The island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology, and is marked by numerous battles and conquests. Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota which was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War, and, according to Thucydides, the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time. Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of fifth century BC Greece, along with Athens and Corinth.[5] Ruins of ancient Greek temples and other archaeological sites of the ancient city of Korkyra are found in Palaiopolis. Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across the island are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans. Two of these castles enclose its capital, which is the only city in Greece to be surrounded in such a way. As a result, Corfu's capital has been officially declared a Kastropolis ("castle city") by the Greek government.[6] From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island, as part of the Republic of Venice since 1204, successfully repulsed the Ottomans during several sieges, was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe.[7] The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic. In November 1815 Corfu came under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1864 was ceded to modern Greece by the British government along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands under the Treaty of London. Corfu is the origin of the Ionian Academy, the first university of the modern Greek state, and the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù, the first Greek theatre and opera house of modern Greece. The first governor of independent Greece after the revolution of 1821, founder of the modern Greek state, and distinguished European diplomat Ioannis Kapodistrias was born in Corfu.
The Greek name, Kerkyra or Korkyra, is related to two powerful water deities: Poseidon, god of the sea, and Asopos, an important Greek mainland river.[14] According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra, daughter of Asopos and river nymph Metope, and abducted her.[14] Poseidon brought Korkyra to the hitherto unnamed island and, in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra,[14] which gradually evolved to Kerkyra (Doric).[6] They had a child, Phaiax, after whom the inhabitants of the island were named Phaiakes (in Latin, Phaeaciani). Corfu is known as the island of the Phaeacians.
The name Corfù is an Italian version of the Byzantine Κορυφώ (Koryphō), meaning "city of the peaks". It derives from the Byzantine Greek Κορυφαί (Koryphai) (crests or peaks), denoting the two peaks of Palaio Frourio.[6]
Geography
Map of Corfu. Its satellite islands of Ereikoussa, Othoni and Mathraki counterclockwise NW, WNW and W respectively (with respect to the northern part of the island at the top of the map) and Paxos and Antipaxos on the SE side, are visible.
The northeastern edge of Corfu lies off the coast of Sarandë, Albania, separated by straits varying in width from 3 to 23 km (2 to 14 miles). The southeast side of the island lies off the coast of Thesprotia, Greece. Its shape resembles a sickle (drepanē, δρεπάνι), to which it was compared by the ancients: the concave side, with the city and harbour of Corfu in the centre,[15] lies toward the Albanian coast. With the island's area estimated at 592.9 km2 (228.9 sq mi; 146,500 acres),[16] it runs approximately 64 km (40 mi) long, with greatest breadth at around 32 km (20 mi).
Two high and well-defined ranges divide the island into three districts, of which the northern is mountainous, the central undulating, and the southern low-lying. The more important of the two ranges, that of Pantokrator (Παντοκράτωρ – the Almighty) stretches east and west from Cape Falacro to Cape Psaromita, and attains its greatest elevation in the summit of the same name.[15]
The second range culminates in the mountain of Santi Jeca, or Santa Decca, as it is called by misinterpretation of the Greek designation Άγιοι Δέκα (Hagioi Deka), or the Ten Saints. The whole island, composed as it is of various limestone formations, presents great diversity of surface.[15] Beaches are found in Agios Gordis, the Korission Lagoon, Agios Georgios, Marathia, Kassiopi, Sidari, Palaiokastritsa and many others. Corfu is located near the Kefalonia geological fault formation; earthquakes have occurred.
Corfu's coastline spans 217 km (135 mi) including capes; its highest point is Mount Pantokrator (911 m (2,989 ft)); and the second Stravoskiadi, at 849 m (2,785 ft). The full extent of capes and promontories take in Agia Aikaterini, Drastis to the north, Lefkimmi and Asprokavos to the southeast, and Megachoro to the south. Two islands are also to be found at a middle point of Gouvia and Corfu Bay, which extends across much of the eastern shore of the island; are known as Lazareto and Ptychia (or Vido).
Diapontia Islands
Othoni Island
The Diapontia Islands (Greek: Διαπόντια νησιά) are located in the northwest of Corfu, (6 km away) and about 40 km (25 mi) from the Italian coast. The main islands are Othonoi, Ereikoussa and Mathraki.
Lazaretto Island, formerly known as St. Dimitrios, is located 1.1 km (0.68 mi) off the coast northeast of the city Corfu. Lazaretto has an area of 7.1 ha (17.5 acres) and comes under the administration of the Greek National Tourist Organization. During Venetian rule in the early 16th century, a monastery was built on the islet and a leprosarium established later in the century, after which the island was named. In 1798, during the French occupation, the islet was occupied by the Russo-Turkish fleet, who ran it as a military hospital. During the period of British rule, in 1814, the leprosarium was once again opened after renovations, and following Enosis in 1864 the leprosarium again saw occasional use.[17] During World War II, the Axis Occupation of Greece established a Nazi concentration camp there for the prisoners of the Greek Resistance movement,[18] while remaining today are the two-storeyed building that served as the Headquarters of the Italian army, a small church, and the wall against which those condemned to death were shot.[17][18]
Climate
Corfu has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) featuring hot, dry summers and mild to cool, very rainy winters.[19] The highest temperature ever recorded is 42.8 °C (109.0 °F) on 24 July 2007 while the lowest is −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) on 17 January 2012.
Homer identifies six plants that adorn the garden of Alcinous: wild olive, pear, pomegranate, apple, fig and grape vine. Of these the apple and the pear are very inferior in Corfu; the others thrive, together with all the fruit trees known in Southern Europe, with addition of the kumquat, loquat and prickly pear and, in some spots, the banana. Olive trees dominate and their combination with cypress trees compose the typical Corfiot landscape. When undisturbed by cultivation,[15] the high maquis is the major natural vegetation type followed by deciduous oak forests and to a lesser extent, pine forests. In total more than 1800 plant species have been recorded.[24]
Fauna
Corfu is a continental island; its fauna is similar to that of the opposite mainland.
There are 75 (plus) known species of Corfiot butterfly. Of particular interest are the Southern Swallowtail, Southern Festoon, Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper, Lulworth Skipper, Eastern Orange Tip, Krueper’s Small White, Eastern Baton Blue and the Tree Grayling, many of which are of near threatened status. Before the turn of the century, not much had been published about the butterfly fauna of Corfu, and there were only a few short and obscure scientific articles. Recent interest grew when a Facebook discussion page (now called Corfu Butterfly Conservation) was created on 27th April 2014. Since that time, a group of responsible butterfly enthusiasts has grown (731 members at the time of writing) who share their passion for the butterflies and moths found on the island. It is through this work that more is being discovered about the distribution and abundance of butterflies across the island.[38]
Corfu Butterfly Conservation
Corfu Butterfly Conservation (CBC) was launched in April 2019. The group is composed of concerned residents, island visitors and scientists from throughout Europe.[39] Their goals are to produce robust scientific data that can be used to influence policy and protect habitat for the benefit of Corfu’s butterflies and the wider natural environment, as well as to stimulate public interest in butterfly conservation.
CBC launched its website (www.corfubutterflyconservation.org, funded by the Royal Entomological Society’s Goodman Award) on the 1 January 2021 to coincide with the launch of the Corfu Butterfly Survey.[40] The website describes the 75 species of butterflies that have been confirmed by members of CBC from the island. It outlines the value of butterflies as indicators of the island’s biodiversity status and encourages enthusiasts to record their sightings on this website, as participants of the survey.[38] On the 16 December 2021, CBC became a UK registered community interest company (No.13813164) and so its identity changed from being a project to that of an organisation.[38]
The earliest reference to Corfu is the Mycenaean Greek word ko-ro-ku-ra-i-jo ("man from Kerkyra") written in Linear B syllabic script, c. 1300 BC.[41] According to Strabo, Corcyra (Κόρκυρα) was the Homeric island of Scheria (Σχερία),[42] and its earliest inhabitants were the Phaeacians (Φαίακες). The island has indeed been identified by some scholars with Scheria, the island of the Phaeacians described in Homer's Odyssey, though conclusive and irrefutable evidence for this theory have not been found. Apollonius of Rhodes depicts the island in Argonautica as a place visited by the Argonauts. Jason and Medea were married there in 'Medea's Cave'. Apollonius named the island Drepane, Greek for "sickle", since it was thought to hide the sickle that Cronus used to castrate his father Uranus, from whose blood the Phaeacians were descended. In an alternative account, Apollonius identifies the buried sickle as a scythe belonging to Demeter, yet the name Drepane probably originated in the sickle-shape of the island. According to a scholiast, commenting on the passage in Argonautica, the island was first of all called Macris after the nurse of Dionysus who fled there from Euboea.[43]
Some scholars have asserted that Corfu is Taphos, the island of the Lelegian Taphians.[44]
According to Strabo (VI, 269), the Liburnians were masters of the island Korkyra (Corfu) for a time, until the 8th century BCE. They reportedly were expelled from Korkyra by the Corinthians.[45][46][47]
At a date no doubt previous to the foundation of Syracuse, Corfu was peopled by settlers from Corinth, probably 730 BC, but it appears to have previously received a stream of emigrants from Eretria. The commercially advantageous location of Corcyra on the way between Greece and Magna Grecia, and its fertile lowlands in the southern section of the island favoured its growth and, influenced perhaps by the presence of non-Corinthian settlers, its people, quite contrary to the usual practice of Corinthian colonies, maintained an independent and even hostile attitude towards the mother city.[15]
This opposition came to a head in the early part of the 7th century BC, when their fleets fought the first naval battle recorded in Greek history: 665 BC according to Thucydides. These hostilities ended in the conquest of Corcyra by the Corinthian tyrant Periander (Περίανδρος) who induced his new subjects to join in the colonization of Apollonia and Anactorium. The island soon regained its independence and thenceforth devoted itself to a purely mercantile policy. During the Persian invasion of 480 BC it manned the second largest Greek fleet (60 ships), but took no active part in the war. In 435 BC it was again involved in a quarrel with Corinth over the control of Epidamnus, and sought assistance from Athens (see Battle of Sybota).[15]
This new alliance was one of the chief immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War, in which Corcyra was of considerable use to the Athenians as a naval station, but did not render much assistance with its fleet. The island was nearly lost to Athens by two attempts of the oligarchic faction to effect a revolution; on each occasion the popular party ultimately won the day and took a most bloody revenge on its opponents (427 BC and 425 BC).[48][15]
During the Sicilian campaigns of Athens Corcyra served as a supply base; after a third abortive rising of the oligarchs in 410 BC it practically withdrew from the war. In 375 BC it again joined the Athenian alliance; two years later it was besieged by a Spartan force, but in spite of the devastation of its flourishing countryside held out successfully until relieved. In the Hellenistic period Corcyra was exposed to attack from several sides.[15]
In 303 BC, after a vain siege by Cassander,[15] the island was occupied for a short time by the Lacedaemonian general Cleonymus of Sparta, then regained its independence and later it was attacked and conquered by Agathocles of Syracuse. He offered Corfu as dowry to his daughter Lanassa on her marriage to Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. The island then became a member of the Epirotic alliance. It was then perhaps that the settlement of Cassiope was founded to serve as a base for the King of Epirus' expeditions. The island remained in the Epirotic alliance until 255 BC when it became independent after the death of Alexander, last King of Epirus. In 229 BC, following the naval battle of Paxos, it was captured by the Illyrians, but was speedily delivered by a Roman fleet and remained a Roman naval station until at least 189 BC. At this time, it was governed by a prefect (presumably nominated by the consuls), but in 148 BC it was attached to the province of Macedonia.[49] In 31 BC, it served Octavian (Augustus) as a base against Mark Antony.[15]
Roman and medieval history
Pontikonisi island is home of the monastery of Pantokrator (Μοναστήρι του Παντοκράτορος). The Greek word Ποντικονήσι (pontikonissi) means “mouse island”; the white staircase of the monastery resembles from afar a mouse tail.
Christianity arrived in Corfu early; two disciples of Saint Paul, Jason of Tarsus and Sosipatrus of Patras, taught the Gospel, and according to tradition the city of Corfu and much of the island converted to Christianity. Their relics were housed in the old cathedral (at the site of the current Old Fortress, before a dedicated church was built for them c. 100 AD.[50]
During Late Antiquity (late Roman/early Byzantine period), the island formed part of the province of Epirus Vetus in the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.[51] In 551, during the Gothic War, the Ostrogoths raided the island and destroyed the city of Corfu, then known as Chersoupolis (Χερσούπολις, "city on the promontory") because of its location between Garitsa Bay and Kanoni. Over the next centuries, the main settlement was moved north, to the location of the current Old Fortress, where the rocky hills offered natural protection against raids. From the twin peaks of the new site, the medieval city received its new name, Korypho (Κορυφώ, "city on the peak") or Korphoi (Κορφοί, "peaks"), whence the modern Western name of "Corfu". The previous site of the city, now known as Palaiopolis (Παλαιόπολις, "old city"), continued to be inhabited for several centuries, however.[52]
From at least the early 9th century, Corfu and the other Ionian Islands formed part of the theme of Cephallenia.[53] This naval theme provided a defensive bulwark for Byzantium against western threats, but also played a major role in securing the sealanes to the Byzantine possessions in southern Italy. Indeed, traveller reports from throughout the middle Byzantine period (8th–12th centuries) make clear that Corfu was "an important staging post for travels between East and West".[54] Indeed, the medieval name of Corfu first appears (Latinized Coryphus) in Liutprand of Cremona's account of his 968 embassy to the Byzantine court.[55] Corfu enjoyed relative peace and safety during the Macedonian dynasty (867–1054), which allowed the construction of a monumental church to Saints Iason and Sosipatrus outside the city wall of Palaiopolis.[55] Nevertheless, in 933, the city, led by its archbishop, Arsenios, withstood a Saracen attack; Arsenios was canonized and became the city's patron saint.[56]
The peace and prosperity of the Macedonian era ended with another Saracen attack in 1033, but more importantly with the emergence of a new threat: following the Norman conquest of Southern Italy, the ambitious Norman monarchs set their sights on expansion in the East. Three times on the space of a century Corfu was the first target and served as a staging area for the Norman invasions of Byzantium. The first Norman occupation from 1081 to 1084 was ended only after the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos secured the aid of the Republic of Venice, in exchange to wide-ranging commercial concessions to Venetian merchants. The admiral George of Antioch captured Corfu again in 1147, and it took a ten-month siege for Manuel I Komnenos to recover the island in 1149. In the third invasion in 1185, the island was again captured by William II of Sicily, but was soon regained by Isaac II Angelos.[57]
During the break-up of the Byzantine Empire the island was occupied by Genoese privateers (1197–1207), who in turn were expelled by the Venetians. In 1214 it passed to the Greek despots of Epirus,[15] who gave it to Manfred of Sicily as a dowry in 1259.[58] At his death in 1267 it passed with his other possessions to the house of Anjou. Under the latter, the island suffered considerably from the inroads of various adventurers.[15]
The island was one of the first places in Europe in which Romani people ("Gypsies") settled. In about 1360, a fiefdom, called the Feudum Acinganorum was established, with mainly Romani serfs.[59][60] From 1386, Corfu was controlled by the Republic of Venice, which in 1401 acquired formal sovereignty and retained it until the French Occupation of 1797.[15] Corfu became central for the propagation of the activities of the Filiki Etaireia among the Greek Diaspora and philhellenic societies across Europe, through nobles like Ioannis Kapodistrias and Dionysios Romas.
The northern side of the Venetian Old Fortress at night. The Great Cross can be clearly seen as described in the Palaio Frourio section of this article.
From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe.[7] The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic. Corfu repulsed several Ottoman sieges, before passing under Britishrule following the Napoleonic Wars.[61][62][63][64][65][66][67]
Kerkyra, the "Door of Venice" during the centuries when the whole Adriatic was the Gulf of Venice,[68] remained in Venetian hands from 1401 until 1797, though several times assailed by Ottoman naval and land forces[15] and subjected to four notable sieges in 1537, 1571, 1573 and 1716, in which the strength of the city defences asserted itself time after time. The effectiveness of the powerful Venetian fortifications as well as the strength of some old Byzantine castles in Angelokastro, Kassiopi Castle, Gardiki and elsewhere, were additional factors that enabled Corfu to remain free. Will Durant claimed that Corfu owed to the Republic of Venice the fact that it was one of the few parts of Greece never conquered by the Ottomans.[69]
A series of attempts by the Ottomans to take the island began in 1431 when Ottoman troops under Ali Bey landed on the island. The Ottomans tried to take the city castle and raided the surrounding area, but were repulsed.[70]
The Siege of Corfu (1537) was the first great siege by the Ottomans. It began on 29 August 1537, with 25,000 soldiers from the Ottoman fleet landing and pillaging the island and taking 20,000 hostages as slaves. Despite the destruction wrought on the countryside, the city castle held out in spite of repeated attempts over twelve days to take it, and the Turks left the island unsuccessfully because of poor logistics and an epidemic that decimated their ranks.[70]
Thirty-four years later, in August 1571, Ottoman forces returned for yet another attempt to conquer the island. Having seized Parga and Mourtos from the Greek mainland side, they attacked the Paxi islands. Subsequently they landed on Corfu's southeast shore and established a large beachhead all the way from the southern tip of the island at Lefkimi to Ipsos in Corfu's eastern midsection. These areas were thoroughly pillaged as in past encounters. Nevertheless the city castle stood firm again, a testament to Corfiot-Venetian steadfastness as well as the Venetian castle-building engineering skills. Another castle, Angelokastro, situated on the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa (Greek: Παλαιοκαστρίτσα meaning Old Castle place) and located on particularly steep and rocky terrain, also held out. The castle is a tourist attraction today.[70]
These defeats in the east and the west of the island proved decisive, and the Ottomans abandoned their siege and departed. Two years later they repeated their attempt. Coming from Africa after a victorious campaign, they landed in Corfu and wreaked havoc on rural areas. Following a counterattack by the Venetian-Corfiot forces, the Ottoman troops were forced to leave the city sailing away.[70]
Outer perimeter of the Gardiki Castle which provided defence to the southern part of the island
The second great siege of Corfu took place in 1716, during the last Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18). After the conquest of the Peloponnese in 1715, the Ottoman fleet appeared in Buthrotum opposite Corfu. On 8 July the Ottoman fleet, carrying 33,000 men, sailed to Corfu from Buthrotum and established a beachhead at Ipsos.[70] The same day, the Venetian fleet encountered the Ottoman fleet off the Corfu Channel and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle. On 19 July, after taking a few outlying forts, the Ottoman army reached the hills around the city of Corfu and laid siege to it. Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting, the Ottomans were unable to breach the defences and were forced to raise the siege after 22 days. The 5,000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries, together with 3,000 Corfiotes, under the leadership of Count von der Schulenburg who commanded the defence of the island, were victorious once more.[6][70][71] The success was owed in no small part to the extensive fortifications, where Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds. The repulse of the Ottomans was widely celebrated in Europe, Corfu being seen as a bastion of Western civilization against the Ottoman tide.[61][72] Today, however, this role is often relatively unknown or ignored, but was celebrated in Juditha triumphans by the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi.
Venetian policies and legacy
Corfu's urban architecture differs from that of other major Greek cities, because of Corfu's unique history. From 1386 to 1797, Corfu was ruled by Venetian nobility; much of the city reflects this era when the island belonged to the Republic of Venice, with multi-storeyed buildings on narrow lanes. The Old Town of Corfu has clear Venetian influence and is amongst the World Heritage Sites in Greece. It was in the Venetian period that the city saw the erection of the first opera house (Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù) in Greece.
Many Venetian-speaking families settled in Corfu during these centuries; they were called Corfiot Italians, and until the second half of the 20th century the Veneto da mar was spoken in Corfu. During this time, the local Greek language assimilated a large number of Italian and Venetian words, many of which are still common today. The internationally renowned Venetian-born British photographer Felice Beato (1832–1909) is thought to have spent much of his childhood in Corfu. Also many Italian Jews took refuge in Corfu during the Venetian centuries and spoke their own language (Italkian), a mixture of Hebrew-Italian in a Venetian or Apulian dialect with some Greek words.
Venetians promoted the Catholic Church during their four centuries of rule in Corfu. Today the majority of Corfiots are Greek Orthodox, but the small Catholic minority (5%), living harmoniously with the Orthodox community, owes its faith to these origins. These contemporary Catholics are mostly families who came from Malta, but also from Italy, and today the Catholic community numbers about 4,000 (2⁄3 of Maltese descent), who live almost exclusively in the Venetian "Citadel" of Corfu City. Like other native Greek Catholics, they celebrate Easter using the same calendar as the Greek Orthodox church. The Cathedral of St. James and St. Christopher in Corfu City is the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia.
The island served also as a refuge for Greek scholars, and in 1732, it became the home of the first academy of modern Greece.[15] A Corfu cleric and scholar, Nikephoros Theotokis (1732–1800) became renowned in Greece as an educator, and in Russia (where he moved later in his life) as an Orthodox archbishop.
The island's culture absorbed Venetian influence in a variety of ways; like other Ionian islands (see Cuisine of the Ionian islands), its local cuisine took in such elements and today's Corfiot cooking includes Venetian delicacies and recipes: "Pastitsada", deriving from the Venetian "Pastissada" (Italian: "Spezzatino") and the most popular dish in the island of Corfu, "Sofrito", "Strapatsada", "Savoro", "Bianco" and "Mandolato".
A Russian gun from the Russian-Ottoman occupation of Corfu in the beginning of the 19th century, Paleokastritsa
By the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio, Corfu was ceded to the French, who occupied it for two years as the département of Corcyre, until they were expelled by a joint Russian-Ottoman squadron under Admiral Ushakov. For a short time it became the capital of a self-governing federation of the Heptanesos ("Seven Islands"), under Ottoman suzerainty; in 1807 after the Treaty of Tilsit its faction-ridden government was again replaced by a French administration under governor François-Xavier Donzelot, and in 1809 it was besieged in vain by a British Royal Navy fleet, which had captured all the other Ionian islands.[15]
Following a plebiscite the Second National Assembly of the Greeks at Athens elected a new king, Prince Wilhelm (William) of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. On 29 March 1864, the United Kingdom, Greece, France and Russia signed the Treaty of London, pledging the transfer of sovereignty to Greece upon ratification. Thus, on 21 May, by proclamation of the Lord High Commissioner, the Ionian Islands were united with Greece.[70]
British Lord High Commissioners during the protectorate
The Maitland Monument in Corfu town, built to commemorate Sir Thomas Maitland
This is a list of the British High Commissioners of the Ionian Islands; (as well as the transitional Greek Governor, appointed a year prior to Enosis (Union) with Greece in 1864).[73]
During the First World War, the island served as a refuge for the Serbian army that retreated there on Allied forces' ships from a homeland occupied by the Austrians, Germans and Bulgarians. During their stay, a large portion of Serbian soldiers died from exhaustion, food shortage, and various diseases. Most of their remains were buried at sea near the island of Vido, a small island at the mouth of Corfu port, and a monument of thanks to the Greek nation has been erected at Vido by the grateful Serbs; consequently, the waters around Vido Island are known by the Serbian people as the Blue Tomb (in Serbian, Плава Гробница, Plava Grobnica), after a poem written by Milutin Bojić following World War I.[74]
Interwar period
In 1923, after a diplomatic dispute between Italy and Greece, Italian forces bombarded and occupied Corfu. The League of Nations settled this Corfu incident in Italy's favour.
