Oxeia

The Gulf of Patras (Greek: Πατραϊκός Κόλπος, Patraikós Kólpos) is a branch of the Ionian Sea in Western Greece. On the east, it is closed by the Strait of Rion between capes Rio and Antirrio, near the Rio-Antirrio bridge, that is the entrance of the Gulf of Corinth. On the west, it is bounded by a line from Oxeia island to Cape Araxos. To the north it is bounded by the shore of Aetolia-Acarnania in continental Greece, and to the south by Achaea in the Peloponnese peninsula. It is 40–50 km (25–31 mi) long, 10–20 km (6–12 mi) wide, and has an area of 350–400 km.

The port city of Patras lies to the southeast and is the only major port on the gulf. It serves ferries to Ancona and Brindisi in Italy and to Cephalonia. On the northern shore Missolonghi, also has a port. The old ports of Rio and Antirrio lie at the east end of the Gulf; there is a ferry service between them which complements the traffic over the Rio-Antirio bridge. The gulf is rich in fish and molluscs, including sea snails and clams.

Ithaca (Greek: Ιθάκη) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of the Ionian Islands. The capital of the regional unit is the town of Vathy. The regional unit consists of the islands of Ithaca, Atokos, Arkoudi, Oxeia, Drakonera and several smaller islands, all in the Ionian Sea. It has one municipality, Ithaca. The municipality includes islets other than Ithaca including two near Cape Melissa, Arkoudi and Atokos to the northeast and the numerous islets in the Echinades Island group (the larger ones being Drakonera, Makri, Oxeia, Petalas, and Vromonas) to the east near the mainland of Aetolia-Acarnania. Its largest towns are Vathy (pop. 1,676 in 2021), Perachori (368), Stavros (327), Platreithias (221), and Kioni (131).

In 2011, as part of the Kallikratis plan, the previous prefecture of Cephalonia was divided into the regional units of Cephalonia and Ithaca.

The Echinades (/ɪˈkɪnədiːz/; Greek: αἱ Ἐχινάδες νῆσοι per Herodotus, Thucydides, and Strabo, per Homer Echinae (αἱ Ἐχῖναι νῆσοι, Italian: Curzolari) are a group of islands in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Acarnania, Greece. The archipelago is commonly subdivided into three groups: the Drakoneres in the north, the Modia in the middle and the Ouniades in the south. Administratively, the Echinades form part of two regional units: Ithaca and Cephalonia. Six of the islands, including Oxeia, one of the largest, are owned by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, who purchased them for a reported £7.3 million sterling. The Battle of the Echinades in 1427 and the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 were fought at or near the islands.