Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands appears to have been only two thousand. Jewish presence in Corfu can be traced since the times of the Principality of Taranto. In Cephalonia, there is evidence of Jewish habitation in the old capital, the Castle of St. George, since the early 17th century. When the capital of the island was transferred to Argostoli the Jews resettled there. The social structure of the islands followed that of Venice. The whole population was divided into three classes: the nobles ('), the bourgeoisie (') and the common people ("). Throughout Venice's old possessions, but above all in the Ionian islands, the memory
Ionian Sea Sea, and from Piraeus westward. Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean at , is located in the Ionian Sea, at . The sea is one of the most seismically active areas in the world. The name "Ionian" comes from the Greek language . Its etymology is unknown. Ancient Greek writers, especially Aeschylus, linked it to the myth of Io. In Ancient Greek the adjective "Ionios" () was used as an epithet for the sea because Io swam across it. According to the "Oxford Classical Dictionary", the name may derive from Ionians who sailed to the West. There were