During the Greco-Italian War, Corfu was occupied by the Italians in April 1941. They administered Corfu and the Ionian islands as a separate entity from Greece until September 1943, following Benito Mussolini's orders of fulfilling Italian Irredentism and making Corfu part of the Kingdom of Italy. During the Second World War the 10th infantry regiment of the Greek Army, composed mainly of Corfiot soldiers,[75] was assigned the task of defending Corfu. The regiment took part in Operation Latzides, which was a heroic but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stem the forces of the Italians.[75] After Greece's surrender to the Axis, the island came under Italian control and occupation.[75] On the first Sunday of November 1941, high school students from all over Corfu took part in student protests against the occupying Italian army; these student protests of the island were among the first acts of overt popular Resistance in occupied Greece and a rare phenomenon even by wartime European standards.[75] Subsequently, a considerable number of Corfiots escaped to Epirus in mainland Greece and enlisted as partisans in ELAS and EDES, in order to join the resistance movement gathering in the mainland.[75]
German bombing and occupation
Italian soldiers taken prisoner by the Germans in Corfu, September 1943
Upon the fall of Italian fascism in 1943, the Nazis moved to take control of the island. On 14 September 1943, Corfu was bombarded by the Luftwaffe. The Nazi bombing raids destroyed most of the city's buildings, including churches, homes, and whole city blocks, especially in the Jewish quarter Evraiki. Other losses included the city's market (αγορά) and the hotel Bella Venezia. The worst losses were the historic buildings of the Ionian Academy (Ιόνιος Ακαδημία), the Municipal Theatre (which in 1901 had replaced the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù), the Municipal Library, and the Ionian Parliament.[75]
Following the Wehrmacht invasion, the Italians capitulated, and the island came under German occupation. Corfu's mayor at the time, Kollas, was a known collaborator and various anti-semitic laws were passed by the Nazi occupation government of the island.[76] In early June 1944, while the Allies bombed Corfu as a diversion from the Normandy landings, the Gestapo rounded up the Jews of the city, temporarily incarcerated them at the old fort (Palaio Frourio), and on 10 June sent them to Auschwitz II, where most of them were murdered by gas.[76][77] Approximately two hundred out of a total population of 1,900 escaped.[78] Many among the local population at the time provided shelter and refuge to those 200 Jews who managed to escape the Nazis.[79] In Evraiki (Εβραική, meaning Jewish quarter), there is currently a synagogue with about 65 members, who still speak their original Italkian language.[78]
Liberation
Douglas' column at the suburb of Garitsa. Built to commemorate Howard Douglas.
After World War II and the Greek Civil War, the island was rebuilt under the general programme of reconstruction of the Greek Government (Ανοικοδόμησις) and many elements of its classical architecture remain. Its economy grew but a portion of its inhabitants left the island for other parts of the country; buildings erected during Italian occupation – such as schools or government buildings – were put back to civic use. In 1956 Maria Desylla Kapodistria, relative of first Governor (head of state) of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias, was elected mayor of Corfu and became the first female mayor in Greece.[87] The Corfu General Hospital was also constructed;[88] electricity was introduced to the villages in the 1950s, the radio substation of Hellenic Radio in Corfu was inaugurated in March 1957,[89] and television was introduced in the 1960s, with internet connections in 1995.[90] The Ionian University was established in 1984.
Architecture
The harbour of Corfu in 1890
Venetian influence
Old Corfu town as seen from the sea
Corfu's urban architecture influence derives from Venice, reflecting the fact that from 1386 to 1797 the island was ruled by the Venetians. The architecture of the Old Town of Corfu along with its narrow streets, the kantounia, has clear Venetian influence and is amongst the World Heritage Sites in Greece. Other notable Venetian-era buildings include the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù, the first Greek opera house, and Liston, a multi-level commercial and residential building, with an arched colonnade at ground level, lined with cafes and restaurants on its east side, and restaurants and other stores on its west side. Liston's main thoroughfare is often the site of parades and other mass gatherings. Liston is on the edge of the Spianada (Esplanade), the vast main plaza and park which incorporates a cricket field, a pavilion, and Maitland's monument. Also notable are the Old and New forts, the recently restored Palace of Sts. Michael and George, formerly the residence of the British colonial governor and the seat of the Ionian Senate, and the summer Palace of Mon Repos, formerly the property of the Greek royal family and birthplace of the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The Park of Mon Repos is built on part of the Palaiopolis of Kerkyra, where excavations were conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service in collaboration with academics and universities internationally. Examples of the finds can be found in the Museum of the Palace of Mon Repos and at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu.[91]
Statue of Achilleús Thnēskōn (Achilles Dying) in the gardens of the Achilleion
In 1889, Empress Elizabeth of Austria built a summer palace in the region of Gastouri (Γαστούρι) to the south of the city, naming it Achílleion (Αχίλλειον) after the Homeric hero Achilles. The structure is filled with paintings and statues of Achilles, both in the main hall and in the gardens, depicting scenes of the Trojan War. The palace, with the neoclassical Greek statues that surround it, is a monument to platonicromanticism as well as escapism. It served as a refuge for the grieving Empress following the tragic death of her only son and Crown Prince, Rudolf.
Achilles as guardian of the palace in the gardens of the Achilleion. He gazes northward, toward the city. The inscription in Greek reads: ΑΧΙΛΛΕΥΣ i.e. Achilles. It was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The Imperial gardens on the hill look over the surrounding green hills and valleys and the Ionian sea. The centrepiece of the gardens is a marble statue on a high pedestal, of the mortally wounded Achilles (Greek: Αχιλλεύς Θνήσκων, Achilleús Thnēskōn, Achilles Dying) without hubris and wearing only a simple cloth and an ancient Greek hoplite helmet. This statue was carved by German sculptor Ernst Gustav Herter.
The hero is presented devoid of rank or status, and seems notably human, though heroic, as he is forever trying to pull Paris's arrow from his heel. His classically depicted face is full of pain. He gazes skyward, as if to seek help from Olympus. According to Greek mythology, his mother Thetis was a goddess.[citation needed]
In contrast, at the great staircase in the main hall is a giant painting of the triumphant Achilles full of pride. Dressed in full royal military regalia and erect on his racing chariot, he pulls the lifeless body of Hector of Troy in front of the stunned crowd watching helplessly from inside the walls of the Trojan citadel.
In 1898, Empress Sissi was assassinated at the age of 60 by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, in Geneva, Switzerland. After her death, the palace was sold to the GermanKaiserWilhelm II. Following the Kaiser's purchase of the Achilleion, he invited archaeologist Reinhard Kekulé von Stradonitz, a friend and advisor, to come to Corfu to advise him where to position the huge statue of Achilles which he commissioned. The famous salute to Achilles from the Kaiser, which had been inscribed at the statue's base, was also created by Kekulé. The inscription read:[92]
To the Greatest Greek from the Greatest German
The inscription was subsequently removed after World War II.[93]
The Achilleion was eventually acquired by the Greek state and has now been converted into a museum.
Kaiser's Bridge
View of the Kaiser's bridge
German Kaiser Wilhelm II was also fond of taking holidays in Corfu. Having purchased the Achilleion in 1907 after Sissi's death, he appointed Carl Ludwig Sprenger as the botanical architect of the Palace, and also built a bridge later named by the locals after him—the "Kaiser's bridge" (Greek: η γέφυρα του Κάιζερ transliterated as: i gefyra tou Kaizer)—to access the beach without traversing the road forming the island's main artery to the south. The bridge, arching over the road, spanned the distance between the lower gardens of Achilleion and the nearby beach; its remains, a monument to imperial vanity, are an important landmark on the highway. The bridge's central section was demolished by the Wehrmacht in 1944, during the German occupation of World War II, to allow for the passage of an enormous cannon, forming part of the Nazi defences in the southeastern coast of Corfu.[94][95]
Panoramic view of parts of Old Town of Corfu as seen from Old Fortress. The Bay of Garitsa is to the left and the port of Corfu is just visible on the top right of the picture. Spianada Square is in the foreground.
The Old Town of Corfu city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In several parts of the old city, buildings of the Venetian era are to be found. The old city's architectural character is strongly influenced by the Venetian style, coming as it did under Venetian rule for a long period; its small and ancient side streets, and the old buildings' trademark arches are particularly reminiscent of Venice.
The city of Corfu stands on the broad part of a peninsula, whose termination in the Venetian citadel (Greek: Παλαιό Φρούριο) is cut off from it by an artificial fosse formed in a natural gully, with a seawater moat at the bottom,[15] that now serves as a marina and is called the Contrafossa. In the old town there are many narrow streets paved with cobblestones. These streets are known as kantoúnia (Greek: καντούνια), and the older amongst them sometimes follow the gentle irregularities of the ground; while many are too narrow for vehicular traffic. A promenade rises by the seashore towards the bay of Garitsa (Γαρίτσα), together with an esplanade between the city and the citadel known as Spianada with the Liston [it] arcade (Greek: Λιστόν) to its west side, where restaurants and bistros abound.[1]
The Music Pavilion in Spianada Square (Ano Plateia) with Palaio Frourio in the background. The philharmonics use it regularly for their free concerts.
Near the old Venetian Citadel a large square called Spianada is also to be found, divided by a street in two parts: "Ano Plateia" (literally: "Upper square") and "Kato Plateia" (literally: "Lower square"), (Ανω Πλατεία and Κάτω Πλατεία in Greek). This is the biggest square in South-Eastern Europe and one of the largest in Europe,[96][97] and replete with green spaces and interesting structures, such as a Roman-style rotunda from the era of British administration, known as the Maitland monument, built to commemorate Sir Thomas Maitland. An ornate music pavilion is also present, where the local "Philharmonikes" (Philharmonic Orchestras) (Φιλαρμονικές), mount classical performances in the artistic and musical tradition for which the island is well known. "Kato Plateia" also serves as a venue where cricket matches are held from time to time. In Greece, cricket is unique to Corfu, as it was once a British protectorate.
View of the Palace of Saints Michael and George (Palaia Anaktora). The gates of St. Michael and St. George are on the left and right respectively. The gardens are to the right of the arch of St. George. The statue of Sir Frederick Adam, a British governor of Corfu, is at the front.
Just to the north of "Kato Plateia" lie the "Palaia Anaktora" (Παλαιά Ανάκτορα: literally "Old Palaces"): a large complex of buildings of Roman architectural style which formerly housed the Kings of Greece, and prior to that the British Governors of the island. It was then called the Palace of Saints Michael and George. The Order of St. Michael and St. George was founded here in 1818 with motto auspicium melioris aevi,[98][99] and is still awarded by the United Kingdom. Today the palace is open to the public and forms a complex of halls and buildings housing art exhibits, including a Museum of Asian Art, unique across Southern Europe in its scope and in the richness of its Chinese and Asian exhibits. The gardens of the Palaces, complete with old Venetian stone aquariums, exotic trees and flowers, overlook the bay through old Venetian fortifications and turrets, and the local sea baths (Μπάνια τ' Αλέκου) are at the foot of the fortifications surrounding the gardens. A café on the grounds includes its own art gallery, with exhibitions of both local and international artists, known locally as the Art Café. From the same spot, the viewer can observe ships passing through the narrow channel of the historic Vido island (Νησί Βίδου) to the north, on their way to Corfu harbour (Νέο Λιμάνι), with high speed retractable aerofoil ferries from Igoumenitsa also cutting across the panorama. A wrought-iron aerial staircase, closed to visitors, descends to the sea from the gardens; the Greek royal family used it as a shortcut to the baths. Rewriting history, locals now refer to the old Royal Gardens as the "Garden of the People" (Ο Κήπος του Λαού).
Churches
In the city, there are thirty-seven Greek churches, the most important of which are the city's cathedral, the church dedicated to Our Lady of the Cave (η Παναγία Σπηλιώτισσα (hē Panagia Spēliōtissa)); Saint Spyridon Church, wherein lies the preserved body of the patron saint of the island; and finally the suburban church of St Jason and St Sosipater (Αγιοι Ιάσων και Σωσίπατρος), reputedly the oldest in the island,[15] and named after the two saints probably the first to preach Christianity to the Corfiots.
Pontikonisi
The nearby island, known as Pontikonisi (Greek meaning "mouse island"), though small is very green with abundant trees, and at its highest natural elevation (excluding its trees or man-made structures, such as the monastery), stands at about 2 m (6 ft 6.74 in). Pontikonisi is home of the monastery of Pantokrator (Μοναστήρι του Παντοκράτορος); the white stone staircase of the monastery, viewed from afar, gives the impression of a (mouse) tail, which lent the island its name.
Archaeology
Palaiopolis
In the city of Corfu, the ruins of the ancient city of Korkyra, also known as Palaiopolis, include ancient temples which were excavated at the location of the palace of Mon Repos, which was built on the ruins of the Palaiopolis. The temples are: Kardaki Temple, Temple of Artemis, and the Temple of Hera. Hera's temple is situated at the western limits of Mon Repos, close to Kardaki Temple and to the northwest.[100] It is approximately 700 m. to the southeast of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu.[100] Hera's Temple was built at the top of Analipsis Hill, and, because of its prominent location, it was highly visible to ships passing close to the waterfront of ancient Korkyra.[100]
Kardaki Temple is an ArchaicDorictemple in Corfu, Greece, built around 500 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra (or Corcyra), in what is known today as the location Kardaki in the hill of Analipsi in Corfu.[101] The temple features several architectural peculiarities that point to a Doric origin.[101][102] The temple at Kardaki is unusual because it has no frieze, following perhaps architectural tendencies of Sicilian temples.[103]
It is considered to be the only Greek temple of Doric architecture that does not have a frieze.[101] The spacing of the temple columns has been described as "abnormally wide".[104] The temple also lacked both porch and adyton, and the lack of a triglyph and metope frieze may be indicative of Ionian influence.[105] The temple at Kardaki is considered an important and to a certain degree mysterious topic on the subject of early ancient Greek architecture. Its association with the worship of Apollo or Poseidon has not been established.
The Temple of Artemis is an ArchaicGreek temple in Corfu, built in around 580 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra (or Corcyra), in what is known today as the suburb of Garitsa. The temple was dedicated to Artemis. It is known as the first Doric temple exclusively built with stone.[106] It is also considered the first building to have incorporated all of the elements of the Doric architectural style.[107] Very few Greek temple reliefs from the Archaic period have survived, and the large fragments of the group from the pediment are the earliest significant survivals.
The temple was a peripteral–styled building with a pseudodipteral configuration. Its perimeter was rectangular, with width of 23.46 m (77.0 ft) and length 49 m (161 ft) with an eastward orientation so that light could enter the interior of the temple at sunrise.[106] It was one of the largest temples of its time.[108]
The metope of the temple was probably decorated, since remnants of reliefs featuring Achilles and Memnon were found in the ancient ruins.[106] The temple has been described as a milestone of Ancient Greek architecture and one of 150 masterpieces of Westernarchitecture.[107] The Corfu temple architecture may have influenced the design of an archaic sanctuary structure found at St. Omobono in Italy, near Tiber in Ancient Rome, at the time of the Etruscans, which incorporates similar design elements.[109] If still in use by the 4th-century, the temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, when the Christian Emperors issued edicts prohibiting non-Christian worship. Kaiser Wilhelm II, while vacationing at his summer palace of Achilleion in Corfu and while Europe was preparing for war, was involved in excavations at the site of the ancient temple.
The Temple of Hera or Heraion is an archaictemple in Corfu, built around 610 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra (or Corcyra), in what is known today as Palaiopolis, and lies within the ground of the Mon Repos estate.[110][111][100] The sanctuary of Hera at Mon Repos is considered a major temple, and one of the earliest examples of archaic Greek architecture.[100]
Large terracotta figures such as lions, gorgoneions, and Daidala maidens, created and painted in vivid colour by artisans, who were inspired by myth traditions across the Mediterranean, decorated the roof of the temple, making it one of the most intricately adorned temples of Archaic Greece and the most ambitious roof construction project of its time.[100] Built at the top of Analipsis Hill, Hera's sanctuary was highly visible to ships approaching the waterfront of the ancient city of Korkyra.[100]
The Digital Archaic Heraion Project at Mon Repos is a project that has undertaken the task of digitising the architectural fragments found at the Corfu Heraion with the aim to reconstruct in 3D the Temple at Palaiopolis in virtual space.[112]
The Lion of Menecrates, found near the tomb and thought to belong to the cenotaph
The Tomb of Menecrates or Monument of Menecrates is an Archaiccenotaph in Corfu, built around 600 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra (or Corcyra).[113][114] The tomb and the funerary sculpture of a lion were discovered in 1843 during demolition works by the British Army who were demolishing a Venetian fortress in the location of Garitsa hill in Corfu.[115] The tomb is dated to the 6th century BC.[115]
The lion is dated at the end of the 7th century BC and it is one of the earliest funerary lions ever found.[115] The tomb and the lion were found in an area which was part of the necropolis of ancient Korkyra, which was discovered by the British army at the time.[115] According to an Ancient Greek inscription found on the grave, the tomb was a monument built by the ancient Korkyreans in honour of their proxenos (ambassador) Menecrates, son of Tlasios, from Oeiantheia. Menecrates was the ambassador of ancient Korkyra to Oeiantheia, modern day Galaxidi or Ozolian Locris,[116][117] and he was lost at sea. In the inscription it is also mentioned that the brother of Menecrates, Praximenes, had arrived from Oeiantheia to assist the people of Korkyra in building the monument to his brother.[118][113]
Other archaeological sites
In Cassiope, the only other city of ancient importance, its name is still preserved by the village of Kassiopi, and there are some rude remains of building on the site; but the temple of Zeus Cassius for which it was celebrated has totally disappeared.
Castles
The castles of Corfu, located at strategic points on the island helped defend the island from many invaders and they were instrumental in repulsing repeated Turkish invasions, making Corfu one of the few places in Greece never to be conquered by the Ottomans.
Palaio Frourio south elevation. The Venetian built moat is on the left and the Doric style St. George's Church built by the British can be seen in the background on the right.
Yachts at anchor as seen from the fort
The old citadel (in Greek Palaio Frourio (Παλαιό Φρούριο) is an old Venetian fortress built on an artificial islet with fortifications surrounding its entire perimeter, although some sections, particularly on the east side, are slowly being eroded and falling into the sea. Nonetheless, the interior has been restored and is in use for cultural events, such as concerts (συναυλίες) and Sound and Light Productions (Ηχος και Φως), when historical events are recreated using sound and light special effects. These events take place amidst the ancient fortifications, with the Ionian sea in the background. The central high point of the citadel rises like a giant natural obelisk complete with a military observation post at the top, with a giant cross at its apex; at the foot of the observatory lies St. George's church, in a classical style punctuated by six Doric columns,[119] as opposed to the Byzantine architectural style of the greater part of Greek Orthodox churches.
The new citadel or Neo Frourio (Νέο Φρούριο, "New Fortress") is a huge complex of fortifications built by the British during their rule of the island (1815–63)[120] dominating the northeastern part of the city. The huge walls of the fortress loom over the landscape as one travels from Neo Limani (Νέο Λιμάνι, "New Port") to the city, taking the road that passes through the fishmarket (ψαραγορά). The new citadel was until recently a restricted area due to the presence of a naval garrison, but old restrictions have been lifted and it is now open to the public, with tours possible through the maze of medieval corridors and fortifications. The winged Lion of St Mark, the symbol of Venice, can be seen at regular intervals adorning the fortifications.
The Byzantine castle of Angelokastro in Corfu with the Ionian Sea in the background
Angelokastro (Greek: Αγγελόκαστρο (Castle of Angelos or Castle of the Angel); Venetian: Castel Sant'Angelo) is a Byzantinecastle on the island of Corfu,[121][122]Greece. It is located at the top of the highest peak of the island's shoreline in the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa and built on particularly precipitous and rocky terrain. It stands 1,000 ft (305 m) on a steep cliff above the sea and surveys the City of Corfu and the mountains of mainland Greece to the southeast and a wide area of Corfu toward the northeast and northwest.[121][123]
Angelokastro is one of the most important fortified complexes of Corfu. It was an acropolis which surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle.
Angelokastro formed a defensive triangle with the castles of Gardiki and Kassiopi, which covered Corfu's defences to the south, northwest and northeast. The castle never fell, despite frequent sieges and attempts at conquering it through the centuries, and played a decisive role in defending the island against pirate incursions and during three sieges of Corfu by the Ottomans, significantly contributing to their defeat. During invasions it helped shelter the local peasant population. The villagers also fought against the invaders playing an active role in the defence of the castle. Angelokastro, located at the western frontier of the Empire, was instrumental in repulsing the Ottomans during the first great siege of Corfu in 1537, in the siege of 1571 and the second great siege of Corfu in 1716 causing the Ottomans to fail at penetrating the defences of Corfu in the North. Consequently the Turks were never able to create a beachhead and to occupy the island.[124]
Gardiki Castle (Greek: Κάστρο Γαρδικίου) is a 13th-century Byzantine castle on the southwestern coast of Corfu and the only surviving medieval fortress on the southern part of the island.[125] It was built by a ruler of the Despotate of Epirus,[126] and was one of three castles which defended the island before the Venetian era (1401–1797).
The location of Gardiki at the narrow southwest flank of Corfu provided protection to the fields and the southern lowlands of Corfu and in combination with Kassiopi Castle on the northeastern coast of the island and Byzantine Angelokastro protecting the northwestern shore of Corfu, formed a triangular line of defence which protected Corfu during the pre-Venetian era.[126][127][128]
Kassiopi Castle (Greek: Κάστρο Κασσιώπης) is a castle on the northeastern coast of Corfu overseeing the fishing village of Kassiopi.[129] It was one of three Byzantine-period castles that defended the island before the Venetian era (1386–1797). The castles formed a defensive triangle, with Gardiki guarding the island's south, Kassiopi the northeast and Angelokastro the northwest.[127][128]
Its position at the northeastern coast of Corfu overseeing the Corfu Channel that separates the island from the mainland gave the castle an important vantage point and an elevated strategic significance.[129]
Kassiopi Castle is considered one of the most imposing architectural remains in the Ionian Islands,[130] along with Angelokastro, Gardiki Castle and the two Venetian Fortresses of Corfu City, the Citadel and the New Fort.[130]
Since the castle was abandoned for a long time, its structure is in a state of ruin. The eastern side of the fort has disappeared and only a few traces of it remain. There are indications that castle stones have been used as building material for houses in the area. Access to the fortress is mainly from the southeast through a narrow walkway which includes passage from homes and backyards, since the castle is at the centre of the densely built area of the small village of Kassiopi.[131][132]
Municipalities
The three present municipalities of Corfu and Diapontia Islands were formed in the 2019 local government reform from the former municipality Corfu.[3][133]
The Ionian Academy is the first academic institution of modern Greece. The building is now fully restored after the WWII Luftwaffe bombings.
The Ionian Academy was an institution that maintained the tradition of Greek education while the rest of Greece was still under Ottoman rule. The academy was established by the French during their administration of the island as the département of Corcyre,[134][135] and became a university during the British administration,[135] through the actions of Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford in 1824.[136] It is also considered the precursor of the Ionian University. It had Philological, Law, and Medical Schools.
Ioannis Kapodistrias' ancestral home in Corfu town. Nowadays it houses the Translation Department of the Ionian University.
The Ionian University was established in 1984, in recognition, by the administration of Andreas Papandreou, of Corfu's contribution to Education in Greece, as the seat of the first Greek university in modern times,[137] the Ionian Academy. The university opened its doors to students in 1985 and today comprises three Schools and six Departments offering undergraduate and post-graduate degree programmes and summer schools.[138][139]
Student activism
In the modern era, beginning with its massive student protests during World War II against fascist occupation, and continuing in the fight against the dictatorship of Georgios Papadopoulos (1967–1974), students in Corfu have played a vanguard role in protesting for freedom and democracy in Greece, against both internal and external oppression. For Corfiotes a recent example of such heroism is that of geology student Kostas Georgakis, who set himself ablaze in Genoa, Italy on 19 September 1970, in a protest against the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.
Culture
Corfu has a long musical, theatrical, and operatic tradition. The operas performed in Corfu were at par with their European counterparts. The phrase "applaudito in Corfu" (applauded in Corfu) was a measure of high accolade for an opera performed on the island. The Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù was the first theatre and opera house of modern Greece and the place where the first Greek opera, Spyridon Xyndas' The Parliamentary Candidate (based on an exclusively Greek libretto) was performed.
The most notable of Corfu's museums and libraries are located in the city; these include:[140]
The Archaeological Museum, inaugurated in 1967, was constructed to house the exhibit of the huge Gorgonpediment of the Artemis temple in the ancient city of Korkyra, excavated at Palaiopolis in the early 20th century. The pediment has been described by The New York Times as the "finest example of archaic temple sculpture extant".[141]Kaiser Wilhelm II had developed a "lifelong obsession" with the Gorgon sculpture, dating from seminars on Greek Archaeology the Kaiser attended while at the University of Bonn. The seminars were given by archaeologist Reinhard Kekulé von Stradonitz, who later became the Kaiser's advisor.[92] In 1994, two more halls were added to the museum, where new discoveries from the excavations of the ancient city and the Garitsa cemetery are exhibited.
The Banknote Museum, located in Aghios Spyridon square, features a complete collection of Greek banknotes from independence to the adoption of the euro in 2002.
