The Archaeological Museum of Lefkada traces human activity on the Ionian island from the Middle Palaeolithic period to late Roman times. Stone tools, pottery, jewellery, funerary objects and sculpture provide a chronological counterpoint to Lefkada’s modern beach image. The museum is compact enough for a focused visit but broad enough to show repeated settlement, exchange and changing ritual over many millennia.
A significant part of the prehistoric collection comes from excavations conducted in the early twentieth century by German architect and archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld. He searched Lefkada for evidence supporting his proposed identification of the island with Homeric Ithaca. The objects remain important even though his geographical theory is not accepted as a demonstrated fact.
