The Ionian Islands
The Venetian occupation had some of the greatest influences on the agriculture, language, society, architecture and food of the islands. Each island has a unique charm and character but each has been given a landscape of rich green valleys of olive, pine and cypress; tall village houses, painted in pastel colours of ochre and deep raspberry; terracotta tiled rooftops; balconies with artistically shaped iron railings; bell towers, arches and colonnaded squares.