Kapodistrias Museum. Ioannis Kapodistrias' summer home in Koukourisa in his birthplace of Corfu has been converted to a museum commemorating his life and accomplishments and has been named in his honour.[142] Donated by Maria Desylla Kapodistria, grand niece of Ioannis Kapodistrias, former mayor of Corfu and first female mayor of Greece.
The Music Museum of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu is located in the building of the Philharmonic Society and features scores, instruments, paintings and documents related to the music history of Corfu and the 19th-century Ionian Islands.
Corfu library at Palaio Frourio
The Public Library of Corfu is located at the old English Barracks, in Palaio Frourio.
The Reading Society of Corfu has an extensive library of old Corfu manuscripts and rare books.
The Serbian Museum of Corfu (Serbian: Српска кућа, Serbian House) houses rare exhibits about the Serbian soldiers' tragic fate during the First World War. The remnants of the Serbian Army of about 150,000 soldiers together with their government in exile, found refuge and shelter in Corfu, following the collapse of the Serbian Front as a result of the Austro-Hungarian attack of 6 October 1915. Exhibits include photographs from the three years stay of the Serbians in Corfu, together with other exhibits such as uniforms, arms and ammunition of the Serbian army, Serbian regimental flags, religious artifacts, surgical tools and other decorations of the Kingdom of Serbia.
Solomos Museum and the Corfiot Studies Society.
Patron Saint Spyridon
The bell tower of the Saint Spyridon Church can be seen in the background among the busy kantounia of the city centre. On top of the stores are apartments with balconies. It is from these type of balconies that Corfiots throw botides, clay pots, to celebrate the Resurrection during Easter festivities.
Saint Spyridon the Thaumaturgist (Miracle-worker, Θαυματουργός) is the patron saint (πολιούχος) of the city and the island. St. Spyridon is revered for the miracle of expelling the plague (πανώλη) from the island, among many other miracles attributed to him. It is believed by the faithful that on its way from the island the plague scratched one of the fortification stones of the old citadel to indicate its fury at being expelled; to St. Spyridon is also attributed the role of saving the island at the second great siege of Corfu in 1716.[143][144] The legend says that the sight of St. Spyridon approaching Ottoman forces bearing a flaming torch in one hand and a cross in the other caused panic.[70][145][146] The legend also states that the Saint caused a tempest which was partly responsible for repulsing the Ottomans.[147] This victory over the Ottomans, therefore, was attributed not only to the leadership of Count Schulenburg who commanded the stubborn defence of the island against Ottoman forces, but also to the miraculous intervention of St. Spyridon. Venice honoured von der Schulenburg and the Corfiots for successfully defending the island. Recognizing St. Spyridon's role in the defence of the island Venice legislated the establishment of the litany (λιτανεία) of St Spyridon on 11 August as a commemoration of the miraculous event, inaugurating a tradition that continues to this day.[70] In 1716 Antonio Vivaldi, on commission by the republic of Venice, composed the oratorioJuditha triumphans to commemorate this great event. Juditha triumphans was first performed in November 1716 in Venice by the orchestra and choir of the Ospedale della Pietà and is described as Vivaldi's first great oratorio.[148] Hence Spyridon is a popular first name for Greek males born on the island and/or to islanders.
While much of present-day Greece was under Ottoman rule, the Ionian Islands enjoyed a Golden Age in music and opera. Corfu was the capital city of a Venetian protectorate and it benefited from a unique musical and theatrical heritage. Then in the 19th century, as a British Protectorate, Corfu developed a musical heritage of its own and which constitutes the nucleus of modern Greek musical history. Until the early 18th century, musical life took place in city and village squares, with performances of straight or musical comedies – known as Momaries or Bobaries. From 1720, Corfu became the possessor of the first theatre in post-1452 Greece. It was the Teatro San Giacomo (now the City Hall) named after the nearby Roman Catholic cathedral (completed in 1691).[149]
The island was also the center of the Ionian School of music, the musical production of a group of Heptanesian composers, whose heyday was from the early 19th century till approximately the 1950s. It was the first school of classical music in Greece and it was a heavy influence for the later Greek music scene, after the independence.
Corfu's Philharmonic Societies provide free instruction in music, and continue to attract young recruits. There are nineteen such marching wind bands throughout the island. Corfu city is home to the three most prestigious bands – in order of seniority:
the Philharmonic Society of Corfu use dark blue uniforms with dark red accents, and blue and red helmet plumes. It is usually called the Old Philharmonic or simply the Paliá ("Old"). Founded 12 September 1840.
the Mantzaros Philharmonic Society use blue uniforms with blue and white helmet plumes. It is commonly called the Néa ("New"). Founded 25 October 1890.
the Capodistria Philharmonic Union use bright red and black uniforms and plumes. It is commonly called the Cónte Capodístria or simply the Cónte ("Count"). It is the juniormost of the three (founded 18 April 1980).
All three maintain two major bands each, the main marching bands that can field up to 200 musicians on grand occasions, and the 60-strong student bandinas meant for lighter fare and on-the-job training.
The bands give regular summer weekend promenade concerts at the Spianada Green "pálko", and have a prominent part in the yearly Holy Week ceremonies.
Ionian University music department
The music lab of the Ionian university located at the old fortress
Since the early 1990s a music department has been established at the Ionian University. Aside from its academic activities, concerts in Corfu and abroad, and musicological research in the field of Neo-Hellenic Music, the Department organizes an international music academy every summer, which gathers together both international students and professors specialising in brass, strings, singing, jazz and musicology.
Under Venetian rule, the Corfiotes developed a fervent appreciation of Italian opera, which was the real source of the extraordinary (given conditions in the mainland of Greece) musical development of the island during this era.[150] The opera house of Corfu during the 18th and 19th centuries was the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo, named after the neighbouring Catholic cathedral; it was later converted into the City Hall.[150] It was both the first theatre and first opera house of Greece in modern times and the place where the first Greek opera (based on an exclusively Greek libretto), Spyridon Xyndas' The Parliamentary Candidate was performed.[150] A long series of local composers, such as Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas, Antonio Liberali, Domenico Padovani, the ZakynthianPavlos Carrer, the Lambelet family, Spyridon Samaras, and others, all developed careers intertwined with the theatre.[150] San Giacomo's place was taken by the Municipal Theatre in 1902, which maintained the operatic tradition vividly until its destruction during German air raid in 1943.[150]
The first opera to be performed in the San Giacomo was in 1733 ("Gerone, tiranno di Siracusa"),[150] and for almost two hundred years, between 1771 and 1943, nearly every major opera from the Italian tradition, as well as many others from Greek and French composers, were performed on the stage of the San Giacomo; this tradition continues to be reflected in Corfiote operatic history, a fixture in famous opera singers' itineraries.[151]
The Municipal Theatre of Corfu, which in the early 20th century replaced the legendary Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo. This photograph shows the theatre prior to the 1943 Luftwaffe bombardment and its subsequent destruction during WWII.
During its 41-year history, it was one of the premier theatres and opera houses in Greece, and as the first theatre in Southeastern Europe,[152] it contributed to the arts and to the history of the Balkans and of Europe.[153][152][154] The archives of the theatre, including the historical San Giacomo archives, all valuables and art were destroyed in the Luftwaffe bombing with the sole exception of the stage curtain, which was not in the premises the night of the bombing and thus escaped harm; among the losses are believed to have been numerous manuscripts of the work of Spyridon Xyndas, composer of the first opera in Greek.[152]
Festivities
Easter
On Good Friday, from the early afternoon onward, the bands of the three Philharmonic Societies, separated into squads, accompany the Epitaph processions of the city churches. Late in the afternoon, the squads come together to form one band in order to accompany the Epitaph procession of the cathedral, while the funeral marches that the bands play differ depending on the band; the Old Philharmonic play Albinoni's Adagio, the Mantzaros play Verdi's Marcia Funebre from Don Carlo, and the Capodistria play Chopin's Funeral March and Mariani's Sventura.[155]
On Holy Saturday morning, the three city bands again take part in the Epitaph processions of St. Spyridon Cathedral in procession with the Saint's relics.[155] At this point the bands play different funeral marches, with the Mantzaros playing Miccheli's Calde Lacrime, the Palia playing Marcia Funebre from Faccio's Amleto, and the Capodistria playing the Funeral March from Beethoven's Eroica. This custom dates from the 19th century, when colonial administrators banned the participation of the British garrison band in the traditional Holy Friday funeral cortege. The defiant Corfiotes held the litany the following morning, and paraded the relics of St. Spyridon too, so that the administrators would not dare intervene.
The litany is followed by the celebration of the "Early Resurrection"; balconies in the old city are decked in bright red cloth, and Corfiotes throw down large clay pots (the bótides, μπότηδες) full of water to smash on the street pavement, especially in wider areas of Liston [it] and in an organised fashion.[155] This is enacted in anticipation of the Resurrection of Jesus, which is to be celebrated that same night,[155] and to commemorate King David's phrase: "Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Psalm 2:9).
Once the bótides commotion is over, the three bands parade the clay-strewn streets playing the famous "Graikoí" festive march.[156] The march, which functions as the anthem of the island, was composed during the period of Venetian rule, and its lyrics include: "Greeks, never fear, we are all enslaved: you to the Turks, we to the Venetians, but one day we shall all be free".[citation needed]
Ta Karnavalia
Another venerable Corfu tradition is known as the Carnival or Ta Karnavalia. Venetian in origin, festivities include a parade featuring the main attraction of Karnavalos, a rather grotesque figure with a large head and smiling face, leading a diverse procession of colourful floats.[157] Corfiots, young and old, dress up in colourful costumes and follow the parade, spilling out into the area's narrow streets (kantounia) and spreading the festivities across the city,[157] dancing and socialising. At night, dance and costume parties are traditional.[157]
In the mythical sea adventure of Homer's Odyssey, Kerkyra is the island of the Phaeacians, (Phaiakes) wherein Odysseus (Ulysses) meets Nausica, the daughter of King Alkinoos. The bay of Palaiokastritsa is considered to be the place where Odysseus disembarked.[159]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
'Corfu', a poetical illustration by L. E. L. (1838)
Letitia Landon twice wrote of Corfu as an island paradise, the first poetical illustration appeared in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835, to a picture by Thomas Allom[160] and the second in that for 1838, to a picture by Charles Bentley.[161](Corfu and Manduchio form Mount Olivet). A third poetical illustration of hers Strada Reale.—Corfu., to an engraving of a painting by Samuel Prout was published in the Scrap Book for 1837.[162]
Albert Cohen wrote three books which are partially or entirely set in Corfu. They are: Mangeclous, Les Valeureux, and Belle du Seigneur. Cohen himself was born on the island.
Voltaire references two monks from Corfu in Chapter XXVIII of Candide
Much of the 1978 Billy Wilder film Fedora is set in Corfu and filmed on location.
The 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only has a number of scenes filmed in Corfu. The most memorable scene of the film to be bound with the island is of the underwater ancient Greek temple, with a huge turtle swimming in front of the camera; a casino scene was also filmed at the Achilleion.[164] Other scenes filmed here include those tracing 'Melina' and James' walk through the city's streets, and Melina being greeted by Bond at Pontikonisi island. A major action element was filmed on the largest sandy beach on the island, Issos Beach in Agios Georgios South, involving a beach buggy chase along the dunes. The film's scene depicting a Greek wedding was filmed at the Bouas-Danilia traditional village (Μπούας Δανίλια παραδοσιακό χωριό).[164] Action scenes were also filmed at Neo Frourio.[165]
The 1984 Greek film "Η Τιμή της Αγάπης" (The Price of Love), directed by Tonia Marketaki is a tragic love story taking place in Corfu. It is based on the novel Honour and Money by Konstantinos Theotokis.[166]
Corfu is also the setting of a 1987 BBC TV series version, and a 2005 BBC movie version, of My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell's book about his childhood in Corfu in the late 1930s
The Gaze of the Gorgon (1992): a poem-film for BBC television by British poet Tony Harrison. The film examines the politics of conflict in the 20th century using the Gorgon as a metaphor. The imaginary narration of the film is done through the mouth of Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. The film describes the connection between the Corfu Gorgon at the Artemis Temple of Corfu and Kaiser Wilhelm II.[167][168] Harrison concludes his 1992 film-poem by making a proposal that in the 1994 European Union summit in Corfu, Heine's statue be returned to Corfu on time to preside over the new Europe so that EU can keep its eyes open and not turn to stone from the Gorgon's gaze.[168][169][170]
ITV aired a TV series named The Durrells in Corfu in April 2016 and ultimately lasting four seasons, concluding in May 2019. It was a biographical series detailing Gerald Durrell's childhood on Corfu.
Corfu is one of the locations in the legend of Simon and Milo, where Simon falls in love temporarily. It is the setting of the 1998 song "Mediterranean Lady" by Prozzak. The island is alluded to several times in David Foster Wallace's 1987 novel, The Broom of the System. Drake mentions Corfu in a song.
Tourism
The beach at Canal D'Amour, Sidari on a windy day. At the entrance of the bay there is an opening in the rock at the right (centre left of picture) that continues to the other side, a natural tunnel. This sea channel gave the beach its name: Canal D'Amour, French for channel of love.
Corfiotes have a long history of hospitality to foreign residents and visitors, typified in the 20th century by Gerald Durrell's childhood reminiscence My Family and Other Animals. The north east coast has largely been developed by a few British holiday companies, with large expensive holiday villas.[171]Package holiday resorts exist on the north, east and southwest coasts.
At the other end of the island, the southern resort of Kavos also provides tourist facilities.
St George South to the west boasts the largest sandy beach on the island coupled with a selection of all-inclusive package hotels and traditional corfiot villas and flats. The Korission lake nature reserve also provides a stopover for European birds migrating south.
Up until the early 20th century, it was mainly visited by the European royals and elites, including Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and Empress Elisabeth of Austria; today it is also widely visited by middle class families (primarily from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany). With the advent of the jet airliner bringing these groups relatively affordable 'package holidays', Corfu was one of the primary destinations for this new form of mass tourism [172] It is still popular with the ultra-wealthy however, and in the island's northeast the homeowners include members of the Rothschild family and Russian oligarchs.[173][174]
The Flying Dolphin hydrofoil ferry near Corfu harbour. Vido island is in the foreground with the Albanian coastline in the background.
The island is linked by two highways: GR-24 in the northwest and GR-25 in the south.
Greek National Road 24, Cen., NW, Corfu – Palaiokastritsa
Greek National Road 25, Cen., S, SE, Corfu – Lefkimi
Corfu has ferry services both by traditional ferries to Gaios in the island of Paxoi and as far as Patras and both traditional ferries and advanced retractable airfoil, hydrodynamic-flow, high-speed ferries called "Flying Dolphins" to Igoumenitsa and Sarandë in neighbouring Albania. The small port of Lefkimmi is also to be found at the southernmost tip of the island on Cape Kavos, offering a ferry service to the mainland.
The Ioannis Kapodistrias International Airport, named after Ioannis Kapodistrias, a Corfiot and European diplomat, and the first governor of the independent Greek state, is located around three kilometres south of Kerkyra, just half a kilometre north of Pontikonisi. The approach and landing, in a northeasterly direction, afford passengers aerial views of Pontikonisi and Vlaheraina Monastery, also taking in the hills of Kanoni, as the runway employed for landing lies a few hundred metres from these local landmarks. The airport offers domestic flights from Olympic Airlines (OA 600, 602 and 606), and Aegean Airlines (A3 402, 404 and 406). Seaplanes, Air Sea Lines, a Greek seaplane operator, offers scheduled flights from Corfu to Paxoi, Lefkada, Ithaki, Kefalonia, Ioannina, Patras and Brindisi in Italy.
The buses to the main places on the island run about six times a day between the city and Glyfada, Sidari, Paleokastritsa, Roda and Acharavi, Lefkimmi, Lefkimmi and Piri. Other coaches drive up to twice a day to Athens and Thessaloniki. City buses run through the city to the Airport, Achilleion, Gouvia, Afra, Pelekas and some other places of interest.
The Diapontia Islands are accessible by boat with regular services from Corfu port and Agios Stefanos Avliotes and by ferry from Corfu city port.
Corfu is mostly planted with olive groves and vineyards and has been producing olive oil and wine since antiquity. The main wine grape varietals found in Corfu are the indigenous white Kakotrýgēs and red Petrokóritho, the Cefalonian white Robóla, the AegeanMoscháto (white muscat), the AchaeanMavrodáphnē and others.[175]
Modern times have seen the introduction of specialist cultivation supported by the mild climate, like the kumquat and bergamot oranges, which are extensively used in making spoon sweets and liqueurs. Corfu also produces local animal products, such as Corfiote graviéra (a variant of gruyere) and "Corfu" cheese (a variant of Grana); "Corfu butter" (Boútyro Kerkýras), an intensely flavored cooking and baking butter made of ewe's milk; and the noúmboulosalami made of pork and lard and flavored with orange peel, oregano, thyme and other aromatic herbs, which are also burned for smoking.
Local culinary specialties include sofrito (a veal rump roast of Venetian origin), pastitsáda (bucatini pasta served with diced veal cooked in a tomato sauce), bourdétto (cod cooked in a peppery sauce), mándoles (caramelized almonds), pastéli (honey bars made with sesame, almonds or pistachios), mandoláto (a "pastéli" made of crushed almonds, sugar, honey and vanilla), and tzitzibíra, the local ginger beer, a remnant of the British era. There are three breweries in Corfu and one bed layers factory.
The island has again become an important port of call and has a considerable trade in olive oil.[15] In earlier times there was a great export of citron, which was cultivated here, including for ritual use in the Jewish community during the Sukkot holiday.
Count Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776–1831), first head of state, governor of independent Greece, founder of the modern Greek state, and distinguished European diplomat
Lawrence Durrell also lived in Corfu for some years and Lawrence wrote, among several other books on Greece, Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra
Elisabeth of Bavaria ("Sissi"), Empress of Austria, built Achilleion as summer palace
Nikephoros Theotokis (1732–1800), Greek educator and Russian archbishop, born in Corfu
Antonio Vivaldi composer. In 1716, on commission by the republic of Venice, created the oratorioJuditha triumphans to commemorate victory over the Turks during the great siege of 1716.
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^Trevor Webster (1994). Where to Go in Greece: A New Look. Vol. 1. Settle Press. p. 221. ISBN9781872876207. Corfu is one of the most northern isles in Greece and also the most westerly, apart from three of its own small satellite isles...
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^ abcd. City of Corfu. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. In literature, apart from the Homeric name Scheria, we meet various other names for the island, like Drepanë or Arpi, Makris, Cassopaea, Argos, Keravnia, Phaeacia, Corkyra or Kerkyra (in Doric), Gorgo or Gorgyra and much later the medieval names Corypho or Corfoi, because of the two characteristic rock-peaks of the Old Fortress of Corfu.
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^Danahar G. W. (2020) Corfiot Butterflies – a contemporary perspective and global context, European Butterflies, Issue 3, pages 6-7.
^Danahar G. W. (2022) Corfu Butterfly Conservation (CBC) – our first year of survey work - 2021, European Butterflies, Issue 5, pages 18 - 21.
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^W.H. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, Loeb Classical Library (2008), p. 409 n. 125–27; verses 4.982–992
^Cees H. Goekoop (15 September 2010). Where on Earth Is Ithaca?: A Quest for the Homeland of Odysseus. Eburon Uitgeverij B.V. p. 85. ISBN978-90-5972-344-3. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
^Thucydides. "The Revolution in Corcyra." c. 400 BCE. Reprinted in Rogers, Perry. Aspects of Western Civilization. pp. 76–78. Pearson: Upper Saddle River. 2011.
^The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1992.
^Runciman, Steven (1958). The Sicilian Vespers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 43. ISBN978-1-107-60474-2.
^Keil, Charles; Keil, Angeliki; Feld, Steven (9 December 2002). Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia. p. 108. ISBN9780819564887.
^Fraser, Angus (23 February 1995). The Gypsies. pp. 50–51. ISBN9780631196051.
^ abThe Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany. Vol. 71. Archibald Constable. 1809. p. 916. Retrieved 6 July 2013. Under the Venetians, in the middle ages, and down even to the seventeenth century, Corfu was esteemed the advanced bastion and bulwark of the Christian states, against the Ottoman power, when the Solymans and the Sclims menaced ...
^John Julius Norwich (4 December 2007). The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 385. ISBN978-0-307-38772-1. Retrieved 6 July 2013. For Venice only a single bulwark remained: Corfu. The army that, early in 1716, the Grand Vizir flung against the citadel of Corfu consisted of 30,000 infantry and some 3,000 horse.
^Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower Grosvenor Westminster (2d marchioness of) (1842). Narrative of a Yacht Voyage in the Mediterranean: During 1840–41. J. Murray. p. 250. Retrieved 6 July 2013. Corfu thus became a strong bulwark against the Turks, whose frequent attacks were successfully repulsed. In 1716 it was besieged for forty-two days by a formidable Ottoman army and fleet, and several daring attempts were made to storm ...
^Sir Richard Phillips (1822). New Voyages and Travels: Consisting of Originals, Translations, and Abridgments; with Index and Historical Preface. C. Wiley. p. 63. Retrieved 6 July 2013. The town of Corfu, the bulwark of Italy and of the east, is Covered in all directions, towards the sea and land,
^John Knox (1767). A New Collection of Voyages, Discoveries and Travels: Containing Whatever is Worthy of Notice, in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. J. Knox. p. 203. Retrieved 6 July 2013. Some pieces by Castiglione, deserved particular notice, together with the last siege, and the new fortifications of Corfu, which is not only painted on a picture, but curiously modelled in wood. Corfu is not only a bulwark to the Venetians, against ...
^Kenneth Meyer Setton (1991). Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century. American Philosophical Society. p. 253. ISBN978-0-87169-192-7. Retrieved 6 July 2013. Thus the important stronghold of Corfu was protected (according to a dispatch of Antonio Priuli, proveditor generale da ... Morea would prove to be, for they were bulwarks against the Turks' intrusion into the Adriatic.17 Corfu was apparently ...
^Henry Jervis-White-Jervis (1852). History of the island of Corfú and of the republic of the Ionian Islands. Colburn and co. p. 126. Retrieved 6 July 2013. ...sister of Sixtus-Quintus, to the Book of Gold, the Holy Father having expressed his gratitude, the Venetians represented to him that the protection of Corfu and Candia, which were the two bulwarks of Christianity, cost them more than 500,000 ...
^"The Gulf of Venice runs for 800 mi (1,287 kilometres) between Italy and Esclavonia, and at the end of it is the island of Corfu, which the Venetians call their door, although Venice is in fact 800 mi (1,287 kilometres) away." (Pedro Tafur in 1436, Andanças e viajes).
^Will Durant. The Renaissance. page 684. MJF Books. New York, 1981 ISBN1-56731-016-8
^ abcdefghij. Corfuweb.gr. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492–1792. Cambridge University Press. 1996. p. 25. ISBN978-0-521-47033-9. Retrieved 6 July 2013. The Ottomans were a major and expanding presence in Europe, Asia, and Africa. ... The knights, their fortifications strengthened by bastions, resisted assaults and bombardment before accepting ... Ottoman naval pressure on Europe increased in the Mediterranean, with sieges of Corfu in 1537 (map 2) and Reggio in 1543.
^ . Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
^ abcdefHistory of Corfu from Corfu City Hall website 6 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ abUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine on the Holocaust in Corfu. Also contains information about the Nazi collaborator mayor Kollas.
^ ab. Kis.gr. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^ 8 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine: "[...]two hundred of the 2,000 Corfu Jews found sanctuary with Christian families[...]"
^BBC WW2 People's War Quote: "By the time I got back to camp the troop had returned from Corfu full of stories about the wonderful reception they’d had from the locals as the liberators of the island." Bill Sanderson's Wartime Experiences -Part 4 – 40 Commando by Bill Sanderson (junior) Bill Sanderson's Wartime Experiences -Part 4 – 40 Commando by Bill Sanderson (junior) Retrieved 31 July 2008
^ abWright, Quincy (1949). "The Corfu Channel Case". The American Journal of International Law. 43 (3): 491–494. doi:10.2307/2193642. JSTOR 2193642. S2CID 147423999.
^Corfu Channel Incident Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies U.K. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
^Bancroft, Harding F.; Stein, Eric (1949). "The Corfu Channel Case: Judgment on the Preliminary Objection". Stanford Law Review. 1 (4): 646–657. doi:10.2307/1226351. JSTOR 1226351.
^Cook, Bernard A. (2001). Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia. ISBN9780815340577.
