The situation of the town has already been noticed, on the eastern coast, and at the upper part of a bay, of which it follows the semicircular outline. Its extreme length, as it stretches along the shore, is nearly a mile and a half; but the breadth no where exceeds 300 yards, except in one place, where the houses extend up the ascent of the hill, on which the castle stands. In consequence of the long connection of Zante with Italy, the style of building is chiefly Italian; and the interior of the city every-where shews great neatness; in some points, even a certain degree of magnificence. The streets in general are narrow, the houses in the principal streets (which are built of stone) usually four or five stories in height. Many churches appear in different parts of the city and its environs; a few of them having steeples, the remainder with the elevated facade which is seen in the Catholic churches in Sicily, Spain, and elsewhere. These are almost the only public buildings, as it is but of late years that Zante has been made a seat of government for the other isles. Among the private houses, many are of larger size; but according to the custom of the south of Europe, it rarely happens that the ground floor is inhabited by the family. The aspect of the streets is rendered somewhat dull by the closely-barred lattices, which cover piost of the windows, projecting forwards in such manner as to form a sort of triangular box; through the bars of which a female figure may now and then be seen by those passing below.
The principal street is one which runs parallel to the shore of the bay: this, in many places, is lined with piazzas, and contains a number of shops; most of them designated by Italian signs, but some employing the Romaic or modern Greek language. These shops have little exterior shew, but are tolerably well supplied with the common manufactured and colonial articles, which of late have been obtained chiefly from Malta. The people employed in them display more of activity and civil manner than the indolent shopkeepers who are to be found in the towns of Spain, Portugal, and Sicily; and the purchaser is not here sent away, because he wishes to see an article, which may chance to be on an upper shelf, as often happens in the former countries.
