Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea (Greek Ionio Pelagos Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, Italian Mar Ionio, Albanian Deti Jon ) is a part of the Mediterranean. It is named after the ancient Greek mythical figure of Io, a lover of the god Zeus. In the Ionian basin, the Calypso Deep, which is the deepest part of the Mediterranean with 5,267 meters is located.
Location
The Ionian Sea is connected to the north by the Strait of Otranto to the Adriatic Sea, the Strait of Messina connects it to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea. At the end of the Gulf of Corinth since 1893 the Corinth canal connecting the Aegean Sea with the Ionian Sea. In the south it opens onto the open Mediterranean (Libyan Sea here ).
How far does the Ionian Sea to the north, east and south, is defined differently. Traditionally, it separates the north the line from Capo d' Otranto Cape Gjuhëza from the Adriatic Sea, in the east, a line of Cape Malea to the northern tip of the peninsula Gramvousa on Crete from Myrtoischen Sea, a marginal sea of the Aegean. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the maritime borders of the Ionian Sea in the north of a line from the mouth of Vivar channel to Cape Karagol and west of Corfu, a line of Cape Kefali to Capo Santa Maria di Leuca. In the south, defined as the limit for the Libyan Sea a line of Capo Passero to Cape Tenaro. This eliminates the traditional to the Ionian islands calculated Diapontia islands and Elafonisos, Kythira and Andikythira. Also, the northern part of the island of Corfu is according to this definition in the Adriatic. The Italian Meteorological Service Meteomar defined the 40th degree of north latitude as northern border and is one of the area southeast of Capo Passero also to the Ionian Sea.
The coasts that border on the Ionian Sea are, in the west the coasts of the southern Italian regions of Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily's east coast, east is the west coast of the Balkan peninsula to the south-western Albania and western Greece with the Peloponnese peninsula.
Bays
A larger bay is the Gulf of Taranto; to the smaller count of the Gulf of Patras and the Gulf of Corinth, which are connected by the strait of Rio, which is spanned by the Rio Antirrio bridge since 2004. The Corinthian Gulf stretches far into the Greek mainland. The bays of the southern Peloponnese are the Messinian and the Laconian Gulf.
Islands
The largest group of islands of the sea are the Ionian Islands, which stretch as long island arc of the Diapontia islands to Kythira and Cephalonia Andikythira and with the largest, with Corfu have the populous island of the sea. Among the smaller island groups include the Alkyoniden in the Corinthian Gulf, the Cheradi Islands in the Gulf of Taranto and the Cyclops before the Sicilian coast. The largest single island in the Ionian Sea are Corfu, Kefalonia, Lefkada, Zakynthos and Kythira.
Climate
To the east of the sea there is a typical Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and moderate winters. The Ionian Sea is known among sailors for its calm winds.
The Ionian Sea in ancient times
The geographer of Ancient Greece designated by the term Ionion pelagos ( ancient Greek Ἰόνιον πέλαγος ) or Ionios kolpos ( Ἰόνιος κόλπος ) the Strait of Otranto and the Adriatic Sea. The modern definition of the sea between Sicily and Greece, the Ionian Sea is not from the ancient times.
The Ionian Sea and its islands are venue of large parts of Homer's Odyssey.
Port cities
Important ports of the Ionian Sea are in
- Albania: Saranda, Himara
- Greece: Patras, Corinth, Fiskardo, Igoumenitsa, Corfu, Lefkada, Pylos, Parga, Preveza, Zakynthos
- Italy: Messina, Siracusa, Catania, Taranto, Salve ( Apulia)