^"World Court Gets Albanian Dispute". The New York Times. 10 April 1947. pp. 1, 10.
^Anderson, David (10 April 1949). "World Court Finds Albania Liable in Corfu Mining of 2 British Ships". The New York Times. pp. 1, 15.
^ ab Quote: "In the elections of 1954 Stamatios Desillas was elected Mayor for a second term and remained in office until his death, Christmas Day 1955. Soon after a bye-election took place in Corfu in which the widow of the deceased Maria Desilla – Kapodistria, was elected Mayor with 5,365 votes in a total of 10,207. Maria Desilla became Mayor of Corfu on 15 April 1956 until 9 May 1959. She was the first female Mayor in Greece."
^. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007.
^. Tvradio.ert.gr. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^Alfa History 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Quote:1995 The first in Corfu ISP by Alfa and Forthnet.
^R. Winkes (editor), Kerkyra. Artifacts from the Palaiopolis, Providence 2004.
^ abJohn C. G. Röhl (1998). Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859–1888. Cambridge University Press. p. 297. ISBN978-0-521-49752-7. Retrieved 4 May 2013. After the purchase of the 'Achilleion', Kekule was invited by the Kaiser to go to Corfu to provide advice on the positioning of the ... 94 Without a doubt, Wilhelm's lifelong obsession with the statue of the Gorgon unearthed in Corfu stems from the ...
^Sherry Marker; John S. Bowman; Peter Kerasiotis (1 March 2010). Frommer's Greek Islands. John Wiley & Sons. p. 476. ISBN978-0-470-52664-4. Retrieved 4 May 2013. Achilles that the Kaiser had inscribed, to the Greatest Greek from the Greatest German, a sentiment removed after World War II.
^Frank Giles; Spiro Flamburiari; Fritz Von der Schulenburg (1 September 1994). Corfu: the garden isle. J. Murray in association with the Hellenic Group of Companies Ltd. p. 109. ISBN978-1-55859-845-4. Retrieved 4 May 2013. Although subsequently demolished in 1944 to allow the passage of a huge German coastal gun beneath, the locality still bears the name "Kaiser's Bridge".
^Corfu map 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine: The bridge was destroyed during a German attack in World War II. The remains can still be seen today.
^Corfu Life UK 4 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Quote: "The French were the ones who turned the Spianada into a public square and park – one of the biggest in Europe"
^Brohure of Kerkyra 3 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Quote: "SOCCER The tournament will start on Wednesday 04 of July An Open Ceremony and a parade of all the teams will take place in the biggest square in the Balkansand one of the most impressive ones in the whole continent, to the square Spianada itself which is constructed similarlyto the Royal Gardens of Europe."
^Nondas Stamatopoulos (1993). Old Corfu: history and culture. N. Stamatopoulos. p. 172. ISBN9789608403000. The Palace of St. Michael and St. George (Plate III), which is generally considered the finest of the British buildings in ... seat of the Order of St. Michael and St. George which had been instituted in 1818 to honour distinguished British and local ...
^A. F. Madden (1985). Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth: "The Empire of the Bretaignes," 1175–1688. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 690–. ISBN978-0-313-23897-0.
^ abcdefgSapirstein, Philip (1 January 2012). "The Monumental Archaic Roof of the Temple of Hera at Mon Repos, Corfu". Hesperia. 81 (1): 31–91. doi:10.2972/hesperia.81.1.0031. JSTOR 10.2972/hesperia.81.1.0031. S2CID 193469029.
^ abcFranklin P. Johnson (January 1936). "The Kardaki Temple". American Journal of Archaeology. 40 (1): 46–54. doi:10.2307/498298. JSTOR 498298. S2CID 191378100. This is the only Greek Doric building that is known to have had no frieze.(subscription required)
^William Bell Dinsmoor; William James Anderson (1973). The Architecture of Ancient Greece: An Account of Its Historic Development. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 92. ISBN978-0-8196-0283-1.
^Acta Ad Archaeologiam Et Artium Historiam Pertinentia: 4o. "L'Erma" di Bretschneider. 1978. p. 47. In this respect it is surpassed only by the perhaps slightly later temple at Kardaki on Corfu (*), where the frieze was completely omitted. This is nothing but the logical consequence of the tendencies from the early Sicilian temples, where the ties...
^Campbell, Gordon (2007). The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. p. 311. ISBN978-0-19-530082-6. A second temple, at Kardaki on the east side of Corfu town, was also Doric but had 6 by 12 columns, and its cella had neither false porch nor adyton. The columns are widely spaced, and the unusual absence of a triglyph and metope frieze may be explained by the influence of Ionic forms.
^ abCruickshank 2000, Chapter One: "Temple of Artemis, Corcyra", p. 18: "The island of Corfu, to the northwest of present-day Greece, off the coast of Albania, was an early colony of the city of Corinth and was under Corinthian control when its Temple of Artemis was constructed. A milestone in Greek architecture, this was the first building that was truly Doric. Many if not all of its Doric characteristics had appeared in earlier structures but here they were used for the first time as an ensemble."
^Margaret M. Miles (8 August 2016). A Companion to Greek Architecture. John Wiley & Sons. p. 169. ISBN978-1-4443-3599-6.
^Marconi, Clemente (5 February 2007). Temple Decoration and Cultural Identity in the Archaic Greek World: The Metopes of Selinus. Cambridge University Press. p. 219. ISBN978-0-521-85797-0.
^"Philip Sapirstein: "el templo de Hera fue construido originalmente con la columnata de piedra"". mediterraneoantiguo.com. 16 September 2016.
^ abGardner, Percy (1896). Sculptured Tombs of Hellas. London: Macmillan and Company, Limited. p. 200.
^Luca Di Lorenzo (9 May 2018). Corfù - La guida di isole-greche.com. Luca Di Lorenzo. p. 205. ISBN978-88-283-2151-4.
^ abcd"Funerary Archaic Lion". Archaeological Museum of Corfu.
^Nick Fisher; Hans van Wees (31 December 1998). Archaic Greece: New Approaches and New Evidence. Classical Press of Wales. p. 41. ISBN978-1-910589-58-8.
^Germain Bazin (1976). The History of World Sculpture. Chartwell Books. p. 127. ISBN9780890090893. This lion was found near the tomb of Menekrates in the necropolis of ancient Kerkyra (modern Corfu). Menekrates was a Lokrian, the proxenos of the people of Kerkyra, according to a metric inscription on the grave monument.
^"St. George Article". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
^Nondas Stamatopoulos (1993). Old Corfu: history and culture. N. Stamatopoulos. p. 162. ISBN9789608403000. The New Fortress was built on the hill of St. Mark between 1572 and 1645, the military engineer ...
^ abStamatopoulos, Nondas (1993). Old Corfu: history and culture (3 ed.). N. Stamatopoulos. ISBN9789608403000. On a precipitous rocky peak dominating a wide range of coastline around Palaeokastritsa stand the crumbling walls and battlements of the twelfth-century Byzantine Fortress of Angelokastro, not far from the village of Krini. (p. 163) [...] After a siege lasting a year the invaders were finally driven away by the defenders of the fortress who were helped by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages. Again, during the first great siege of Corfu by the Turks in 1537, Angelocastro successfully resisted attack. About 3,000 villagers had sought refuge within the fortress to escape the fate of the inhabitants of other parts of the island who were ... In 1571, when they once more invaded Corfu, the Ottomans again unsuccessfully attacked, Angelocastro, where 4,000 people had taken refuge. During the second great siege of the city by the Ottomans in 1716, Angelokastro once again served as a refuge for the...During the course of the centuries Angelocastro played an important part in the defence of the island. In 1403 a force of Genoese soldiers, under the command of the French condottiere Boucicaut, landed at Palaeokastritsa and attacked ... The fortress existed in 1272 when it was formally taken over by the Italian Giordano di San Felice in the name of the Angevin rulers of Naples, who held the island of Corfu from 1267 to 1386. (p. 164)[...]...Angelocastro was probably built during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenos (1143 - 1 180).(p. 164)[...]This was used as a hermitage and was converted into a chapel, probably around the end of the eighteenth century (p. 165)[...]From the top of Angelocastro the view sweeps far and wide over the hills across the breadth of Corfu, to the town, the Eastern Channel and the mountains on the mainland, over a sheer drop of a thousand feet to the sea below (p.325)
^Michaēl S. Kordōsēs (1981). Symvolē stēn historia kai topographia tēs periochēs Korinthou stous mesous chronous. Vivliopōleio D.N. Karavia. p. 140. Retrieved 19 September 2013. Ή ύπαρξη βυζαντινών έρειπίων στή θέση Πατίμα δείχνει πιθανότατα ότι στό σημείο αύτό ύπήρχε βυζαντινός οικισμός. Δέν άποκλείεται, σέ δυσκολότερα χρόνια, ό πληθυσμός νά μετοίκησε άπό τή θέση αύτήστσν οχυρωμένο λόφο. Εκτός άπό τό βυζαντινό φρούριο, στήν περιοχή τοϋ Άγγελοκάστρου παρουσιάζουν ένδιαφέρον καί δυό παλιές έκ- κλησίες, πού ...Ο Buchon, που επισκέφθηκε το καστρο, υποθέτει οτι χτιστηκε ατα τελη του ΙΒ' αιώνα από καποιο μελος της οικογενειας των Αγγελων Κομνηνων, σε μια ταραγμένη εποχή που ευνοουσε προσωπα με κυρος να γινονται ανεξαρτητα απο το κεντρο. Τα τειχη του, γραφει, μαρτυρουν βιαστικη κατασκευή.
^John S. Bowman; Peter Kerasiotis; Sherry Marker (10 January 2012). Frommer's Greece. John Wiley & Sons. p. 567. ISBN978-1-118-20577-8. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
^Nondas Stamatopoulos (1993). Old Corfu: history and culture. N. Stamatopoulos. pp. 164–165. ISBN9789608403000. Retrieved 6 April 2013. Again, during the first great siege of Corfu by the Turks in 1537, Angelocastro ... and After a siege lasting a year the invaders were finally driven away by the defenders of the fortress who were helped by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages. In 1571, when they once more invaded Corfu, the Turks again unsuccessfully attacked, Angelocastro, where 4,000 people had taken refuge. During the second great siege of the city by the Turks in 1716, Angelokastro once again served...
^DK Publishing (1 May 2012). Top 10 Corfu & the Ionian Islands. DK Publishing. p. 80. ISBN978-0-7566-9434-0.
^ abNick Edwards (2003). The Rough Guide to Corfu. Rough Guides. p. 223. ISBN978-1-84353-038-1. On the other side of Mount Ayios Matheos. 2 km by road, is Gardiki Pirgos, the ruins of a thirteenth century castle built in this unlikely lowland setting by the despots of Epirus.
^ abDēmētrēs Philippidēs (1983). Greek Traditional Architecture: Eastern Aegean, Sporades-Ionian Islands. Vol. 1. Melissa. p. 222.
^ ab"The Old Town of Corfu Nomination for inclusion on the World Heritage List STATE PARTY Greece STATE, PROVINCE OR REGION Greece, lonian Islands Region, Corfu Prefecture NAME OF PROPERTY The Old Town of Corfu" (PDF). UNESCO. p. 29. One thing is certain, however. The area under plough outside the walls increased, since the village communities multiplied across the entire island (if we are to judge from the Byzantine castles that have survived) in order to protect the fields. They are castles such as Kassiopi, Angelokastro and Gardiki and, of course, the Old Fortress which was the medieval town itself.
^ abStamatopoulos, Nondas (1993). Old Corfu: history and culture (3 ed.). N. Stamatopoulos. p. 166. ISBN9789608403000.
^ abMartin Young (1977). Corfu and the Other Ionian Islands. Cape. p. 108. ISBN978-0-224-01307-9.
^Sotiris Voyadjis; Ασπασία Ραπτάκη (January 2007). Το κάστρο της Κασσιώπης, Κέρκυρα. Περί Ιστορίας, Τ. 5, 2007 (in Greek). Academia.edu, Ionian Society of Historical Studies: 13–34.
^Συνολική Ανάδειξη Κάστρου Κασσιώπης (PDF) (in Greek). 21st Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Greece. p. 384.
^"Τροποποίηση του άρθρου 1 του ν. 3852/2010" [Amendment of Article 1 of l. 3852/2010] (in Greek). Government Gazette. p. 1164.
^The Literary Panorama, and National Register. Cox, Son, and Baylis. 1811. p. 561.
^ abE. Nikolaidēs (15 December 2011). Science and Eastern Orthodoxy: From the Greek Fathers to the Age of Globalization. JHU Press. p. 171. ISBN978-1-4214-0298-7.
^Sir John Edwin Sandys (1967). A History of Classical Scholarship: The eighteenth century in Germany, and the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States of America. Hafner Pub. Co. p. 369.
^Frommer's Review. . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
^Kathimerini Article on Ioannis Kapodistrias 22 February 2008 Quote: Η γενέτειρά του Κέρκυρα, ψύχραιμη, απολαμβάνει το προνόμιο να έχει το γοητευτικό Μουσείο Καποδίστρια στη θέση Κουκουρίσα, Translation: His birthplace, Corfu, cool, enjoys the privilege to have the charming Museum Kapodistria in the location Koukourisa and εξοχική κατοικία με τον μαγευτικό κήπο της οικογενείας Καποδίστρια, που η Μαρία Δεσύλλα – Καποδίστρια δώρισε στις τρεις κερκυραϊκές εταιρείες Translation: summer residence with the enchanting garden of the Kapodistrias family, which Maria Dessyla Kapodistria donated to the three Corfiote societies
^Robert Holland (26 January 2012). Blue-Water Empire: The British in the Mediterranean since 1800. Penguin Books Limited. p. 506. ISBN978-1-84614-555-1.
^John Freely (30 April 2008). The Ionian Islands: Corfu, Cephalonia and Beyond. I.B.Tauris. p. 44. ISBN978-0-85771-828-0.
^Essential Corfu. AA Publishing. 1995. p. 11. ISBN978-0-7495-0921-7. A dreadful storm - coupled with the rumour that St Spyridon was threatening the Turkish army with a flaming torch - broke the Turks' ...
^Michael Pratt, Lor (1978). Britain's Greek Empire: Reflections on the History of the Ionian Islands from the Fall of Byzantium. Rex Collings. p. 47. ISBN978-0-86036-025-4. refers to the 1716 siege, when Spyridon is meant to have frightened away the Turks;
^Dana Facaros; Michael Pauls (2007). The Greek Islands. New Holland Publishers. p. 450. ISBN978-1-86011-325-3.
^"Baroque Music". As far as his theatrical activities were concerned, the end of 1716 was a high point for Vivaldi. In November, he managed to have the Ospedale della Pietà perform his first great oratorio, Juditha Triumphans devicta Holofernis barbaric [sic]. This work was an allegorical description of the victory of the Venetians (the Christians) over the Turks (the barbarians) in August 1716.
^Corfu the Garden Isle, editor Frank Giles, John Murray 1994, ISBN0-7195-5375-X
^ abcdefBirth of Greek opera Paper 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Kostas Kardamis "San Giacomo and Greek ottocento"XI Convegno Annuale di Società Italiana di Musicologia Lecce, 22–24 October 2004
^Horton, John Joseph (1990). John Joseph (ed.). Yugoslavia (2 ed.). Clio Press. p. 12. ISBN978-1-85109-105-8. The addition of the Greek island of Corfu to the south, where the declaration of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was made at the municipal theatre in 1918
^Anthony Hirst; Patrick Sammon (26 June 2014). The Ionian Islands: Aspects of their History and Culture. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 343. ISBN978-1-4438-6278-3. After 1818, when an opera composed by Rossini was first scheduled for presentation in Corfu, operas by Rossini predominated over works composed by earlier or contemporary artists. This development reflected a general change in Europe, clearly illustrated by the performance of Wagner's Lohengrin in Italian for the inauguration of the new Municipal Theatre of Corfu (1902)
^ abcd. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007.
^"As the Old Philharmonic concludes its marching in front of their building with a hearty rendition of the Graikoí March, the New Philharmonic appears and "salutes" their rivals with yet another rendition of the same march". YouTube.
^ abc. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007.
^"Hercules slept with a minor goddess named Melite and she bore him a son named Hyllus (not to be confused with Hyllus, Hercules' son by Deianeira)". Marvunapp.com. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^. Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1834). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835. Fisher, Son & Co. Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1834). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835. Fisher, Son & Co.
^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1837). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838. Fisher, Son & Co.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1837). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838. Fisher, Son & Co.
^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1836). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837. Fisher, Son & Co.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1836). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837. Fisher, Son & Co.
^ (in Greek). Tainiothiki. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
^BFI. . Archived from the original on 13 December 2013.
^ abMerten, Karl (2004). Antike Mythen – Mythos Antike: posthumanistische Antikerezeption in der englischsprachigen Lyrik der Gegenwart. Wilhelm Fink Verlag. pp. 105–106. ISBN978-3-7705-3871-3. Retrieved 4 May 2013. der Räume und Kunstwerke des Achilleions hat, von entsprechendem dokumentarischem Filmmaterial begleitet.
^Pearson, Allison (4 October 1992). "Sunny side up but it's no yolk at all". The Independent. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
^Joe Kelleher (1996). Tony Harrison. Northcote House. p. 53. ISBN978-0-7463-0789-2. Retrieved 9 May 2013. The poem concludes with the proposal that 'to keep new Europe open-eyed/ they let the marble poet preside...'.
^Foster, Nick (17 September 2009). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
^Tsartas, Paris (September 2003). "Tourism Development in Greek Insular and Coastal Areas: Sociocultural Changes and Crucial Policy Issues". Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 11 (2–3): 116–132. doi:10.1080/09669580308667199. S2CID 41077364.
^"Nick Foster, Financial Times, Ionian rhapsody 17 June 2011".
^. Greekwinemakers.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^ ab"Twinnings" (PDF). Central Union of Municipalities & Communities of Greece. (PDF) from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
^. Sansimera.gr. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^Bracewell, Wendy (2009). Orientations: an anthology of East European travel writing, c. 1550-2000. Central European University Press. pp. 49–50. ISBN978-963-9776-10-4. A Venetian Greek in the Ottoman Balkans Marco Antonio Cazzaiti, 1 742 Marco Antonio Cazzaiti (Markos Antonios Katsaites, 1717–1787) was a nobleman from Venetian Corfu, a lawyer and geographer...Greek in origin and consciousness
General and cited sources
Cruickshank, Dan (2000). Architecture: 150 Masterpieces of Western Architecture. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications. ISBN978-0-8230-0289-4.
Darling, Janina K. (2004). Architecture of Greece. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN978-0-313-32152-8.
Gates, Charles (2003). Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-01895-1.
Leontsini, Maria (2014). "The Ionian Islands During the Byzantine Period: An Overview of their History and Monuments". In Hirst, Anthony; Sammon, Patrick (eds.). The Ionian Islands: Aspects of their History and Culture. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 26–63. ISBN978-1-4438-6278-3.
Raaflaub, Kurt A.; van Wees, Hans (2009). A Companion to Archaic Greece. Malden, MA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Limited (John Wiley and Sons). ISBN978-0-631-23045-8.
Šašel Kos, Marjeta (2005). Appian and Illyricum. Narodni muzej Slovenije. ISBN961616936X.
Barnett, Charles (2016). "Promišljanja o identitetu, etnicitetu i "helenizaciji" predrimske Liburnije" [Rethinking Identity, Ethnicity, and "Hellenization" in pre-Roman Liburnia]. Miscellanea Hadriatica et Mediterranea (in Croatian and English). 3: 63–98. doi:10.15291/misc.1367.
