Ithaque

Ithaque (French: [i.tak]; French for "Ithaca") was one of three short-lived French departments of Greece.

Department of Ithaque Département d'Ithaque
1797–1798
Flag
The three departments of Greece
Status	Department of the French First Republic
Chef-lieu	Argostoli 38.17°N 20.49°E / 38.17; 20.49
Official languages	French
Common languages	Greek
Government
• Commissioner	Pierre-Pomponne-Amédée Pocholle
Historical era	French Revolutionary Wars
• Treaty of Campo Formio	17 October 1797
• Establishment	7 November 1797
• Fall of Cephalonia	29 October 1798
• Official disbandment	25 March 1802
Preceded by Succeeded by Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands Septinsular Republic Pashalik of Yanina
Today part of	Greece

History

It came into existence after Napoleon's conquest in 1797 of the Republic of Venice, when Venetian Greek possessions such as the Ionian islands fell to the French Directory. It included the islands of Ithaca, Cephalonia and Lefkada, as well as the cities of Preveza, Arta and Vonitsa on the adjacent mainland. Its prefecture was at Argostoli on Cephalonia. The islands were lost to Russia in 1798 and the department was officially disbanded in 1802. Also Preveza, Arta and Vonitsa were captured in 1798 by Ali Pasha, ruler of the Pashalik of Yanina.

During the renewed French control of the area in 1807–1809, the department was not re-established, the constitutional form of the Septinsular Republic being kept.

Administration

Commissioner

The Commissioner of the Directory was the highest state representative in the department.

Term start	Term end	Office holder
18 October 1797	3 March 1799	Pierre-Pomponne-Amédée Pocholle

See also

• Department of Mer-Égée
• Department of Corcyre
• French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)
• Treaty of Campo Formio

References

• Lacroix, Louis (1853). Les Îles de la Grèce [The Islands of Greece] (in French). Firmin Didot. p. 638.
• Pauthier, G. (1863). Les Îles Ioniennes pendant l'occupation française et le protectorat anglais [The Ionian Islands during the French occupation and the British protectorate] (in French). Paris: Benjamin Duprat.