Travel to Kythira

F-R. de Chateaubriand, in his Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem et de Jérusalem à Paris, en allant par la Grèce et revenant par l’Égypte, la Barbarie et l'Espagne (1811) [English translation by S. Frederic, 1814: Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, during the years 1806 and 1807], says: " In Greece everything is sweet, everything is smooth, everything is peaceful in nature as in the texts of the ancients. [...] In the homeland of the Muses, nature does not advise derogations at all."

Kythira is the ultimate confirmation of these words.

This unique island, lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese  peninsula and the larger island of Crete, is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian islands, although distant from the main group. Administratively, it belongs to the Islands regional unit, which is part of the Attica region (although at large distance from Attica itself).

For this multiple ( geographic-cultural-admistrative) "claim", I'm sure,  Kythira's beauty is to "blame"...

My intention is not to give another "must-see" guide for the island. A Google search will reveal many. My motive is to share the joy I as a traveler shared with another traveler of his time, Chateaubriand, this great philhellene and man of culture. I was impressed to realize that his description of Greece' s places he had visited (though not Kythira), a mixture of accuracy, deep knowledge and literary sensitivity, gave me, as a Greek, a perfect perception of my own country.

This summer my philological and travel interests - plus the need for aesthetic satisfaction - were absolutely met. Thank you Chateaubriand! Thank you Kythira! Aphrodite definitely was born there. There are proofs.