Further reading
"Corfu", A Hand-book for Travellers in the Ionian Islands, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, and Constantinople, London: J. Murray, 1840, OCLC 397597, OL 6952607M
"Corfu", Handbook for Travellers in Greece (7th ed.), London: John Murray, 1900, OL 24368063M
"Corfu", Greece (4th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1909, OL 24347510M
corfu, other, uses, disambiguation, corcyra, redirects, here, other, uses, corcyra, disambiguation, ɔːr, also, ɔːr, kerkyra, greek, Κέρκυρα, romanized, kérkyra, pronounced, ˈcercira, listen, greek, island, ionian, ionian, islands, including, small, satellite, . For other uses see Corfu disambiguation Corcyra redirects here For other uses see Corcyra disambiguation Corfu k ɔːr ˈ f j uː kor FEW FOO US also ˈ k ɔːr f j uː KOR few foo or Kerkyra Greek Kerkyra romanized Kerkyra pronounced ˈcercira listen a is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea of the Ionian Islands 1 and including its small satellite islands forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece 2 The island is part of the Corfu regional unit and is administered by three municipalities with the islands of Othonoi Ereikoussa and Mathraki 3 The principal city of the island pop 32 095 is also named Corfu 4 Corfu is home to the Ionian University CorfuNative name KerkyraPontikonisi background and Vlacherna Monastery foreground seen from the hilltops of KanoniGeographyCoordinates39 35 N 19 52 E 39 583 N 19 867 E 39 583 19 867Area610 9 km2 235 9 sq mi Highest elevation906 m 2972 ft Administration GreeceAdministrative regionIonian IslandsRegional unitCorfuCapital cityCorfuDemographicsDemonymCorfiot CorfiotePopulation99 847 2021 Pop density163 44 km2 423 31 sq mi Additional informationTime zoneEastern European Time UTC 2 Summer DST Eastern European Summer Time UTC 3 Postal code490 81 490 82 490 83 490 84 491 31 491 32 former 491 00 Area code s 26610 26620 26630Official websitewww wbr corfu wbr grThe island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology and is marked by numerous battles and conquests Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota which was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War and according to Thucydides the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of fifth century BC Greece along with Athens and Corinth 5 Ruins of ancient Greek temples and other archaeological sites of the ancient city of Korkyra are found in Palaiopolis Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across the island are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans Two of these castles enclose its capital which is the only city in Greece to be surrounded in such a way As a result Corfu s capital has been officially declared a Kastropolis castle city by the Greek government 6 From medieval times and into the 17th century the island as part of the Republic of Venice since 1204 successfully repulsed the Ottomans during several sieges was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe 7 The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic In November 1815 Corfu came under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars and in 1864 was ceded to modern Greece by the British government along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands under the Treaty of London Corfu is the origin of the Ionian Academy the first university of the modern Greek state and the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu the first Greek theatre and opera house of modern Greece The first governor of independent Greece after the revolution of 1821 founder of the modern Greek state and distinguished European diplomat Ioannis Kapodistrias was born in Corfu In 2007 the city s old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List following a recommendation by ICOMOS 8 9 10 The 1994 European Union summit was held in Corfu 11 The island is a popular tourist destination 12 13 Contents 1 Name 2 Geography 2 1 Diapontia Islands 2 2 Lazaretto Island 2 3 Climate 3 Biodiversity 3 1 Flora 3 2 Fauna 3 2 1 Birds 3 2 2 Mammals 3 2 3 Amphibians and reptiles 3 2 4 Butterflies 3 2 4 1 Corfu Butterfly Conservation 4 History 4 1 Early history 4 2 Roman and medieval history 4 3 Venetian rule 4 3 1 Venetian policies and legacy 4 4 19th century 4 4 1 British Lord High Commissioners during the protectorate 4 5 First World War 4 6 Interwar period 4 7 Second World War 4 7 1 Italian occupation and resistance 4 7 2 German bombing and occupation 4 7 3 Liberation 4 8 Post World War and modern Corfu 5 Architecture 5 1 Venetian influence 5 2 The Achilleion 5 3 Kaiser s Bridge 6 Urban landscape 6 1 Old town 6 2 Ano and Kato Plateia and the music pavilion 6 3 Palaia Anaktora and its gardens 6 4 Churches 6 5 Pontikonisi 7 Archaeology 7 1 Palaiopolis 7 2 Kardaki Temple 7 3 Temple of Artemis 7 4 Temple of Hera 7 5 Tomb of Menecrates 7 6 Other archaeological sites 8 Castles 8 1 Palaio Frourio 8 2 Neo Frourio 8 3 Angelokastro 8 4 Gardiki Castle 8 5 Kassiopi Castle 9 Municipalities 10 Education 10 1 Ionian Academy 10 2 Ionian University 10 3 Student activism 11 Culture 11 1 Museums and libraries 11 2 Patron Saint Spyridon 11 3 Music 11 3 1 Musical history 11 3 2 The three Philharmonics 11 3 3 Ionian University music department 11 4 Theatres and operatic tradition 11 4 1 Teatro di San Giacomo 11 4 2 Municipal Theatre of Corfu 11 5 Festivities 11 5 1 Easter 11 5 2 Ta Karnavalia 12 Cultural depictions 12 1 In myth 12 2 In literature 12 3 In film 12 4 In popular culture 13 Tourism 14 Transport 15 Economy 16 International relations 17 Notable people 17 1 Ancient 17 2 Modern 18 Gallery 19 See also 20 Explanatory notes 21 Citations 22 General and cited sources 23 Further reading 24 External linksName EditThe Greek name Kerkyra or Korkyra is related to two powerful water deities Poseidon god of the sea and Asopos an important Greek mainland river 14 According to myth Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra daughter of Asopos and river nymph Metope and abducted her 14 Poseidon brought Korkyra to the hitherto unnamed island and in marital bliss offered her name to the place Korkyra 14 which gradually evolved to Kerkyra Doric 6 They had a child Phaiax after whom the inhabitants of the island were named Phaiakes in Latin Phaeaciani Corfu is known as the island of the Phaeacians The name Corfu is an Italian version of the Byzantine Koryfw Koryphō meaning city of the peaks It derives from the Byzantine Greek Koryfai Koryphai crests or peaks denoting the two peaks of Palaio Frourio 6 Geography Edit Map of Corfu Its satellite islands of Ereikoussa Othoni and Mathraki counterclockwise NW WNW and W respectively with respect to the northern part of the island at the top of the map and Paxos and Antipaxos on the SE side are visible The northeastern edge of Corfu lies off the coast of Sarande Albania separated by straits varying in width from 3 to 23 km 2 to 14 miles The southeast side of the island lies off the coast of Thesprotia Greece Its shape resembles a sickle drepane drepani to which it was compared by the ancients the concave side with the city and harbour of Corfu in the centre 15 lies toward the Albanian coast With the island s area estimated at 592 9 km2 228 9 sq mi 146 500 acres 16 it runs approximately 64 km 40 mi long with greatest breadth at around 32 km 20 mi Two high and well defined ranges divide the island into three districts of which the northern is mountainous the central undulating and the southern low lying The more important of the two ranges that of Pantokrator Pantokratwr the Almighty stretches east and west from Cape Falacro to Cape Psaromita and attains its greatest elevation in the summit of the same name 15 Cape Drastis Bay of Agios Georgios in northwestern Corfu The second range culminates in the mountain of Santi Jeca or Santa Decca as it is called by misinterpretation of the Greek designation Agioi Deka Hagioi Deka or the Ten Saints The whole island composed as it is of various limestone formations presents great diversity of surface 15 Beaches are found in Agios Gordis the Korission Lagoon Agios Georgios Marathia Kassiopi Sidari Palaiokastritsa and many others Corfu is located near the Kefalonia geological fault formation earthquakes have occurred Corfu s coastline spans 217 km 135 mi including capes its highest point is Mount Pantokrator 911 m 2 989 ft and the second Stravoskiadi at 849 m 2 785 ft The full extent of capes and promontories take in Agia Aikaterini Drastis to the north Lefkimmi and Asprokavos to the southeast and Megachoro to the south Two islands are also to be found at a middle point of Gouvia and Corfu Bay which extends across much of the eastern shore of the island are known as Lazareto and Ptychia or Vido Diapontia Islands Edit Othoni Island The Diapontia Islands Greek Diapontia nhsia are located in the northwest of Corfu 6 km away and about 40 km 25 mi from the Italian coast The main islands are Othonoi Ereikoussa and Mathraki Lazaretto Island Edit Lazaretto Island Lazaretto Island formerly known as St Dimitrios is located 1 1 km 0 68 mi off the coast northeast of the city Corfu Lazaretto has an area of 7 1 ha 17 5 acres and comes under the administration of the Greek National Tourist Organization During Venetian rule in the early 16th century a monastery was built on the islet and a leprosarium established later in the century after which the island was named In 1798 during the French occupation the islet was occupied by the Russo Turkish fleet who ran it as a military hospital During the period of British rule in 1814 the leprosarium was once again opened after renovations and following Enosis in 1864 the leprosarium again saw occasional use 17 During World War II the Axis Occupation of Greece established a Nazi concentration camp there for the prisoners of the Greek Resistance movement 18 while remaining today are the two storeyed building that served as the Headquarters of the Italian army a small church and the wall against which those condemned to death were shot 17 18 Climate Edit Corfu has a hot summer Mediterranean climate Koppen climate classification Csa featuring hot dry summers and mild to cool very rainy winters 19 The highest temperature ever recorded is 42 8 C 109 0 F on 24 July 2007 while the lowest is 6 0 C 21 2 F on 17 January 2012 Climate data for Corfu 1955 2010 HNMS 1 m aslMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 21 0 69 8 23 0 73 4 26 0 78 8 28 0 82 4 34 0 93 2 41 0 105 8 42 8 109 0 40 0 104 0 37 4 99 3 33 0 91 4 27 8 82 0 22 0 71 6 42 8 109 0 Average high C F 13 9 57 0 14 1 57 4 16 0 60 8 19 1 66 4 24 0 75 2 28 2 82 8 31 2 88 2 31 5 88 7 27 5 81 5 23 2 73 8 18 7 65 7 15 2 59 4 21 9 71 4 Daily mean C F 9 8 49 6 10 2 50 4 12 1 53 8 15 2 59 4 19 9 67 8 24 2 75 6 26 7 80 1 26 6 79 9 22 7 72 9 18 5 65 3 14 4 57 9 11 2 52 2 17 6 63 7 Average low C F 5 3 41 5 5 7 42 3 7 1 44 8 9 6 49 3 13 3 55 9 16 9 62 4 18 9 66 0 19 3 66 7 16 8 62 2 13 7 56 7 10 2 50 4 7 0 44 6 12 0 53 6 Record low C F 6 0 21 2 4 2 24 4 4 4 24 1 0 2 31 6 4 6 40 3 8 7 47 7 10 0 50 0 11 3 52 3 7 2 45 0 2 8 37 0 2 2 28 0 2 0 28 4 6 0 21 2 Average rainfall mm inches 135 8 5 35 123 1 4 85 99 6 3 92 65 2 2 57 36 5 1 44 15 5 0 61 8 7 0 34 21 7 0 85 87 8 3 46 140 4 5 53 187 1 7 37 189 9 7 48 1 111 3 43 75 Average rainy days 14 8 13 4 12 9 12 2 7 7 4 8 3 3 3 3 7 4 11 4 14 7 16 5 122 4Average relative humidity 75 6 74 1 73 1 72 5 69 2 63 2 61 7 61 7 70 3 74 9 77 5 77 1 70 9Mean monthly sunshine hours 117 7 116 8 116 0 206 5 276 8 324 2 364 5 332 8 257 1 188 9 133 5 110 9 2 545 7Source 1 InfoClimat extremes 1991 present 20 Hellenic National Meteorological Service 21 Source 2 NOAA extremes and sun 1961 1990 22 Biodiversity EditFlora Edit Homer identifies six plants that adorn the garden of Alcinous wild olive pear pomegranate apple fig and grape vine Of these the apple and the pear are very inferior in Corfu the others thrive together with all the fruit trees known in Southern Europe with addition of the kumquat loquat and prickly pear and in some spots the banana Olive trees dominate and their combination with cypress trees compose the typical Corfiot landscape When undisturbed by cultivation 15 the high maquis is the major natural vegetation type followed by deciduous oak forests and to a lesser extent pine forests In total more than 1800 plant species have been recorded 24 Fauna Edit Corfu is a continental island its fauna is similar to that of the opposite mainland Birds Edit Avifauna is extensive with around 300 bird species recorded since the 19th century Species vary in size from the greater flamingo to the goldcrest 25 Some species have become extinct such as the rock partridge and the grey partridge or no longer breed on the island like the eastern imperial eagle the white tailed eagle the Bonelli s eagle the griffon vulture and the Egyptian vulture 26 27 Mammals Edit Around 40 species of mammals live on the island and in the sea around it Fin whales sperm whales Cuvier s beaked whales common bottlenose dolphins short beaked common dolphins striped dolphins and Risso s dolphins are the regularly present cetaceans 28 Monk seals appear from time to time without breeding there anymore Eurasian otters still survive in the lagoons and streams of Corfu 29 30 31 The golden jackal was very common till the 1960s but after persecution it became extinct with the last individuals observed in the first half of the 1990s 32 33 Recent sightings indicate a recolonization effort from the nearby mainland 30 Wild boars were exterminated after 2000 after farmers complained about crop damage but at the moment they recolonized Corfu swimming from the mainland 30 Red foxes beech martens least weasels European hares northern white breasted hedgehogs are quite widespread as some of the smaller mammals like the European edible dormouse the hazel dormouse the house mouse the yellow necked mouse the western broad toothed field mouse the wood mouse the lesser white toothed shrew the etruscan shrew as well as several species of bats 30 34 35 Coypus fallow deer red deer Indian crested porcupines Siberian chipmunks and raccoons have been observed recently but they are escapees and only the coypu and the raccoon have established viable populations 36 30 Amphibians and reptiles Edit Eight species of amphibians and 31 species of reptiles live or have been recorded on and around Corfu 37 The Greek newt the Macedonian crested newt the common toad the European green toad the European tree frog the agile frog the Epirus water frog and the Greek marsh frog are the representatives of the Amphibia Class Loggerhead sea turtles nest on the sandy beaches On land the Hermann s tortoise is widespread while the marginated tortoise s status is unclear In freshwater wetlands European pond terrapins and Balkan terrapins are common but the last few years face the competition of the introduced pond slider Lizard species include typical lizards and geckos like the starred agama the Mediterranean house gecko the moorish gecko the Dalmatian algyroides the common wall lizard the Balkan wall lizard the Balkan green lizard the European green lizard and the snake eyed skink as also the legless Greek slow worm and the European glass lizard Of the snakes of Corfu only the nose horned viper is potentially dangerous The harmless snake list includes the European worm snake the javelin sand boa the Dahl s whip snake the Balkan whip snake the Caspian whip snake the four lined snake the Aesculapian snake the leopard snake the grass snake the dice snake the European cat snake the eastern Montpellier snake Butterflies Edit There are 75 plus known species of Corfiot butterfly Of particular interest are the Southern Swallowtail Southern Festoon Oberthur s Grizzled Skipper Lulworth Skipper Eastern Orange Tip Krueper s Small White Eastern Baton Blue and the Tree Grayling many of which are of near threatened status Before the turn of the century not much had been published about the butterfly fauna of Corfu and there were only a few short and obscure scientific articles Recent interest grew when a Facebook discussion page now called Corfu Butterfly Conservation was created on 27th April 2014 Since that time a group of responsible butterfly enthusiasts has grown 731 members at the time of writing who share their passion for the butterflies and moths found on the island It is through this work that more is being discovered about the distribution and abundance of butterflies across the island 38 Corfu Butterfly Conservation Edit Corfu Butterfly Conservation CBC was launched in April 2019 The group is composed of concerned residents island visitors and scientists from throughout Europe 39 Their goals are to produce robust scientific data that can be used to influence policy and protect habitat for the benefit of Corfu s butterflies and the wider natural environment as well as to stimulate public interest in butterfly conservation CBC launched its website www corfubutterflyconservation org funded by the Royal Entomological Society s Goodman Award on the 1 January 2021 to coincide with the launch of the Corfu Butterfly Survey 40 The website describes the 75 species of butterflies that have been confirmed by members of CBC from the island It outlines the value of butterflies as indicators of the island s biodiversity status and encourages enthusiasts to record their sightings on this website as participants of the survey 38 On the 16 December 2021 CBC became a UK registered community interest company No 13813164 and so its identity changed from being a project to that of an organisation 38 History EditEarly history Edit A relief of Dionysus Bacchus at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu The earliest reference to Corfu is the Mycenaean Greek word ko ro ku ra i jo man from Kerkyra written in Linear B syllabic script c 1300 BC 41 According to Strabo Corcyra Korkyra was the Homeric island of Scheria Sxeria 42 and its earliest inhabitants were the Phaeacians Faiakes The island has indeed been identified by some scholars with Scheria the island of the Phaeacians described in Homer s Odyssey though conclusive and irrefutable evidence for this theory have not been found Apollonius of Rhodes depicts the island in Argonautica as a place visited by the Argonauts Jason and Medea were married there in Medea s Cave Apollonius named the island Drepane Greek for sickle since it was thought to hide the sickle that Cronus used to castrate his father Uranus from whose blood the Phaeacians were descended In an alternative account Apollonius identifies the buried sickle as a scythe belonging to Demeter yet the name Drepane probably originated in the sickle shape of the island According to a scholiast commenting on the passage in Argonautica the island was first of all called Macris after the nurse of Dionysus who fled there from Euboea 43 Some scholars have asserted that Corfu is Taphos the island of the Lelegian Taphians 44 According to Strabo VI 269 the Liburnians were masters of the island Korkyra Corfu for a time until the 8th century BCE They reportedly were expelled from Korkyra by the Corinthians 45 46 47 At a date no doubt previous to the foundation of Syracuse Corfu was peopled by settlers from Corinth probably 730 BC but it appears to have previously received a stream of emigrants from Eretria The commercially advantageous location of Corcyra on the way between Greece and Magna Grecia and its fertile lowlands in the southern section of the island favoured its growth and influenced perhaps by the presence of non Corinthian settlers its people quite contrary to the usual practice of Corinthian colonies maintained an independent and even hostile attitude towards the mother city 15 This opposition came to a head in the early part of the 7th century BC when their fleets fought the first naval battle recorded in Greek history 665 BC according to Thucydides These hostilities ended in the conquest of Corcyra by the Corinthian tyrant Periander Periandros who induced his new subjects to join in the colonization of Apollonia and Anactorium The island soon regained its independence and thenceforth devoted itself to a purely mercantile policy During the Persian invasion of 480 BC it manned the second largest Greek fleet 60 ships but took no active part in the war In 435 BC it was again involved in a quarrel with Corinth over the control of Epidamnus and sought assistance from Athens see Battle of Sybota 15 This new alliance was one of the chief immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War in which Corcyra was of considerable use to the Athenians as a naval station but did not render much assistance with its fleet The island was nearly lost to Athens by two attempts of the oligarchic faction to effect a revolution on each occasion the popular party ultimately won the day and took a most bloody revenge on its opponents 427 BC and 425 BC 48 15 During the Sicilian campaigns of Athens Corcyra served as a supply base after a third abortive rising of the oligarchs in 410 BC it practically withdrew from the war In 375 BC it again joined the Athenian alliance two years later it was besieged by a Spartan force but in spite of the devastation of its flourishing countryside held out successfully until relieved In the Hellenistic period Corcyra was exposed to attack from several sides 15 In 303 BC after a vain siege by Cassander 15 the island was occupied for a short time by the Lacedaemonian general Cleonymus of Sparta then regained its independence and later it was attacked and conquered by Agathocles of Syracuse He offered Corfu as dowry to his daughter Lanassa on her marriage to Pyrrhus King of Epirus The island then became a member of the Epirotic alliance It was then perhaps that the settlement of Cassiope was founded to serve as a base for the King of Epirus expeditions The island remained in the Epirotic alliance until 255 BC when it became independent after the death of Alexander last King of Epirus In 229 BC following the naval battle of Paxos it was captured by the Illyrians but was speedily delivered by a Roman fleet and remained a Roman naval station until at least 189 BC At this time it was governed by a prefect presumably nominated by the consuls but in 148 BC it was attached to the province of Macedonia 49 In 31 BC it served Octavian Augustus as a base against Mark Antony 15 Roman and medieval history Edit Pontikonisi island is home of the monastery of Pantokrator Monasthri toy Pantokratoros The Greek word Pontikonhsi pontikonissi means mouse island the white staircase of the monastery resembles from afar a mouse tail Christianity arrived in Corfu early two disciples of Saint Paul Jason of Tarsus and Sosipatrus of Patras taught the Gospel and according to tradition the city of Corfu and much of the island converted to Christianity Their relics were housed in the old cathedral at the site of the current Old Fortress before a dedicated church was built for them c 100 AD 50 During Late Antiquity late Roman early Byzantine period the island formed part of the province of Epirus Vetus in the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum 51 In 551 during the Gothic War the Ostrogoths raided the island and destroyed the city of Corfu then known as Chersoupolis Xersoypolis city on the promontory because of its location between Garitsa Bay and Kanoni Over the next centuries the main settlement was moved north to the location of the current Old Fortress where the rocky hills offered natural protection against raids From the twin peaks of the new site the medieval city received its new name Korypho Koryfw city on the peak or Korphoi Korfoi peaks whence the modern Western name of Corfu The previous site of the city now known as Palaiopolis Palaiopolis old city continued to be inhabited for several centuries however 52 From at least the early 9th century Corfu and the other Ionian Islands formed part of the theme of Cephallenia 53 This naval theme provided a defensive bulwark for Byzantium against western threats but also played a major role in securing the sealanes to the Byzantine possessions in southern Italy Indeed traveller reports from throughout the middle Byzantine period 8th 12th centuries make clear that Corfu was an important staging post for travels between East and West 54 Indeed the medieval name of Corfu first appears Latinized Coryphus in Liutprand of Cremona s account of his 968 embassy to the Byzantine court 55 Corfu enjoyed relative peace and safety during the Macedonian dynasty 867 1054 which allowed the construction of a monumental church to Saints Iason and Sosipatrus outside the city wall of Palaiopolis 55 Nevertheless in 933 the city led by its archbishop Arsenios withstood a Saracen attack Arsenios was canonized and became the city s patron saint 56 The peace and prosperity of the Macedonian era ended with another Saracen attack in 1033 but more importantly with the emergence of a new threat following the Norman conquest of Southern Italy the ambitious Norman monarchs set their sights on expansion in the East Three times on the space of a century Corfu was the first target and served as a staging area for the Norman invasions of Byzantium The first Norman occupation from 1081 to 1084 was ended only after the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos secured the aid of the Republic of Venice in exchange to wide ranging commercial concessions to Venetian merchants The admiral George of Antioch captured Corfu again in 1147 and it took a ten month siege for Manuel I Komnenos to recover the island in 1149 In the third invasion in 1185 the island was again captured by William II of Sicily but was soon regained by Isaac II Angelos 57 During the break up of the Byzantine Empire the island was occupied by Genoese privateers 1197 1207 who in turn were expelled by the Venetians In 1214 it passed to the Greek despots of Epirus 15 who gave it to Manfred of Sicily as a dowry in 1259 58 At his death in 1267 it passed with his other possessions to the house of Anjou Under the latter the island suffered considerably from the inroads of various adventurers 15 The island was one of the first places in Europe in which Romani people Gypsies settled In about 1360 a fiefdom called the Feudum Acinganorum was established with mainly Romani serfs 59 60 From 1386 Corfu was controlled by the Republic of Venice which in 1401 acquired formal sovereignty and retained it until the French Occupation of 1797 15 Corfu became central for the propagation of the activities of the Filiki Etaireia among the Greek Diaspora and philhellenic societies across Europe through nobles like Ioannis Kapodistrias and Dionysios Romas Venetian rule Edit Further information Ionian Islands under Venetian rule The northern side of the Venetian Old Fortress at night The Great Cross can be clearly seen as described in the Palaio Frourio section of this article From medieval times and into the 17th century the island was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe 7 The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic Corfu repulsed several Ottoman sieges before passing under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 Kerkyra the Door of Venice during the centuries when the whole Adriatic was the Gulf of Venice 68 remained in Venetian hands from 1401 until 1797 though several times assailed by Ottoman naval and land forces 15 and subjected to four notable sieges in 1537 1571 1573 and 1716 in which the strength of the city defences asserted itself time after time The effectiveness of the powerful Venetian fortifications as well as the strength of some old Byzantine castles in Angelokastro Kassiopi Castle Gardiki and elsewhere were additional factors that enabled Corfu to remain free Will Durant claimed that Corfu owed to the Republic of Venice the fact that it was one of the few parts of Greece never conquered by the Ottomans 69 A series of attempts by the Ottomans to take the island began in 1431 when Ottoman troops under Ali Bey landed on the island The Ottomans tried to take the city castle and raided the surrounding area but were repulsed 70 The Siege of Corfu 1537 was the first great siege by the Ottomans It began on 29 August 1537 with 25 000 soldiers from the Ottoman fleet landing and pillaging the island and taking 20 000 hostages as slaves Despite the destruction wrought on the countryside the city castle held out in spite of repeated attempts over twelve days to take it and the Turks left the island unsuccessfully because of poor logistics and an epidemic that decimated their ranks 70 Thirty four years later in August 1571 Ottoman forces returned for yet another attempt to conquer the island Having seized Parga and Mourtos from the Greek mainland side they attacked the Paxi islands Subsequently they landed on Corfu s southeast shore and established a large beachhead all the way from the southern tip of the island at Lefkimi to Ipsos in Corfu s eastern midsection These areas were thoroughly pillaged as in past encounters Nevertheless the city castle stood firm again a testament to Corfiot Venetian steadfastness as well as the Venetian castle building engineering skills Another castle Angelokastro situated on the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa Greek Palaiokastritsa meaning Old Castle place and located on particularly steep and rocky terrain also held out The castle is a tourist attraction today 70 These defeats in the east and the west of the island proved decisive and the Ottomans abandoned their siege and departed Two years later they repeated their attempt Coming from Africa after a victorious campaign they landed in Corfu and wreaked havoc on rural areas Following a counterattack by the Venetian Corfiot forces the Ottoman troops were forced to leave the city