School of Homer

The "School of Homer" is a Mycenaean-era archaeological site on the hill of Pelikata above Stavros, in the north of the island. Excavations since the 1990s have uncovered the foundations of a substantial Bronze Age complex, with cisterns, walls, and a flight of rock-cut steps. Whether this is genuinely the palace of Odysseus is a matter of academic dispute; what is not in dispute is that this was an important site in the Late Bronze Age, when the Odyssey is set.

The remains are modest to look at — foundations and a stair, not standing walls — but the setting is spectacular, with views down to Polis Bay and across to Kefalonia. The Stavros Archaeological Museum nearby displays finds from the dig.

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In 2010, a team led by archaeologist Thanasis Papadopoulos announced finds at this site that they argued matched the description of Odysseus's palace — a three-storey Mycenaean structure with a carved stone staircase. The claim is disputed but lends the place a certain charge.

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