The Ruins of Vlachata (or Vlahata / Βλαχάτα) on Kefalonia are an amazing site. The village was destroyed by an earth quake in 1953, but many of the facades are still intact. When we visited, we saw two farmers and a huge flock of sheep and a few goats that were seeking refuge in the shadow and climbing around in the ruins.
The location (see the end of this post) is close to Sami, but very few signs lead to it up a rocky mountain road. We only learned of it through a facebook group and through no official maps or travel guides. We strongly recommend a car or scooter to reach the ruins, since the way on foot would take quite a while, especially in the burning summer heat.
Many of the old houses have been abandoned for so long that reasonably sized trees have managed to grow inside them.
The wells still have water in them, but wouldn't necessarily recommend drinking any of that. The different houses each tell their own story with their metal bars, old bath tubs made of stone and tiles and the many facades that reveal the reason the houses collapsed in the earth quake. The walls are made of rocks and stones, glued together by some concrete-ish substance that could not withstand natures force.
In August every year there's a festival that brings the ruins back to life with music and exhibitions.
The wells still had water in them, which is quite amazing after all these years:
There was a lot of different buildings and we haven't even seen all of them.
The sheep were also super amazing ;)
If you want to visit the ruins yourself, here are the links to:
- Google Maps Location
- Open Street Map
- Coordinates:
38.255649, 20.602240