sailing away 70 Outer perimeter of the Gardiki Castle which provided defence to the southern part of the island The second great siege of Corfu took place in 1716 during the last Ottoman Venetian War 1714 18 After the conquest of the Peloponnese in 1715 the Ottoman fleet appeared in Buthrotum opposite Corfu On 8 July the Ottoman fleet carrying 33 000 men sailed to Corfu from Buthrotum and established a beachhead at Ipsos 70 The same day the Venetian fleet encountered the Ottoman fleet off the Corfu Channel and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle On 19 July after taking a few outlying forts the Ottoman army reached the hills around the city of Corfu and laid siege to it Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting the Ottomans were unable to breach the defences and were forced to raise the siege after 22 days The 5 000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries together with 3 000 Corfiotes under the leadership of Count von der Schulenburg who commanded the defence of the island were victorious once more 6 70 71 The success was owed in no small part to the extensive fortifications where Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds The repulse of the Ottomans was widely celebrated in Europe Corfu being seen as a bastion of Western civilization against the Ottoman tide 61 72 Today however this role is often relatively unknown or ignored but was celebrated in Juditha triumphans by the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi Venetian policies and legacy Edit Corfu s urban architecture differs from that of other major Greek cities because of Corfu s unique history From 1386 to 1797 Corfu was ruled by Venetian nobility much of the city reflects this era when the island belonged to the Republic of Venice with multi storeyed buildings on narrow lanes The Old Town of Corfu has clear Venetian influence and is amongst the World Heritage Sites in Greece It was in the Venetian period that the city saw the erection of the first opera house Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu in Greece Many Venetian speaking families settled in Corfu during these centuries they were called Corfiot Italians and until the second half of the 20th century the Veneto da mar was spoken in Corfu During this time the local Greek language assimilated a large number of Italian and Venetian words many of which are still common today The internationally renowned Venetian born British photographer Felice Beato 1832 1909 is thought to have spent much of his childhood in Corfu Also many Italian Jews took refuge in Corfu during the Venetian centuries and spoke their own language Italkian a mixture of Hebrew Italian in a Venetian or Apulian dialect with some Greek words Venetians promoted the Catholic Church during their four centuries of rule in Corfu Today the majority of Corfiots are Greek Orthodox but the small Catholic minority 5 living harmoniously with the Orthodox community owes its faith to these origins These contemporary Catholics are mostly families who came from Malta but also from Italy and today the Catholic community numbers about 4 000 2 3 of Maltese descent who live almost exclusively in the Venetian Citadel of Corfu City Like other native Greek Catholics they celebrate Easter using the same calendar as the Greek Orthodox church The Cathedral of St James and St Christopher in Corfu City is the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu Zakynthos and Cephalonia The island served also as a refuge for Greek scholars and in 1732 it became the home of the first academy of modern Greece 15 A Corfu cleric and scholar Nikephoros Theotokis 1732 1800 became renowned in Greece as an educator and in Russia where he moved later in his life as an Orthodox archbishop The island s culture absorbed Venetian influence in a variety of ways like other Ionian islands see Cuisine of the Ionian islands its local cuisine took in such elements and today s Corfiot cooking includes Venetian delicacies and recipes Pastitsada deriving from the Venetian Pastissada Italian Spezzatino and the most popular dish in the island of Corfu Sofrito Strapatsada Savoro Bianco and Mandolato Venetian Old Fortress Map 1573 Venetian blazon with the Lion of Saint Mark as frequently found on the New Fortress walls Panoramic view of Corfu city from the New Fortress Detail of the south wing of the entrance at Kassiopi Castle View of Kasiopi village from the castle19th century Edit Further information French departments of Greece Septinsular Republic and United States of the Ionian Islands A Russian gun from the Russian Ottoman occupation of Corfu in the beginning of the 19th century Paleokastritsa By the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio Corfu was ceded to the French who occupied it for two years as the departement of Corcyre until they were expelled by a joint Russian Ottoman squadron under Admiral Ushakov For a short time it became the capital of a self governing federation of the Heptanesos Seven Islands under Ottoman suzerainty in 1807 after the Treaty of Tilsit its faction ridden government was again replaced by a French administration under governor Francois Xavier Donzelot and in 1809 it was besieged in vain by a British Royal Navy fleet which had captured all the other Ionian islands 15 Following the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo the Ionian Islands became a protectorate of the United Kingdom by the Treaty of Paris of 5 November 1815 as the United States of the Ionian Islands Corfu became the seat of the British Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands 15 The period of British rule led to investment in new roads an improved water supply system and the expansion of the Ionian Academy into a university During this period the Greek language became the official language citation needed Following a plebiscite the Second National Assembly of the Greeks at Athens elected a new king Prince Wilhelm William of Denmark who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain On 29 March 1864 the United Kingdom Greece France and Russia signed the Treaty of London pledging the transfer of sovereignty to Greece upon ratification Thus on 21 May by proclamation of the Lord High Commissioner the Ionian Islands were united with Greece 70 British Lord High Commissioners during the protectorate Edit The Maitland Monument in Corfu town built to commemorate Sir Thomas Maitland This is a list of the British High Commissioners of the Ionian Islands as well as the transitional Greek Governor appointed a year prior to Enosis Union with Greece in 1864 73 Sir James Campbell 1814 1816 Sir Thomas Maitland 1759 1824 1815 1823 Sir Frederick Adam 1781 1853 1823 1832 Sir Alexander Woodford 1782 1870 1832 George Nugent Grenville 2nd Baron Nugent 1788 1850 1832 1835 Howard Douglas 1776 1861 1835 1840 James Alexander Stewart Mackenzie 1784 1843 1840 1843 John Colborne 1st Baron Seaton 1778 1863 1843 1849 Sir Henry George Ward 1797 1860 1849 1855 Sir John Young 1807 1876 1855 1859 William Ewart Gladstone 1809 1898 1859 Sir Henry Knight Storks 1811 1874 1859 1863 Count Dimitrios Nikolaou Karousos President of the Ionian Parliament 1799 1873 1863 1864First World War Edit Further information Serbian army s retreat through Albania Serbian soldiers in Corfu during WWI During the First World War the island served as a refuge for the Serbian army that retreated there on Allied forces ships from a homeland occupied by the Austrians Germans and Bulgarians During their stay a large portion of Serbian soldiers died from exhaustion food shortage and various diseases Most of their remains were buried at sea near the island of Vido a small island at the mouth of Corfu port and a monument of thanks to the Greek nation has been erected at Vido by the grateful Serbs consequently the waters around Vido Island are known by the Serbian people as the Blue Tomb in Serbian Plava Grobnica Plava Grobnica after a poem written by Milutin Bojic following World War I 74 Interwar period Edit In 1923 after a diplomatic dispute between Italy and Greece Italian forces bombarded and occupied Corfu The League of Nations settled this Corfu incident in Italy s favour Second World War Edit Further information Axis occupation of Greece Italian occupation and resistance Edit Bay of Garitsa During the Greco Italian War Corfu was occupied by the Italians in April 1941 They administered Corfu and the Ionian islands as a separate entity from Greece until September 1943 following Benito Mussolini s orders of fulfilling Italian Irredentism and making Corfu part of the Kingdom of Italy During the Second World War the 10th infantry regiment of the Greek Army composed mainly of Corfiot soldiers 75 was assigned the task of defending Corfu The regiment took part in Operation Latzides which was a heroic but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stem the forces of the Italians 75 After Greece s surrender to the Axis the island came under Italian control and occupation 75 On the first Sunday of November 1941 high school students from all over Corfu took part in student protests against the occupying Italian army these student protests of the island were among the first acts of overt popular Resistance in occupied Greece and a rare phenomenon even by wartime European standards 75 Subsequently a considerable number of Corfiots escaped to Epirus in mainland Greece and enlisted as partisans in ELAS and EDES in order to join the resistance movement gathering in the mainland 75 German bombing and occupation Edit Italian soldiers taken prisoner by the Germans in Corfu September 1943 Upon the fall of Italian fascism in 1943 the Nazis moved to take control of the island On 14 September 1943 Corfu was bombarded by the Luftwaffe The Nazi bombing raids destroyed most of the city s buildings including churches homes and whole city blocks especially in the Jewish quarter Evraiki Other losses included the city s market agora and the hotel Bella Venezia The worst losses were the historic buildings of the Ionian Academy Ionios Akadhmia the Municipal Theatre which in 1901 had replaced the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu the Municipal Library and the Ionian Parliament 75 Following the Wehrmacht invasion the Italians capitulated and the island came under German occupation Corfu s mayor at the time Kollas was a known collaborator and various anti semitic laws were passed by the Nazi occupation government of the island 76 In early June 1944 while the Allies bombed Corfu as a diversion from the Normandy landings the Gestapo rounded up the Jews of the city temporarily incarcerated them at the old fort Palaio Frourio and on 10 June sent them to Auschwitz II where most of them were murdered by gas 76 77 Approximately two hundred out of a total population of 1 900 escaped 78 Many among the local population at the time provided shelter and refuge to those 200 Jews who managed to escape the Nazis 79 In Evraiki Ebraikh meaning Jewish quarter there is currently a synagogue with about 65 members who still speak their original Italkian language 78 Liberation Edit Douglas column at the suburb of Garitsa Built to commemorate Howard Douglas Corfu was liberated by British troops specifically the 40th Royal Marine Commando which landed in Corfu on 14 October 1944 as the Germans were evacuating Greece 80 The Royal Navy swept the Corfu Channel for mines in 1944 and 1945 and found it to be free of mines 81 A large minefield was laid there shortly afterwards by the newly communist Albania and gave rise to the Corfu Channel Incident 81 82 83 84 This incident led to the Corfu Channel Case where the United Kingdom opened a case against the People s Republic of Albania at the International Court of Justice 85 86 Post World War and modern Corfu Edit After World War II and the Greek Civil War the island was rebuilt under the general programme of reconstruction of the Greek Government Anoikodomhsis and many elements of its classical architecture remain Its economy grew but a portion of its inhabitants left the island for other parts of the country buildings erected during Italian occupation such as schools or government buildings were put back to civic use In 1956 Maria Desylla Kapodistria relative of first Governor head of state of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias was elected mayor of Corfu and became the first female mayor in Greece 87 The Corfu General Hospital was also constructed 88 electricity was introduced to the villages in the 1950s the radio substation of Hellenic Radio in Corfu was inaugurated in March 1957 89 and television was introduced in the 1960s with internet connections in 1995 90 The Ionian University was established in 1984 Architecture Edit The harbour of Corfu in 1890 Venetian influence Edit Old Corfu town as seen from the sea Corfu s urban architecture influence derives from Venice reflecting the fact that from 1386 to 1797 the island was ruled by the Venetians The architecture of the Old Town of Corfu along with its narrow streets the kantounia has clear Venetian influence and is amongst the World Heritage Sites in Greece Other notable Venetian era buildings include the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu the first Greek opera house and Liston a multi level commercial and residential building with an arched colonnade at ground level lined with cafes and restaurants on its east side and restaurants and other stores on its west side Liston s main thoroughfare is often the site of parades and other mass gatherings Liston is on the edge of the Spianada Esplanade the vast main plaza and park which incorporates a cricket field a pavilion and Maitland s monument Also notable are the Old and New forts the recently restored Palace of Sts Michael and George formerly the residence of the British colonial governor and the seat of the Ionian Senate and the summer Palace of Mon Repos formerly the property of the Greek royal family and birthplace of the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh The Park of Mon Repos is built on part of the Palaiopolis of Kerkyra where excavations were conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service in collaboration with academics and universities internationally Examples of the finds can be found in the Museum of the Palace of Mon Repos and at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu 91 The Achilleion Edit Main article Achilleion Corfu Statue of Achilleus Thneskōn Achilles Dying in the gardens of the Achilleion In 1889 Empress Elizabeth of Austria built a summer palace in the region of Gastouri Gastoyri to the south of the city naming it Achilleion Axilleion after the Homeric hero Achilles The structure is filled with paintings and statues of Achilles both in the main hall and in the gardens depicting scenes of the Trojan War The palace with the neoclassical Greek statues that surround it is a monument to platonic romanticism as well as escapism It served as a refuge for the grieving Empress following the tragic death of her only son and Crown Prince Rudolf Achilles as guardian of the palace in the gardens of the Achilleion He gazes northward toward the city The inscription in Greek reads AXILLEYS i e Achilles It was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II The Imperial gardens on the hill look over the surrounding green hills and valleys and the Ionian sea The centrepiece of the gardens is a marble statue on a high pedestal of the mortally wounded Achilles Greek Axilleys 8nhskwn Achilleus Thneskōn Achilles Dying without hubris and wearing only a simple cloth and an ancient Greek hoplite helmet This statue was carved by German sculptor Ernst Gustav Herter The hero is presented devoid of rank or status and seems notably human though heroic as he is forever trying to pull Paris s arrow from his heel His classically depicted face is full of pain He gazes skyward as if to seek help from Olympus According to Greek mythology his mother Thetis was a goddess citation needed In contrast at the great staircase in the main hall is a giant painting of the triumphant Achilles full of pride Dressed in full royal military regalia and erect on his racing chariot he pulls the lifeless body of Hector of Troy in front of the stunned crowd watching helplessly from inside the walls of the Trojan citadel In 1898 Empress Sissi was assassinated at the age of 60 by an Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni in Geneva Switzerland After her death the palace was sold to the German Kaiser Wilhelm II Following the Kaiser s purchase of the Achilleion he invited archaeologist Reinhard Kekule von Stradonitz a friend and advisor to come to Corfu to advise him where to position the huge statue of Achilles which he commissioned The famous salute to Achilles from the Kaiser which had been inscribed at the statue s base was also created by Kekule The inscription read 92 To the Greatest Greek from the Greatest GermanThe inscription was subsequently removed after World War II 93 The Achilleion was eventually acquired by the Greek state and has now been converted into a museum Kaiser s Bridge Edit View of the Kaiser s bridge German Kaiser Wilhelm II was also fond of taking holidays in Corfu Having purchased the Achilleion in 1907 after Sissi s death he appointed Carl Ludwig Sprenger as the botanical architect of the Palace and also built a bridge later named by the locals after him the Kaiser s bridge Greek h gefyra toy Kaizer transliterated as i gefyra tou Kaizer to access the beach without traversing the road forming the island s main artery to the south The bridge arching over the road spanned the distance between the lower gardens of Achilleion and the nearby beach its remains a monument to imperial vanity are an important landmark on the highway The bridge s central section was demolished by the Wehrmacht in 1944 during the German occupation of World War II to allow for the passage of an enormous cannon forming part of the Nazi defences in the southeastern coast of Corfu 94 95 Urban landscape EditOld town Edit Main article Corfu city Panoramic view of parts of Old Town of Corfu as seen from Old Fortress The Bay of Garitsa is to the left and the port of Corfu is just visible on the top right of the picture Spianada Square is in the foreground The Old Town of Corfu city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site In several parts of the old city buildings of the Venetian era are to be found The old city s architectural character is strongly influenced by the Venetian style coming as it did under Venetian rule for a long period its small and ancient side streets and the old buildings trademark arches are particularly reminiscent of Venice The city of Corfu stands on the broad part of a peninsula whose termination in the Venetian citadel Greek Palaio Froyrio is cut off from it by an artificial fosse formed in a natural gully with a seawater moat at the bottom 15 that now serves as a marina and is called the Contrafossa In the old town there are many narrow streets paved with cobblestones These streets are known as kantounia Greek kantoynia and the older amongst them sometimes follow the gentle irregularities of the ground while many are too narrow for vehicular traffic A promenade rises by the seashore towards the bay of Garitsa Garitsa together with an esplanade between the city and the citadel known as Spianada with the Liston it arcade Greek Liston to its west side where restaurants and bistros abound 1 Ano and Kato Plateia and the music pavilion Edit Main article Spianada The Music Pavilion in Spianada Square Ano Plateia with Palaio Frourio in the background The philharmonics use it regularly for their free concerts Near the old Venetian Citadel a large square called Spianada is also to be found divided by a street in two parts Ano Plateia literally Upper square and Kato Plateia literally Lower square Anw Plateia and Katw Plateia in Greek This is the biggest square in South Eastern Europe and one of the largest in Europe 96 97 and replete with green spaces and interesting structures such as a Roman style rotunda from the era of British administration known as the Maitland monument built to commemorate Sir Thomas Maitland An ornate music pavilion is also present where the local Philharmonikes Philharmonic Orchestras Filarmonikes mount classical performances in the artistic and musical tradition for which the island is well known Kato Plateia also serves as a venue where cricket matches are held from time to time In Greece cricket is unique to Corfu as it was once a British protectorate Palaia Anaktora and its gardens Edit Main article Palace of St Michael and St George View of the Palace of Saints Michael and George Palaia Anaktora The gates of St Michael and St George are on the left and right respectively The gardens are to the right of the arch of St George The statue of Sir Frederick Adam a British governor of Corfu is at the front The Garden of the People at the Palace of St Michael and St George Palaia Anaktora with the Ionian Sea in the background Just to the north of Kato Plateia lie the Palaia Anaktora Palaia Anaktora literally Old Palaces a large complex of buildings of Roman architectural style which formerly housed the Kings of Greece and prior to that the British Governors of the island It was then called the Palace of Saints Michael and George The Order of St Michael and St George was founded here in 1818 with motto auspicium melioris aevi 98 99 and is still awarded by the United Kingdom Today the palace is open to the public and forms a complex of halls and buildings housing art exhibits including a Museum of Asian Art unique across Southern Europe in its scope and in the richness of its Chinese and Asian exhibits The gardens of the Palaces complete with old Venetian stone aquariums exotic trees and flowers overlook the bay through old Venetian fortifications and turrets and the local sea baths Mpania t Alekoy are at the foot of the fortifications surrounding the gardens A cafe on the grounds includes its own art gallery with exhibitions of both local and international artists known locally as the Art Cafe From the same spot the viewer can observe ships passing through the narrow channel of the historic Vido island Nhsi Bidoy to the north on their way to Corfu harbour Neo Limani with high speed retractable aerofoil ferries from Igoumenitsa also cutting across the panorama A wrought iron aerial staircase closed to visitors descends to the sea from the gardens the Greek royal family used it as a shortcut to the baths Rewriting history locals now refer to the old Royal Gardens as the Garden of the People O Khpos toy Laoy Churches Edit In the city there are thirty seven Greek churches the most important of which are the city s cathedral the church dedicated to Our Lady of the Cave h Panagia Sphliwtissa he Panagia Speliōtissa Saint Spyridon Church wherein lies the preserved body of the patron saint of the island and finally the suburban church of St Jason and St Sosipater Agioi Iaswn kai Swsipatros reputedly the oldest in the island 15 and named after the two saints probably the first to preach Christianity to the Corfiots Pontikonisi Edit The nearby island known as Pontikonisi Greek meaning mouse island though small is very green with abundant trees and at its highest natural elevation excluding its trees or man made structures such as the monastery stands at about 2 m 6 ft 6 74 in Pontikonisi is home of the monastery of Pantokrator Monasthri toy Pantokratoros the white stone staircase of the monastery viewed from afar gives the impression of a mouse tail which lent the island its name Archaeology EditPalaiopolis Edit In the city of Corfu the ruins of the ancient city of Korkyra also known as Palaiopolis include ancient temples which were excavated at the location of the palace of Mon Repos which was built on the ruins of the Palaiopolis The temples are Kardaki Temple Temple of Artemis and the Temple of Hera Hera s temple is situated at the western limits of Mon Repos close to Kardaki Temple and to the northwest 100 It is approximately 700 m to the southeast of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu 100 Hera s Temple was built at the top of Analipsis Hill and because of its prominent location it was highly visible to ships passing close to the waterfront of ancient Korkyra 100 Kardaki Temple Edit Main article Kardaki Temple Kardaki Temple Kardaki Temple is an Archaic Doric temple in Corfu Greece built around 500 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra or Corcyra in what is known today as the location Kardaki in the hill of Analipsi in Corfu 101 The temple features several architectural peculiarities that point to a Doric origin 101 102 The temple at Kardaki is unusual because it has no frieze following perhaps architectural tendencies of Sicilian temples 103 It is considered to be the only Greek temple of Doric architecture that does not have a frieze 101 The spacing of the temple columns has been described as abnormally wide 104 The temple also lacked both porch and adyton and the lack of a triglyph and metope frieze may be indicative of Ionian influence 105 The temple at Kardaki is considered an important and to a certain degree mysterious topic on the subject of early ancient Greek architecture Its association with the worship of Apollo or Poseidon has not been established Temple of Artemis Edit Main article Temple of Artemis Corfu The full pediment of the temple of Artemis The Temple of Artemis is an Archaic Greek temple in Corfu built in around 580 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra or Corcyra in what is known today as the suburb of Garitsa The temple was dedicated to Artemis It is known as the first Doric temple exclusively built with stone 106 It is also considered the first building to have incorporated all of the elements of the Doric architectural style 107 Very few Greek temple reliefs from the Archaic period have survived and the large fragments of the group from the pediment are the earliest significant survivals The temple was a peripteral styled building with a pseudodipteral configuration Its perimeter was rectangular with width of 23 46 m 77 0 ft and length 49 m 161 ft with an eastward orientation so that light could enter the interior of the temple at sunrise 106 It was one of the largest temples of its time 108 The metope of the temple was probably decorated since remnants of reliefs featuring Achilles and Memnon were found in the ancient ruins 106 The temple has been described as a milestone of Ancient Greek architecture and one of 150 masterpieces of Western architecture 107 The Corfu temple architecture may have influenced the design of an archaic sanctuary structure found at St Omobono in Italy near Tiber in Ancient Rome at the time of the Etruscans which incorporates similar design elements 109 If still in use by the 4th century the temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire when the Christian Emperors issued edicts prohibiting non Christian worship Kaiser Wilhelm II while vacationing at his summer palace of Achilleion in Corfu and while Europe was preparing for war was involved in excavations at the site of the ancient temple Temple of Hera Edit Main article Temple of Hera Mon Repos The ruins of the Heraion in Palaiopolis The Temple of Hera or Heraion is an archaic temple in Corfu built around 610 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra or Corcyra in what is known today as Palaiopolis and lies within the ground of the Mon Repos estate 110 111 100 The sanctuary of Hera at Mon Repos is considered a major temple and one of the earliest examples of archaic Greek architecture 100 Large terracotta figures such as lions gorgoneions and Daidala maidens created and painted in vivid colour by artisans who were inspired by myth traditions across the Mediterranean decorated the roof of the temple making it one of the most intricately adorned temples of Archaic Greece and the most ambitious roof construction project of its time 100 Built at the top of Analipsis Hill Hera s sanctuary was highly visible to ships approaching the waterfront of the ancient city of Korkyra 100 The Digital Archaic Heraion Project at Mon Repos is a project that has undertaken the task of digitising the architectural fragments found at the Corfu Heraion with the aim to reconstruct in 3D the Temple at Palaiopolis in virtual space 112 Tomb of Menecrates Edit Main article Tomb of Menecrates Tomb of Menekrates The Lion of Menecrates found near the tomb and thought to belong to the cenotaph The Tomb of Menecrates or Monument of Menecrates is an Archaic cenotaph in Corfu built around 600 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra or Corcyra 113 114 The tomb and the funerary sculpture of a lion were discovered in 1843 during demolition works by the British Army who were demolishing a Venetian fortress in the location of Garitsa hill in Corfu 115 The tomb is dated to the 6th century BC 115 The lion is dated at the end of the 7th century BC and it is one of the earliest funerary lions ever found 115 The tomb and the lion were found in an area which was part of the necropolis of ancient Korkyra which was discovered by the British army at the time 115 According to an Ancient Greek inscription found on the grave the tomb was a monument built by the ancient Korkyreans in honour of their proxenos ambassador Menecrates son of Tlasios from Oeiantheia Menecrates was the ambassador of ancient Korkyra to Oeiantheia modern day Galaxidi or Ozolian Locris 116 117 and he was lost at sea In the inscription it is also mentioned that the brother of Menecrates Praximenes had arrived from Oeiantheia to assist the people of Korkyra in building the monument to his brother 118 