The Ionian Sea is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean sea, connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north; it is bounded by Calabria and Sicily in southern Italy to the west, Albania and Apulia to the north, the west coast of Greece and the Ionian Islands to the east, and the Mediterranean to the south. It was named for the Ionians, who sailed to the west to settle cities such as Messana, Naxos, and Catania in Magna Graecia.