Also worth seeing is the unique phenomenon in the village of Markopoulo in the southeast of the island, where every year on 15 August during the celebrations of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary hundreds of harmless snakes with the shape of a cross on their heads appear by the local church and bell-tower. Many of them make their way to a silver icon of the Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus. The local inhabitants regard these snakes as a sign of good luck and they try to help and protect them. Only on a few occasions did the snakes not appear - during the German occupation of Greece and always before an earthquake.
Often on the island you will find ruins of houses or even whole villages, which were abandoned by the inhabitants after an earthquake and only a few metres away new houses or a new village stands, full of life as if nothing has happened.
Kefalonia is one of the few Ionian islands able to boast rich history and many monuments, unfortunately partially destroyed by several earthquakes. Found instruments which belonged to the island's first inhabitants date back to about 50 000 BC, you can see Mycenaean graves, the remains of ancient buildings etc.

The island was at its most prosperous in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, at a time when there were four independent city–states – Pali, Krani, Sami and Proni. They had their own administration and even their own currencies.
They always joined forces in times of danger (at such times Thukydides called Kefalonia "Tetrapolis"). A visit to the medieval fortresses is also interesting – the 13th century Agios Georgios fortress in Kastro is not far from the capital

It was here that the capital of the island once flourished. Furthermore, the fortified Venetian castle above the village of Assos (northwest of the island) or the St. Gerassimo Monastery – an important site of pilgrimage for believers throughout the whole of Greece. We definitely recommend a visit to the Archeological Museum and the Historical and Folk Museum in Argostoli which will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the history and inspiration for further trips. The local "Korgalenios" library, one of the largest in Greece, is also interesting.

When talking about Kefalonia it is impossible not to mention the splendid beaches, most of which have not as yet become overcrowded (Myrtos, Makris Yalos, Platis Gialos, Katelios, Skala, Kaminia, Lourdata, Agios Thomas, Avithos, Sami, Antisami, Lepeda, Petani, Xi and many more). Here too the Ionian Sea is clean and colourful. On a number of beaches you can see the blue EU flag which signifies especially clean waters (at the beach in Skala, for example) and all of this is surrounded by beautiful subtropical nature of intoxicating colours and smells

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