113 Other archaeological sites Edit In Cassiope the only other city of ancient importance its name is still preserved by the village of Kassiopi and there are some rude remains of building on the site but the temple of Zeus Cassius for which it was celebrated has totally disappeared Castles EditThe castles of Corfu located at strategic points on the island helped defend the island from many invaders and they were instrumental in repulsing repeated Turkish invasions making Corfu one of the few places in Greece never to be conquered by the Ottomans Palaio Frourio Edit Main article Old Fortress Corfu Palaio Frourio south elevation The Venetian built moat is on the left and the Doric style St George s Church built by the British can be seen in the background on the right Yachts at anchor as seen from the fort The old citadel in Greek Palaio Frourio Palaio Froyrio is an old Venetian fortress built on an artificial islet with fortifications surrounding its entire perimeter although some sections particularly on the east side are slowly being eroded and falling into the sea Nonetheless the interior has been restored and is in use for cultural events such as concerts synaylies and Sound and Light Productions Hxos kai Fws when historical events are recreated using sound and light special effects These events take place amidst the ancient fortifications with the Ionian sea in the background The central high point of the citadel rises like a giant natural obelisk complete with a military observation post at the top with a giant cross at its apex at the foot of the observatory lies St George s church in a classical style punctuated by six Doric columns 119 as opposed to the Byzantine architectural style of the greater part of Greek Orthodox churches Neo Frourio Edit Main article New Fortress Corfu View of the Neo Frourio The new citadel or Neo Frourio Neo Froyrio New Fortress is a huge complex of fortifications built by the British during their rule of the island 1815 63 120 dominating the northeastern part of the city The huge walls of the fortress loom over the landscape as one travels from Neo Limani Neo Limani New Port to the city taking the road that passes through the fishmarket psaragora The new citadel was until recently a restricted area due to the presence of a naval garrison but old restrictions have been lifted and it is now open to the public with tours possible through the maze of medieval corridors and fortifications The winged Lion of St Mark the symbol of Venice can be seen at regular intervals adorning the fortifications Angelokastro Edit Main article Angelokastro Corfu The Byzantine castle of Angelokastro in Corfu with the Ionian Sea in the background Angelokastro Greek Aggelokastro Castle of Angelos or Castle of the Angel Venetian Castel Sant Angelo is a Byzantine castle on the island of Corfu 121 122 Greece It is located at the top of the highest peak of the island s shoreline in the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa and built on particularly precipitous and rocky terrain It stands 1 000 ft 305 m on a steep cliff above the sea and surveys the City of Corfu and the mountains of mainland Greece to the southeast and a wide area of Corfu toward the northeast and northwest 121 123 Angelokastro is one of the most important fortified complexes of Corfu It was an acropolis which surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle Angelokastro formed a defensive triangle with the castles of Gardiki and Kassiopi which covered Corfu s defences to the south northwest and northeast The castle never fell despite frequent sieges and attempts at conquering it through the centuries and played a decisive role in defending the island against pirate incursions and during three sieges of Corfu by the Ottomans significantly contributing to their defeat During invasions it helped shelter the local peasant population The villagers also fought against the invaders playing an active role in the defence of the castle Angelokastro located at the western frontier of the Empire was instrumental in repulsing the Ottomans during the first great siege of Corfu in 1537 in the siege of 1571 and the second great siege of Corfu in 1716 causing the Ottomans to fail at penetrating the defences of Corfu in the North Consequently the Turks were never able to create a beachhead and to occupy the island 124 Gardiki Castle Edit Main article Gardiki Castle Corfu Gardiki Castle Gardiki Castle Greek Kastro Gardikioy is a 13th century Byzantine castle on the southwestern coast of Corfu and the only surviving medieval fortress on the southern part of the island 125 It was built by a ruler of the Despotate of Epirus 126 and was one of three castles which defended the island before the Venetian era 1401 1797 The location of Gardiki at the narrow southwest flank of Corfu provided protection to the fields and the southern lowlands of Corfu and in combination with Kassiopi Castle on the northeastern coast of the island and Byzantine Angelokastro protecting the northwestern shore of Corfu formed a triangular line of defence which protected Corfu during the pre Venetian era 126 127 128 Kassiopi Castle Edit Main article Kassiopi Castle Main Gate of Kassiopi Castle Kassiopi Castle Greek Kastro Kassiwphs is a castle on the northeastern coast of Corfu overseeing the fishing village of Kassiopi 129 It was one of three Byzantine period castles that defended the island before the Venetian era 1386 1797 The castles formed a defensive triangle with Gardiki guarding the island s south Kassiopi the northeast and Angelokastro the northwest 127 128 Its position at the northeastern coast of Corfu overseeing the Corfu Channel that separates the island from the mainland gave the castle an important vantage point and an elevated strategic significance 129 Kassiopi Castle is considered one of the most imposing architectural remains in the Ionian Islands 130 along with Angelokastro Gardiki Castle and the two Venetian Fortresses of Corfu City the Citadel and the New Fort 130 Since the castle was abandoned for a long time its structure is in a state of ruin The eastern side of the fort has disappeared and only a few traces of it remain There are indications that castle stones have been used as building material for houses in the area Access to the fortress is mainly from the southeast through a narrow walkway which includes passage from homes and backyards since the castle is at the centre of the densely built area of the small village of Kassiopi 131 132 Municipalities EditThe three present municipalities of Corfu and Diapontia Islands were formed in the 2019 local government reform from the former municipality Corfu 3 133 Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands North Corfu South CorfuEducation EditIonian Academy Edit Main article Ionian Academy The Ionian Academy is the first academic institution of modern Greece The building is now fully restored after the WWII Luftwaffe bombings The Ionian Academy was an institution that maintained the tradition of Greek education while the rest of Greece was still under Ottoman rule The academy was established by the French during their administration of the island as the departement of Corcyre 134 135 and became a university during the British administration 135 through the actions of Frederick North 5th Earl of Guilford in 1824 136 It is also considered the precursor of the Ionian University It had Philological Law and Medical Schools Ionian University Edit Main article Ionian University Ioannis Kapodistrias ancestral home in Corfu town Nowadays it houses the Translation Department of the Ionian University The Ionian University was established in 1984 in recognition by the administration of Andreas Papandreou of Corfu s contribution to Education in Greece as the seat of the first Greek university in modern times 137 the Ionian Academy The university opened its doors to students in 1985 and today comprises three Schools and six Departments offering undergraduate and post graduate degree programmes and summer schools 138 139 Student activism Edit In the modern era beginning with its massive student protests during World War II against fascist occupation and continuing in the fight against the dictatorship of Georgios Papadopoulos 1967 1974 students in Corfu have played a vanguard role in protesting for freedom and democracy in Greece against both internal and external oppression For Corfiotes a recent example of such heroism is that of geology student Kostas Georgakis who set himself ablaze in Genoa Italy on 19 September 1970 in a protest against the Greek military junta of 1967 1974 Culture EditCorfu has a long musical theatrical and operatic tradition The operas performed in Corfu were at par with their European counterparts The phrase applaudito in Corfu applauded in Corfu was a measure of high accolade for an opera performed on the island The Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu was the first theatre and opera house of modern Greece and the place where the first Greek opera Spyridon Xyndas The Parliamentary Candidate based on an exclusively Greek libretto was performed Museums and libraries Edit The Gorgon as depicted on the western pediment from the Temple of Artemis on display at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu The most notable of Corfu s museums and libraries are located in the city these include 140 The Archaeological Museum inaugurated in 1967 was constructed to house the exhibit of the huge Gorgon pediment of the Artemis temple in the ancient city of Korkyra excavated at Palaiopolis in the early 20th century The pediment has been described by The New York Times as the finest example of archaic temple sculpture extant 141 Kaiser Wilhelm II had developed a lifelong obsession with the Gorgon sculpture dating from seminars on Greek Archaeology the Kaiser attended while at the University of Bonn The seminars were given by archaeologist Reinhard Kekule von Stradonitz who later became the Kaiser s advisor 92 In 1994 two more halls were added to the museum where new discoveries from the excavations of the ancient city and the Garitsa cemetery are exhibited The Museum of Asian art of Corfu is located at the Palace of St Michael and St George mainly Chinese and Japanese Arts its unique collection is housed in 15 rooms taking in over 12 000 artifacts including a Greco Buddhist art collection that shows the influence of Alexander the Great on Buddhist culture as far as Pakistan see Greco Buddhism The Banknote Museum located in Aghios Spyridon square features a complete collection of Greek banknotes from independence to the adoption of the euro in 2002 The Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa a church converted into a museum featuring rare Byzantine art Kapodistrias Museum Ioannis Kapodistrias summer home in Koukourisa in his birthplace of Corfu has been converted to a museum commemorating his life and accomplishments and has been named in his honour 142 Donated by Maria Desylla Kapodistria grand niece of Ioannis Kapodistrias former mayor of Corfu and first female mayor of Greece The Music Museum of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu is located in the building of the Philharmonic Society and features scores instruments paintings and documents related to the music history of Corfu and the 19th century Ionian Islands Corfu library at Palaio Frourio The Public Library of Corfu is located at the old English Barracks in Palaio Frourio The Reading Society of Corfu has an extensive library of old Corfu manuscripts and rare books The Serbian Museum of Corfu Serbian Srpska kuћa Serbian House houses rare exhibits about the Serbian soldiers tragic fate during the First World War The remnants of the Serbian Army of about 150 000 soldiers together with their government in exile found refuge and shelter in Corfu following the collapse of the Serbian Front as a result of the Austro Hungarian attack of 6 October 1915 Exhibits include photographs from the three years stay of the Serbians in Corfu together with other exhibits such as uniforms arms and ammunition of the Serbian army Serbian regimental flags religious artifacts surgical tools and other decorations of the Kingdom of Serbia Solomos Museum and the Corfiot Studies Society Patron Saint Spyridon Edit The bell tower of the Saint Spyridon Church can be seen in the background among the busy kantounia of the city centre On top of the stores are apartments with balconies It is from these type of balconies that Corfiots throw botides clay pots to celebrate the Resurrection during Easter festivities Saint Spyridon the Thaumaturgist Miracle worker 8aymatoyrgos is the patron saint polioyxos of the city and the island St Spyridon is revered for the miracle of expelling the plague panwlh from the island among many other miracles attributed to him It is believed by the faithful that on its way from the island the plague scratched one of the fortification stones of the old citadel to indicate its fury at being expelled to St Spyridon is also attributed the role of saving the island at the second great siege of Corfu in 1716 143 144 The legend says that the sight of St Spyridon approaching Ottoman forces bearing a flaming torch in one hand and a cross in the other caused panic 70 145 146 The legend also states that the Saint caused a tempest which was partly responsible for repulsing the Ottomans 147 This victory over the Ottomans therefore was attributed not only to the leadership of Count Schulenburg who commanded the stubborn defence of the island against Ottoman forces but also to the miraculous intervention of St Spyridon Venice honoured von der Schulenburg and the Corfiots for successfully defending the island Recognizing St Spyridon s role in the defence of the island Venice legislated the establishment of the litany litaneia of St Spyridon on 11 August as a commemoration of the miraculous event inaugurating a tradition that continues to this day 70 In 1716 Antonio Vivaldi on commission by the republic of Venice composed the oratorio Juditha triumphans to commemorate this great event Juditha triumphans was first performed in November 1716 in Venice by the orchestra and choir of the Ospedale della Pieta and is described as Vivaldi s first great oratorio 148 Hence Spyridon is a popular first name for Greek males born on the island and or to islanders Music Edit Musical history Edit Nikolaos Mantzaros major representative of the Ionian School of music While much of present day Greece was under Ottoman rule the Ionian Islands enjoyed a Golden Age in music and opera Corfu was the capital city of a Venetian protectorate and it benefited from a unique musical and theatrical heritage Then in the 19th century as a British Protectorate Corfu developed a musical heritage of its own and which constitutes the nucleus of modern Greek musical history Until the early 18th century musical life took place in city and village squares with performances of straight or musical comedies known as Momaries or Bobaries From 1720 Corfu became the possessor of the first theatre in post 1452 Greece It was the Teatro San Giacomo now the City Hall named after the nearby Roman Catholic cathedral completed in 1691 149 The island was also the center of the Ionian School of music the musical production of a group of Heptanesian composers whose heyday was from the early 19th century till approximately the 1950s It was the first school of classical music in Greece and it was a heavy influence for the later Greek music scene after the independence The three Philharmonics Edit A marching band from Austria a frequent visitor through the Corfu landmark of Liston it In the background is the western arch of the Palace of St Michael and St George Corfu s Philharmonic Societies provide free instruction in music and continue to attract young recruits There are nineteen such marching wind bands throughout the island Corfu city is home to the three most prestigious bands in order of seniority the Philharmonic Society of Corfu use dark blue uniforms with dark red accents and blue and red helmet plumes It is usually called the Old Philharmonic or simply the Palia Old Founded 12 September 1840 the Mantzaros Philharmonic Society use blue uniforms with blue and white helmet plumes It is commonly called the Nea New Founded 25 October 1890 the Capodistria Philharmonic Union use bright red and black uniforms and plumes It is commonly called the Conte Capodistria or simply the Conte Count It is the juniormost of the three founded 18 April 1980 All three maintain two major bands each the main marching bands that can field up to 200 musicians on grand occasions and the 60 strong student bandinas meant for lighter fare and on the job training The bands give regular summer weekend promenade concerts at the Spianada Green palko and have a prominent part in the yearly Holy Week ceremonies Ionian University music department Edit The music lab of the Ionian university located at the old fortress Since the early 1990s a music department has been established at the Ionian University Aside from its academic activities concerts in Corfu and abroad and musicological research in the field of Neo Hellenic Music the Department organizes an international music academy every summer which gathers together both international students and professors specialising in brass strings singing jazz and musicology Theatres and operatic tradition Edit Teatro di San Giacomo Edit Main article Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu was the first theatre and opera house of modern Greece Under Venetian rule the Corfiotes developed a fervent appreciation of Italian opera which was the real source of the extraordinary given conditions in the mainland of Greece musical development of the island during this era 150 The opera house of Corfu during the 18th and 19th centuries was the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo named after the neighbouring Catholic cathedral it was later converted into the City Hall 150 It was both the first theatre and first opera house of Greece in modern times and the place where the first Greek opera based on an exclusively Greek libretto Spyridon Xyndas The Parliamentary Candidate was performed 150 A long series of local composers such as Nikolaos Mantzaros Spyridon Xyndas Antonio Liberali Domenico Padovani the Zakynthian Pavlos Carrer the Lambelet family Spyridon Samaras and others all developed careers intertwined with the theatre 150 San Giacomo s place was taken by the Municipal Theatre in 1902 which maintained the operatic tradition vividly until its destruction during German air raid in 1943 150 The first opera to be performed in the San Giacomo was in 1733 Gerone tiranno di Siracusa 150 and for almost two hundred years between 1771 and 1943 nearly every major opera from the Italian tradition as well as many others from Greek and French composers were performed on the stage of the San Giacomo this tradition continues to be reflected in Corfiote operatic history a fixture in famous opera singers itineraries 151 Municipal Theatre of Corfu Edit Main article Municipal Theatre of Corfu The Municipal Theatre of Corfu which in the early 20th century replaced the legendary Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo This photograph shows the theatre prior to the 1943 Luftwaffe bombardment and its subsequent destruction during WWII The new municipal theatre The Municipal Theatre of Corfu Greek Dhmotiko 8eatro Kerkyras was the main theatre and opera house in Corfu 152 Opened in 1902 the theatre was the successor of Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfu which became the Corfu city hall It was destroyed during a Luftwaffe aerial bombardment in 1943 152 During its 41 year history it was one of the premier theatres and opera houses in Greece and as the first theatre in Southeastern Europe 152 it contributed to the arts and to the history of the Balkans and of Europe 153 152 154 The archives of the theatre including the historical San Giacomo archives all valuables and art were destroyed in the Luftwaffe bombing with the sole exception of the stage curtain which was not in the premises the night of the bombing and thus escaped harm among the losses are believed to have been numerous manuscripts of the work of Spyridon Xyndas composer of the first opera in Greek 152 Festivities Edit Easter Edit On Good Friday from the early afternoon onward the bands of the three Philharmonic Societies separated into squads accompany the Epitaph processions of the city churches Late in the afternoon the squads come together to form one band in order to accompany the Epitaph procession of the cathedral while the funeral marches that the bands play differ depending on the band the Old Philharmonic play Albinoni s Adagio the Mantzaros play Verdi s Marcia Funebre from Don Carlo and the Capodistria play Chopin s Funeral March and Mariani s Sventura 155 On Holy Saturday morning the three city bands again take part in the Epitaph processions of St Spyridon Cathedral in procession with the Saint s relics 155 At this point the bands play different funeral marches with the Mantzaros playing Miccheli s Calde Lacrime the Palia playing Marcia Funebre from Faccio s Amleto and the Capodistria playing the Funeral March from Beethoven s Eroica This custom dates from the 19th century when colonial administrators banned the participation of the British garrison band in the traditional Holy Friday funeral cortege The defiant Corfiotes held the litany the following morning and paraded the relics of St Spyridon too so that the administrators would not dare intervene The litany is followed by the celebration of the Early Resurrection balconies in the old city are decked in bright red cloth and Corfiotes throw down large clay pots the botides mpothdes full of water to smash on the street pavement especially in wider areas of Liston it and in an organised fashion 155 This is enacted in anticipation of the Resurrection of Jesus which is to be celebrated that same night 155 and to commemorate King David s phrase Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter s vessel Psalm 2 9 Once the botides commotion is over the three bands parade the clay strewn streets playing the famous Graikoi festive march 156 The march which functions as the anthem of the island was composed during the period of Venetian rule and its lyrics include Greeks never fear we are all enslaved you to the Turks we to the Venetians but one day we shall all be free citation needed Ta Karnavalia Edit Another venerable Corfu tradition is known as the Carnival or Ta Karnavalia Venetian in origin festivities include a parade featuring the main attraction of Karnavalos a rather grotesque figure with a large head and smiling face leading a diverse procession of colourful floats 157 Corfiots young and old dress up in colourful costumes and follow the parade spilling out into the area s narrow streets kantounia and spreading the festivities across the city 157 dancing and socialising At night dance and costume parties are traditional 157 Cultural depictions EditIn myth Edit It is in Corfu that Heracles just before embarking on his ten labours slept with the naiad Melite their son was Hyllus the leader of the Heraclids 158 Corfu marks the Argonauts refuge from the avenging Colchic fleet after their seizure of the Golden Fleece 70 In the mythical sea adventure of Homer s Odyssey Kerkyra is the island of the Phaeacians Phaiakes wherein Odysseus Ulysses meets Nausica the daughter of King Alkinoos The bay of Palaiokastritsa is considered to be the place where Odysseus disembarked 159 In literature Edit British naturalist Gerald Durrell wrote three books about his 1935 1940 childhood on Corfu My Family and Other Animals Birds Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods His brother literary author Lawrence Durrell also wrote a volume about Corfu Prospero s Cell A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra Corfu Mary Stewart s novel This Rough Magic is set in Corfu Prospero s island in Shakespeare s final play The Tempest is often said to have been based on Corfu The template Wikisource is being considered for merging Wikisource has original text related to this article Corfu a poetical illustration by L E L 1835 The template Wikisource is being considered for merging Wikisource has original text related to this article Corfu a poetical illustration by L E L 1838 Letitia Landon twice wrote of Corfu as an island paradise the first poetical illustration appeared in Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1835 to a picture by Thomas Allom 160 and the second in that for 1838 to a picture by Charles Bentley 161 Corfu and Manduchio form Mount Olivet A third poetical illustration of hers Strada Reale Corfu to an engraving of a painting by Samuel Prout was published in the Scrap Book for 1837 162 Humbert Humbert s first love Annabel Leigh is said to have died of typhus in Corfu in a scene of Vladimir Nabokov s Lolita Albert Cohen wrote three books which are partially or entirely set in Corfu They are Mangeclous Les Valeureux and Belle du Seigneur Cohen himself was born on the island Voltaire references two monks from Corfu in Chapter XXVIII of CandideIn film Edit Corfu was one of the main locations featured in the 1970 film The Executioner starring George Peppard and Joan Collins 163 Corfu was one of the settings of The Burglars a 1971 film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif Much of the 1978 Billy Wilder film Fedora is set in Corfu and filmed on location The 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only has a number of scenes filmed in Corfu The most memorable scene of the film to be bound with the island is of the underwater ancient Greek temple with a huge turtle swimming in front of the camera a casino scene was also filmed at the Achilleion 164 Other scenes filmed here include those tracing Melina and James walk through the city s streets and Melina being greeted by Bond at Pontikonisi island A major action element was filmed on the largest sandy beach on the island Issos Beach in Agios Georgios South involving a beach buggy chase along the dunes The film s scene depicting a Greek wedding was filmed at the Bouas Danilia traditional village Mpoyas Danilia paradosiako xwrio 164 Action scenes were also filmed at Neo Frourio 165 The 1984 Greek film H Timh ths Agaphs The Price of Love directed by Tonia Marketaki is a tragic love story taking place in Corfu It is based on the novel Honour and Money by Konstantinos Theotokis 166 Corfu is also the setting of a 1987 BBC TV series version and a 2005 BBC movie version of My Family and Other Animals Gerald Durrell s book about his childhood in Corfu in the late 1930s The Gaze of the Gorgon 1992 a poem film for BBC television by British poet Tony Harrison The film examines the politics of conflict in the 20th century using the Gorgon as a metaphor The imaginary narration of the film is done through the mouth of Jewish poet Heinrich Heine The film describes the connection between the Corfu Gorgon at the Artemis Temple of Corfu and Kaiser Wilhelm II 167 168 Harrison concludes his 1992 film poem by making a proposal that in the 1994 European Union summit in Corfu Heine s statue be returned to Corfu on time to preside over the new Europe so that EU can keep its eyes open and not turn to stone from the Gorgon s gaze 168 169 170 The Countess of Corfu Greek H Komhssa Ths Kerkyras a 1972 film starring Rena Vlahopoulou and Alekos Alexandrakis was filmed in Corfu ITV aired a TV series named The Durrells in Corfu in April 2016 and ultimately lasting four seasons concluding in May 2019 It was a biographical series detailing Gerald Durrell s childhood on Corfu In popular culture Edit Street of Lefkimmi town Corfu is one of the locations in the legend of Simon and Milo where Simon falls in love temporarily It is the setting of the 1998 song Mediterranean Lady by Prozzak The island is alluded to several times in David Foster Wallace s 1987 novel The Broom of the System Drake mentions Corfu in a song Tourism Edit The beach at Canal D Amour Sidari on a windy day At the entrance of the bay there is an opening in the rock at the right centre left of picture that continues to the other side a natural tunnel This sea channel gave the beach its name Canal D Amour French for channel of love Corfiotes have a long history of hospitality to foreign residents and visitors typified in the 20th century by Gerald Durrell s childhood reminiscence My Family and Other Animals The north east coast has largely been developed by a few British holiday companies with large expensive holiday villas 171 Package holiday resorts exist on the north east and southwest coasts At the other end of the island the southern resort of Kavos also provides tourist facilities St George South to the west boasts the largest sandy beach on the island coupled with a selection of all inclusive package hotels and traditional corfiot villas and flats The Korission lake nature reserve also provides a stopover for European birds migrating south Up until the early 20th century it was mainly visited by the European royals and elites including Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and Empress Elisabeth of Austria today it is also widely visited by middle class families primarily from the UK Scandinavia and Germany With the advent of the jet airliner bringing these groups relatively affordable package holidays Corfu was one of the primary destinations for this new form of mass tourism 172 It is still popular with the ultra wealthy however and in the island s northeast the homeowners include members of the Rothschild family and Russian oligarchs 173 174 Transport Edit Ioannis Kapodistrias