municipal unit, which covers 72.4 square kilometres and also takes in the settlements of Argyrotopos, Faskomilia and Plataria. For anyone arriving by sea it is one of the last properly sheltered stops on the mainland before the Ionian islands proper, and the scatter of low, wooded islets across the mouth of its bay gives the anchorage a character quite unlike the open coast on either side.

A Name That Goes Back to Thucydides

The modern Greek name preserves the ancient one. In antiquity this stretch of coast was called Sybota, and the surrounding waters gave their name to the Battle of Sybota in 433 BC, which Thucydides described as the largest naval engagement fought between Greek city states up to that point. Corinth sent 150 ships against Corcyra, modern Corfu, which fielded 110 of its own supported by ten Athenian triremes. The Corcyraean commanders Miciades, Aisimides and Eurybatus based their fleet on the Sybota islands themselves, while the Corinthian force was led by Xenoclides. Thucydides considered the fighting old-fashioned even by the standards of his own century: hoplites, archers and javelin-throwers fought hand to hand across the decks rather than manoeuvring for the ram. The outcome was indecisive and both sides claimed the victory, but Athens' decision to send ships in support of Corcyra became one of the immediate catalysts of the Peloponnesian War.

The earliest recorded inhabitants of this part of Epirus were the Thesprotians, a Greek tribe whose name the modern regional unit still carries. The area later passed to the Byzantine Empire and then to the Despotate of Epirus, and between roughly the eighth and fifteenth centuries the wider district was known as Vagenetia. Venice held interests along this coast before Ottoman power took hold from the fifteenth century onward, and Ottoman rule lasted until 1913, when Greece took possession of Thesprotia following the defeat of the Ottomans in the First Balkan War. The prefecture in its modern form was formally constituted in 1937.

The Bay, the Islets and the Beaches

What brings boats here today is geography rather than history. Syvota sits inside a bay screened by a handful of small uninhabited islets, among them Mourtemeno, Agios Nikolaos and Mavro Oros, which break the swell and create a series of narrow channels and pale, shallow-bottomed pools between them. The most photographed of these is Pisina, whose name is simply the Greek word for swimming pool: the water over its white sand is so clear that anchored boats appear to hang above the seabed rather than float on it. Pisina can only be reached from the water. Bella Vraka, on the islet of Mourtemeno, is the other well-known stretch of fine white sand, and unusually it can be reached on foot by wading across the shallow bar that separates the islet from the shore. Further sandy and pebbled beaches line the mainland side of the bay, and the calm channels between the islets are used for swimming, snorkelling and kayaking through the season.

The village's fortunes have swung sharply with the century. Census records show 1,066 inhabitants in 1895, a collapse to just 241 by 1951 in the aftermath of occupation and civil war, then a slow recovery through 756 in 1991 and 887 in 2001 to the 1,089 counted in 2021 as tourism took hold.

The Harbour and Getting There

Syvota's harbour is a natural one, set in a deep and narrow inlet that gives good protection from the prevailing winds. Part of the quay is still given over to the local fishing fleet, while the rest handles visiting yachts; the tourist shelter has the capacity to take around 140 boats, with water, electricity and round-the-clock assistance on hand. Mooring is normally stern-to at the quay, and boats also anchor out in the bay itself. Ashore, the village is small but self-sufficient, with supermarkets, bakeries, tavernas and bars along the waterfront, fuelling facilities on the nautical side, and the usual seasonal cluster of boat rental and excursion operators.

By land, Syvota lies about 12 kilometres south of Igoumenitsa, the capital of Thesprotia and the region's main ferry gateway to Italy and to Corfu, which puts both within easy reach. The town has developed steadily into a full resort over the past few decades, and the combination of a protected anchorage, exceptionally clear water and short crossings towards Corfu has made it a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Greece.