Molos Gulf
The Molos Gulf ( Greek Κόλπος Μώλου - Kolpos Molou ) is an up to 3 km wide and about 6 km long bay of the Ionian Sea , which cuts deep into the Greek island of Ithaca on its east coast and almost divides it into two parts. Only the 620 m wide isthmus of Aetos connects the north and south of the island.
Three bays branch off on the southeast side of the gulf. At the inner end of the middle and largest is the main town of the island, the picturesquely situated Vahty , whose houses extend in a semicircle around the bay. In the bay of Vahty lies the small, now uninhabited island of Lazareto ( Greek Λαζαρέτο ), on which there was once a quarantine hospital - hence the name of the island - that was later used as a prison. Today there is a pretty little church that was destroyed in the severe earthquake in August 1953 and then rebuilt in 1956. Every year on August 6th, the feast of the transfiguration of the Lord , a pilgrimage mass is celebrated there, to which the believers come by boat and during which an old icon of Christ is carried around.
Another uninhabited island, Skartsoumponisi ( Greek Σκαρτσουμπονησι ), is located in the Gulf in front of the entrance to Vahty Bay.
Coordinates: 38 ° 23 '24 " N , 20 ° 41' 42" E