Fiskardo is located at the northeastern tip of Kefalonia, opposite northern Ithaca and the southern coast of Lefkada. It seems that the area had been inhabited since the Stone Age, since various stone tools dating to 60,000-50,000 BC. have been found in the surrounding area. Its geographical position and its natural harbor make it, from ancient times until recently, the main gateway of communication between northern Kefalonia and the rest of Greece.
The important archaeological findings, mainly from the Roman period, brought to light by the excavations show that in ancient times there was a well-organized small town, with public buildings, baths, residences, cemeteries and the only open-air stone theater that has been found to date. only in Kefalonia, but also in the wider Ionian area. The importance of Fiskardo was preserved even in the early Christian years, as evidenced by the ruins of the large early Christian basilica in the northern part of the settlement. Throughout antiquity, the Byzantine years and until the conquest of Kefalonia by the Franks in the 12th century, the city was called Panormos.
The name Fiskardo began to be used later, from the corruption of the name of the Norman conqueror Robert Wiscardo. Wiscardos, who had conquered southern Italy and later Sicily, driving out the Arabs, began to resent the Byzantine state. In a raid against Kefalonia, however, he died of poisoned water and was buried in the area, which was renamed Portus Guiscardi. Fiskardo is the only settlement in Kefalonia that was saved from the earthquakes of 1953. Since 1975 it has been declared a protected settlement and the buildings have been restored.
In Fiskardo we can detect all the special elements of Kefalonite architecture of small settlements. For this particularity, but also for the unique beauty of its landscape, Fiskardo receives perhaps the most visitors from other parts of Kefalonia, both from land and sea. In Fiskardo there are also many antiquities, such as a Roman cemetery, Roman baths, the only ancient theater in the Ionian Islands, as well as the ruins of an early Christian basilica from the 6th century AD.