International Airport The Flying Dolphin hydrofoil ferry near Corfu harbour Vido island is in the foreground with the Albanian coastline in the background The island is linked by two highways GR 24 in the northwest and GR 25 in the south Greek National Road 24 Cen NW Corfu Palaiokastritsa Greek National Road 25 Cen S SE Corfu LefkimiCorfu has ferry services both by traditional ferries to Gaios in the island of Paxoi and as far as Patras and both traditional ferries and advanced retractable airfoil hydrodynamic flow high speed ferries called Flying Dolphins to Igoumenitsa and Sarande in neighbouring Albania The small port of Lefkimmi is also to be found at the southernmost tip of the island on Cape Kavos offering a ferry service to the mainland The Ioannis Kapodistrias International Airport named after Ioannis Kapodistrias a Corfiot and European diplomat and the first governor of the independent Greek state is located around three kilometres south of Kerkyra just half a kilometre north of Pontikonisi The approach and landing in a northeasterly direction afford passengers aerial views of Pontikonisi and Vlaheraina Monastery also taking in the hills of Kanoni as the runway employed for landing lies a few hundred metres from these local landmarks The airport offers domestic flights from Olympic Airlines OA 600 602 and 606 and Aegean Airlines A3 402 404 and 406 Seaplanes Air Sea Lines a Greek seaplane operator offers scheduled flights from Corfu to Paxoi Lefkada Ithaki Kefalonia Ioannina Patras and Brindisi in Italy The buses to the main places on the island run about six times a day between the city and Glyfada Sidari Paleokastritsa Roda and Acharavi Lefkimmi Lefkimmi and Piri Other coaches drive up to twice a day to Athens and Thessaloniki City buses run through the city to the Airport Achilleion Gouvia Afra Pelekas and some other places of interest The Diapontia Islands are accessible by boat with regular services from Corfu port and Agios Stefanos Avliotes and by ferry from Corfu city port Economy Edit Koum Quat liqueurs produced in Corfu Corfu is mostly planted with olive groves and vineyards and has been producing olive oil and wine since antiquity The main wine grape varietals found in Corfu are the indigenous white Kakotryges and red Petrokoritho the Cefalonian white Robola the Aegean Moschato white muscat the Achaean Mavrodaphne and others 175 Modern times have seen the introduction of specialist cultivation supported by the mild climate like the kumquat and bergamot oranges which are extensively used in making spoon sweets and liqueurs Corfu also produces local animal products such as Corfiote graviera a variant of gruyere and Corfu cheese a variant of Grana Corfu butter Boutyro Kerkyras an intensely flavored cooking and baking butter made of ewe s milk and the noumboulo salami made of pork and lard and flavored with orange peel oregano thyme and other aromatic herbs which are also burned for smoking Local culinary specialties include sofrito a veal rump roast of Venetian origin pastitsada bucatini pasta served with diced veal cooked in a tomato sauce bourdetto cod cooked in a peppery sauce mandoles caramelized almonds pasteli honey bars made with sesame almonds or pistachios mandolato a pasteli made of crushed almonds sugar honey and vanilla and tzitzibira the local ginger beer a remnant of the British era There are three breweries in Corfu and one bed layers factory The island has again become an important port of call and has a considerable trade in olive oil 15 In earlier times there was a great export of citron which was cultivated here including for ritual use in the Jewish community during the Sukkot holiday International relations EditSee also List of twin towns and sister cities in Greece Meissen Germany 1996 176 Troisdorf Germany 1996 176 Notable people EditAncient Edit Nausicaa daughter of King Alcinous Arsenius 10th century saint Peithias leader during the Peleponnesian War Philiscus tragic poet born in Corfu Ptolichus 5th century BC sculptor Saint Philomena AD 291 304 virgin and martyrModern Edit Count Ioannis Kapodistrias 1776 1831 first head of state governor of independent Greece founder of the modern Greek state and distinguished European diplomat Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh consort of Elizabeth II until his death in 2021 H R H Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark born in Corfu Marie Aspioti M B E distinguished Corfiote magazine publisher and cultural figure who influenced the literary and cultural life of post war Corfu Panos Aravantinos artist born in Corfu Felice Beato 19th century photographer born in Corfu Giacomo Casanova lived on the island as an officer of the Venetian army Albert Cohen Swiss French author born in Corfu Ian Hamilton Military Officer Led the 1915 Gallipoli Landings born in Corfu Haim Corfu Israeli politician was born in Jerusalem his family name testifying to his family s origin Mathew Devaris scholar born in Corfu Tommaso Diplovataccio Greco Italian jurist publisher and politician born in Corfu Eleni Doika Greek Olympic gymnast born in Corfu Panagiotis Doxaras painter pioneer of the Heptanese School of painting worked and died in Corfu Gerald Durrell lived in Corfu and wrote autobiographic books about the topic of Corfu including My Family And Other Animals Birds Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods making the island famous among the readers books translated in many languages Lawrence Durrell also lived in Corfu for some years and Lawrence wrote among several other books on Greece Prospero s Cell A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra Elisabeth of Bavaria Sissi Empress of Austria built Achilleion as summer palace Kostas Georgakis student martyr of the resistance against the Greek military junta of 1967 1974 born in Corfu Angela Gerekou actress singer and politician born in Corfu wife of Tolis Voskopoulos Spyridon Gianniotis Olympic silver medalist in swimming raised in Corfu with father from Corfu Spyros Gogolos footballer born in Corfu Angelos Grammenos actor Augustinos Kapodistrias younger brother of Ioannis Kapodistrias soldier and politician He was born in Corfu 177 Ioannis Kapodistrias first Governor of Greece born in Corfu Maria Desylla Kapodistria relative of Ioannis Kapodistrias mayor of Corfu and first female mayor of Greece 87 Kore Ydro musical group formed and based in Corfu Spyridon Lambros history professor and former Prime Minister of Greece born in Corfu Petros Lantzas rebel spy and privateer Vicky Leandros international pop star born in Corfu Andreas Mandelis expert on photonics member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering Awarded the 2014 Killam Prize Nikolaos Mantzaros composer born in Corfu Aristedes Metallinos sculptor Margarita Miniati 1821 1897 Greek scholar and writer born in Corfu Andreas Moustoxydis historian and philologist born in Corfu Vangelis Petsalis classical musician and composer born in Corfu H R H Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh 1921 2021 born Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark in Corfu Saint Philomena according to legend she started her life as a Greek princess born in Corfu Petros Brailas Armenis philosopher politician diplomat and former owner of the predecessor of the Achilleion palace born in Corfu Yvette Manessis Corporon Greek American journalist and authorIakovos Polylas fr first published of Dionysios Solomos born in Corfu Major General Sir Henry Ponsonby 1825 1895 Private Secretary to Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria Empress of India Alfredo Ragona born 1922 Greek footballer Georgios Rallis 1918 2006 prime minister son of Ioannis Rallis and Zaira daughter of George Theotoki Alexander Rossi artist born in Corfu Sakis Rouvas singer and athlete born in Corfu Marshal Johann Matthias Reichsgraf von der Schulenburg Austrian general and aristocrat The Reichsgraf successfully defended the island against the Ottoman Turks during the siege of 1716 as leader of the Venetian forces in Corfu Spyridon Samaras composer born in Corfu Nikolaos Sophianos humanist and cartographer born in Corfu Carl Ludwig Sprenger German botanist lived in Corfu Theodore Stephanides poet author doctor and naturalist born in Corfu Georgios Theotokis former Prime Minister of Greece born in Corfu Ioannis Theotokis politician born in Corfu Nikephoros Theotokis 1732 1800 Greek educator and Russian archbishop born in Corfu Antonio Vivaldi composer In 1716 on commission by the republic of Venice created the oratorio Juditha triumphans to commemorate victory over the Turks during the great siege of 1716 Rena Vlahopoulou actress and singer born in Corfu Eugenios Voulgaris scholar born in Corfu Gaetano Giuffre composer Maestro born in Corfu Sotirios Voulgaris 1857 1932 cosmetologist founder of the Bulgari jewellery store that later became the famous Bulgari company Spyridon Xyndas 1812 1896 composer and musician born in Corfu Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany bought Achilleion after Sissi s death Markos Antonios Katsaitis 1717 1787 was an 18th century Greek scholar geographer and lawyer born in Corfu 178 Spiro Comora famous Albanian dramatist Gallery Edit Cape Drastis at the northwest tip of Corfu island Chalikiopoulou Lagoon or Lake Chalikiopoulou south of Corfu town Venetian arsenal Gouvia Old tower Corfu town Panorama of the Old Town of Corfu Venetian quarter Corfu town Odos Ipeirou in Corfu old town Historic building in Evgeniou Voulgareos street View of St George s Temple at the Old Fortress Mon Repos Gardens of Achilleion Statues at the Achilleion terrace Villa Rossa landmark of Corfu city Pelekas village Kaiser s Bridge in Corfu c 1918 Workers on Corfu The image shows the Old Fortress First World WarSee also EditAspioti ELKA Cuisine of the Ionian islands Heptanese School painting Hercules vehicles Music of the Heptanese Temple of Hera Mon ReposExplanatory notes Edit Ancient Greek Korkyra romanized Korkyra pronounced korkyra Medieval Greek Koryfw romanized Koryfo Latin Corcyra Citations Edit a b Packe Cathy 22 November 2016 The Complete Guide To Corfu The Independent Archived from the original on 27 April 2021 Retrieved 27 August 2021 Trevor Webster 1994 Where to Go in Greece A New Look Vol 1 Settle Press p 221 ISBN 9781872876207 Corfu is one of the most northern isles in Greece and also the most westerly apart from three of its own small satellite isles a b https corfutvnews gr diaspasi deite tin tropologia in Greek FEK B 1292 2010 Kallikratis reform municipalities in Greek Government Gazette Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 1 36 3 a b c d Corfu City Hall website City of Corfu Archived from the original on 6 January 2008 In literature apart from the Homeric name Scheria we meet various other names for the island like Drepane or Arpi Makris Cassopaea Argos Keravnia Phaeacia Corkyra or Kerkyra in Doric Gorgo or Gorgyra and much later the medieval names Corypho or Corfoi because of the two characteristic rock peaks of the Old Fortress of Corfu a b Johann Georg Keyssler 1760 Travels Through Germany Bohemia Hungary Switzerland Italy and Lorrain Giving a True and Just Description of the Present State of Those Countries G Keith p 54 Retrieved 6 July 2013 Corfu is not only a bulwark to the Venetians against the attack of a foreign enemy and since count Schulenburg caused several fortifications to be added to it it may justly be looked upon as one of the strongest places in Europe on UNESCO World Heritage List BBC News 28 June 2007 Retrieved 29 June 2009 UNESCO Advisory Body ICOMOS report on Corfu History PDF Retrieved 3 July 2007 Old Town of Corfu on UNESCO website retrieved 3 July 2007 Whc unesco org Retrieved 29 June 2009 ANDREW MARSHALL IN CORFU 24 June 1994 European Union Summit Corfu summiteers ready to fudge key EU decision The Independent Duncan Garwood Mediterranean Europe 2009 Russell King John Connell Small worlds global lives islands and migration 1999 a b c Korkyra Theoi com Greek Mythology Encyclopedia Retrieved 29 June 2009 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Gardner Ernest Arthur Caspari Maximillian Otto Bismark 1911 Corfu In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 7 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 145 146 Population amp housing census 2001 incl area and average elevation PDF in Greek National Statistical Service of Greece Archived from the original PDF on 21 September 2015 a b Corfu honored with a new museum Koine terapad com Retrieved 29 June 2009 a b Lazaretto Islet Travel to Corfu com Retrieved 29 June 2009 Corfu climate Average Temperature weather by month Corfu water temperature Climate Data org en climate data org Retrieved 21 March 2023 Kekira Climate extremes 1991 present Retrieved 1 March 2023 Mean Corfu Climatic Averages Hellenic National Meteorological Service Archived from the original on 24 January 2015 Retrieved 1 March 2015 Kekira Climate Normals 1961 1990 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved 1 March 2015 Mean Corfu Climatic Averages Hellenic National Meteorological Service Archived from the original on 24 January 2015 Retrieved 1 March 2015 Panitsa M amp E Iliadou 2013 FLORA AND PHYTOGEOGRAPHY OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS Greece 2nd Botanical Conference in Menorca Gasteratos I unpublished data Gasteratos I 2020 Ta Poylia twn Prostateyomenwn Perioxwn ths Kerkyras Dihmerida Oi Prostateyomenes Perioxes toy Forea Diaxeirishs Kalama Axeronta Kerkyras 24 25 1 2020 Gasteratos I 2019 Allages se oikosysthmata ths Kerkyras Kapoia paradeigmata Episthmoniko Ekpaideytiko Synedrio Biopoikilothta Klimatikh allagh kai epiptwseis ths se nhsiwtika oikosysthmata Kerkyra 6 8 3 2020 Frantzis A 2009 Cetaceans in Greece Present status of knowledge Initiative for the Conservation of Cetaceans in Greece Ruiz Olmo J 2006 The Otter Lutra lutra L on Corfu Island Greece Situation in 2006 IUCN Otter Spec Group Bull 23 17 25 a b c d e Stille M Gasteratos I amp B Stille 2021 Larger mammals of Corfu Ionian Islands Greece status and potential threats Russian Journal of Theriology 20 2 204 214 Roberts G 2022 Otter survey of the island of Corfu 2021 OTTER Journal of the International Otter Survival Fund 2022 39 42 Masseti M 2010 Homeless mammals from the Ionian and Aegean islands Bonn Zoological Bulletin 57 2 367 373 Gasteratos I amp Z Fondoulakou 2018 The presence and the extinction of the Golden Jackal Canis aureus from the Island of Corfu northwestern Greece Conference 2nd International Jackal Symposium Marathon Greece Hanak V Benda P Ruedi M Horacek I amp T S Sofianidou 2001 Bats Mammalia Chiroptera of Eastern Mediterranean Part 2 New records and review of distribution of bats in Greece Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 65 279 346 Life GRECABAT Katalogos sphlaiwn me epoxes paroysias shmantikwn apoikiwn accessed in 28 4 2021 Stille M Gasteratos I amp B Stille 2021 Alien and invasive terrestrial vertebrate species on Corfu Ionian Islands Greece Journal of Vertebrate Biology 70 1 1 13 Stille B amp M Stille 2017 The Herpetofauna of Corfu and adjacent Islands a b c About the Corfu Butterfly Conservation Corfu Butterfly Conservation Retrieved 11 March 2022 Danahar G W 2020 Corfiot Butterflies a contemporary perspective and global context European Butterflies Issue 3 pages 6 7 Danahar G W 2022 Corfu Butterfly Conservation CBC our first year of survey work 2021 European Butterflies Issue 5 pages 18 21 Palaeolexicon Word study tool of ancient languages Strab vi p 407 W H Race Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica Loeb Classical Library 2008 p 409 n 125 27 verses 4 982 992 Cees H Goekoop 15 September 2010 Where on Earth Is Ithaca A Quest for the Homeland of Odysseus Eburon Uitgeverij B V p 85 ISBN 978 90 5972 344 3 Retrieved 11 November 2012 Wilkes 1996 pp 100 101 111 Sasel Kos 2005 pp 183 Barnett 2016 pp 72 73 Thucydides The Revolution in Corcyra c 400 BCE Reprinted in Rogers Perry Aspects of Western Civilization pp 76 78 Pearson Upper Saddle River 2011 The Oxford Classical Dictionary Oxford University Press Oxford 1992 Leontsini 2014 pp 26 27 Leontsini 2014 pp 28 29 Leontsini 2014 pp 32 33 Leontsini 2014 pp 30 31 Leontsini 2014 pp 31 32 33 34 a b Leontsini 2014 p 35 Leontsini 2014 p 34 Leontsini 2014 pp 36 38 Runciman Steven 1958 The Sicilian Vespers Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 43 ISBN 978 1 107 60474 2 Keil Charles Keil Angeliki Feld Steven 9 December 2002 Bright Balkan Morning Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia p 108 ISBN 9780819564887 Fraser Angus 23 February 1995 The Gypsies pp 50 51 ISBN 9780631196051 a b The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany Vol 71 Archibald Constable 1809 p 916 Retrieved 6 July 2013 Under the Venetians in the middle ages and down even to the seventeenth century Corfu was esteemed the advanced bastion and bulwark of the Christian states against the Ottoman power when the Solymans and the Sclims menaced John Julius Norwich 4 December 2007 The Middle Sea A History of the Mediterranean Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group p 385 ISBN 978 0 307 38772 1 Retrieved 6 July 2013 For Venice only a single bulwark remained Corfu The army that early in 1716 the Grand Vizir flung against the citadel of Corfu consisted of 30 000 infantry and some 3 000 horse Elizabeth Mary Leveson Gower Grosvenor Westminster 2d marchioness of 1842 Narrative of a Yacht Voyage in the Mediterranean During 1840 41 J Murray p 250 Retrieved 6 July 2013 Corfu thus became a strong bulwark against the Turks whose frequent attacks were successfully repulsed In 1716 it was besieged for forty two days by a formidable Ottoman army and fleet and several daring attempts were made to storm Sir Richard Phillips 1822 New Voyages and Travels Consisting of Originals Translations and Abridgments with Index and Historical Preface C Wiley p 63 Retrieved 6 July 2013 The town of Corfu the bulwark of Italy and of the east is Covered in all directions towards the sea and land John Knox 1767 A New Collection of Voyages Discoveries and Travels Containing Whatever is Worthy of Notice in Europe Asia Africa and America J Knox p 203 Retrieved 6 July 2013 Some pieces by Castiglione deserved particular notice together with the last siege and the new fortifications of Corfu which is not only painted on a picture but curiously modelled in wood Corfu is not only a bulwark to the Venetians against Kenneth Meyer Setton 1991 Venice Austria and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century American Philosophical Society p 253 ISBN 978 0 87169 192 7 Retrieved 6 July 2013 Thus the important stronghold of Corfu was protected according to a dispatch of Antonio Priuli proveditor generale da Morea would prove to be for they were bulwarks against the Turks intrusion into the Adriatic 17 Corfu was apparently Henry Jervis White Jervis 1852 History of the island of Corfu and of the republic of the Ionian Islands Colburn and co p 126 Retrieved 6 July 2013 sister of Sixtus Quintus to the Book of Gold the Holy Father having expressed his gratitude the Venetians represented to him that the protection of Corfu and Candia which were the two bulwarks of Christianity cost them more than 500 000 The Gulf of Venice runs for 800 mi 1 287 kilometres between Italy and Esclavonia and at the end of it is the island of Corfu which the Venetians call their door although Venice is in fact 800 mi 1 287 kilometres away Pedro Tafur in 1436 Andancas e viajes Will Durant The Renaissance page 684 MJF Books New York 1981 ISBN 1 56731 016 8 a b c d e f g h i j History of Corfu Corfuweb gr Archived from the original on 11 April 2009 Retrieved 29 June 2009 History of Corfu from xenos website Archived from the original on 14 August 2007 The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare Renaissance to Revolution 1492 1792 Cambridge University Press 1996 p 25 ISBN 978 0 521 47033 9 Retrieved 6 July 2013 The Ottomans were a major and expanding presence in Europe Asia and Africa The knights their fortifications strengthened by bastions resisted assaults and bombardment before accepting Ottoman naval pressure on Europe increased in the Mediterranean with sieges of Corfu in 1537 map 2 and Reggio in 1543 ca Historia de Corfu Serbs in Corfu website Archived from the original on 28 September 2007 a b c d e f History of Corfu from Corfu City Hall website Archived 6 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine a b United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine on the Holocaust in Corfu Also contains information about the Nazi collaborator mayor Kollas From the interview of a survivor in the film Shoah a b Central Jewish Council of Greece website Kis gr Archived from the original on 17 October 2007 Retrieved 29 June 2009 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archived 8 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine two hundred of the 2 000 Corfu Jews found sanctuary with Christian families BBC WW2 People s War Quote By the time I got back to camp the troop had returned from Corfu full of stories about the wonderful reception they d had from the locals as the liberators of the island Bill Sanderson s Wartime Experiences Part 4 40 Commando by Bill Sanderson junior Bill Sanderson s Wartime Experiences Part 4 40 Commando by Bill Sanderson junior Retrieved 31 July 2008 a b Wright Quincy 1949 The Corfu Channel Case The American Journal of International Law 43 3 491 494 doi 10 2307 2193642 JSTOR 2193642 S2CID 147423999 Corfu Channel Incident Records of the Admiralty Naval Forces Royal Marines Coastguard and related bodies U K Retrieved 31 July 2008 Bancroft Harding F Stein Eric 1949 The Corfu Channel Case Judgment on the Preliminary Objection Stanford Law Review 1 4 646 657 doi 10 2307 1226351 JSTOR 1226351 Cook Bernard A 2001 Europe Since 1945 An Encyclopedia ISBN 9780815340577 World Court Gets Albanian Dispute The New York Times 10 April 1947 pp 1 10 Anderson David 10 April 1949 World Court Finds Albania Liable in Corfu Mining of 2 British Ships The New York Times pp 1 15 a b Municipality of Corfu from the Internet archive Quote In the elections of 1954 Stamatios Desillas was elected Mayor for a second term and remained in office until his death Christmas Day 1955 Soon after a bye election took place in Corfu in which the widow of the deceased Maria Desilla Kapodistria was elected Mayor with 5 365 votes in a total of 10 207 Maria Desilla became Mayor of Corfu on 15 April 1956 until 9 May 1959 She was the first female Mayor in Greece Corfu General Hospital Archived from the original on 25 December 2007 Corfu Radio Station History Tvradio ert gr Archived from the original on 2 April 2009 Retrieved 29 June 2009 Alfa History Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Quote 1995 The first in Corfu ISP by Alfa and Forthnet R Winkes editor Kerkyra Artifacts from the Palaiopolis Providence 2004 a b John C G Rohl 1998 Young Wilhelm The Kaiser s Early Life 1859 1888 Cambridge University Press p 297 ISBN 978 0 521 49752 7 Retrieved 4 May 2013 After the purchase of the Achilleion Kekule was invited by the Kaiser to go to Corfu to provide advice on the positioning of the 94 Without a doubt Wilhelm s lifelong obsession with the statue of the Gorgon unearthed in Corfu stems from the Sherry Marker John S Bowman Peter Kerasiotis 1 March 2010 Frommer s Greek Islands John Wiley amp Sons p 476 ISBN 978 0 470 52664 4 Retrieved 4 May 2013 Achilles that the Kaiser had inscribed to the Greatest Greek from the Greatest German a sentiment removed after World War II Frank Giles Spiro Flamburiari Fritz Von der Schulenburg 1 September 1994 Corfu the garden isle J Murray in association with the Hellenic Group of Companies Ltd p 109 ISBN 978 1 55859 845 4 Retrieved 4 May 2013 Although subsequently demolished in 1944 to allow the passage of a huge German coastal gun beneath the locality still bears the name Kaiser s Bridge Corfu map Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine The bridge was destroyed during a German attack in World War II The remains can still be seen today Corfu Life UK Archived 4 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Quote The French were the ones who turned the Spianada into a public square and park one of the biggest in Europe Brohure of Kerkyra Archived 3 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Quote SOCCER The tournament will start on Wednesday 04 of July An Open Ceremony and a parade of all the teams will take place in the biggest square in the Balkansand one of the most impressive ones in the whole continent to the square Spianada itself which is constructed similarlyto the Royal Gardens of Europe Nondas Stamatopoulos 1993 Old Corfu history and culture N Stamatopoulos p 172 ISBN 9789608403000 The Palace of St Michael and St George Plate III which is generally considered the finest of the British buildings in seat of the Order of St Michael and St George which had been instituted in 1818 to honour distinguished British and local A F Madden 1985 Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth The Empire of the Bretaignes 1175 1688 Greenwood Publishing Group pp 690 ISBN 978 0 313 23897 0 a b c d e f g Sapirstein Philip 1 January 2012 The Monumental Archaic Roof of the Temple of Hera at Mon Repos Corfu Hesperia 81 1 31 91 doi 10 2972 hesperia 81 1 0031 JSTOR 10 2972 hesperia 81 1 0031 S2CID 193469029 a b c Franklin P Johnson January 1936 The Kardaki Temple American Journal of Archaeology 40 1 46 54 doi 10 2307 498298 JSTOR 498298 S2CID 191378100 This is the only Greek Doric building that is known to have had no frieze subscription required William Bell Dinsmoor William James Anderson 1973 The Architecture of Ancient Greece An Account of Its Historic Development Biblo amp Tannen Publishers p 92 ISBN 978 0 8196 0283 1 Acta Ad Archaeologiam Et Artium Historiam Pertinentia 4o L Erma di Bretschneider 1978 p 47 In this respect it is surpassed only by the perhaps slightly later temple at Kardaki on Corfu where the frieze was completely omitted This is nothing but the logical consequence of the tendencies from the early Sicilian temples where the ties Robertson D S May 1969 Greek and Roman Architecture 2 ed Cambridge University Press p 326 ISBN 978 0 521 09452 8 Campbell Gordon 2007 The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture Oxford University Press p 311 ISBN 978 0 19 530082 6 A second temple at Kardaki on the east side of Corfu town was also Doric but had 6 by 12 columns and its cella had neither false porch nor adyton The columns are widely spaced and the unusual absence of a triglyph and metope frieze may be explained by the influence of Ionic forms a b c Darling 2004 pp 184 186 a b Cruickshank 2000 Chapter One Temple of Artemis Corcyra p 18 The island of Corfu to the northwest of present day Greece off the coast of Albania was an early colony of the city of Corinth and was under Corinthian control when its Temple of Artemis was constructed A milestone in Greek architecture this was the first building that was truly Doric Many if not all of its Doric characteristics had appeared in earlier structures but here they were used for the first time as an ensemble Gates 2003 pp 211 213 Raaflaub amp van Wees 2009 Chapter 10 Sanne Houby Nielsen Attica A View from the Sea p 203 Margaret M Miles 8 August 2016 A Companion to Greek Architecture John Wiley amp Sons p 169 ISBN 978 1 4443 3599 6 Marconi Clemente 5 February 2007 Temple Decoration and Cultural Identity in the Archaic Greek World The Metopes of Selinus Cambridge University Press p 219 ISBN 978 0 521 85797 0 Philip Sapirstein el templo de Hera fue construido originalmente con la columnata de piedra mediterraneoantiguo com 16 September 2016 a b Gardner Percy 1896 Sculptured Tombs of Hellas London Macmillan and Company Limited p 200 Luca Di Lorenzo 9 May 2018 Corfu La guida di isole greche com Luca Di Lorenzo p 205 ISBN 978 88 283 2151 4 a b c d Funerary Archaic Lion Archaeological Museum of Corfu Nick Fisher Hans van Wees 31 December 1998 Archaic Greece New Approaches and New Evidence Classical Press of Wales p 41 ISBN 978 1 910589 58 8 Germain Bazin 1976 The History of World Sculpture Chartwell Books p 127 ISBN 9780890090893 This lion was found near the tomb of Menekrates in the necropolis of ancient Kerkyra modern Corfu Menekrates was a Lokrian the proxenos of the people of Kerkyra according to a metric inscription on the grave monument To mnhmeio toy Menekrath Odysseus St George Article Archived from the original on 11 March 2007 Nondas Stamatopoulos 1993 Old Corfu history and culture N Stamatopoulos p 162 ISBN 9789608403000 The New Fortress was built on the hill of St Mark between 1572 and 1645 the military engineer a b Stamatopoulos Nondas 1993 Old Corfu history and culture 3 ed N Stamatopoulos ISBN 9789608403000 On a precipitous rocky peak dominating a wide range of coastline around Palaeokastritsa stand the crumbling walls and battlements of the twelfth century Byzantine Fortress of Angelokastro not far from the village of Krini p 163 After a siege lasting a year the invaders were finally driven away by the defenders of the fortress who were helped by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages Again during the first great siege of Corfu by the Turks in 1537 Angelocastro successfully resisted attack About 3 000 villagers had sought refuge within the fortress to escape the fate of the inhabitants of other parts of the island who were In 1571 when they once more invaded Corfu the Ottomans again unsuccessfully attacked Angelocastro where 4 000 people had taken refuge During the second great siege of the city by the Ottomans in 1716 Angelokastro once again served as a refuge for the During the course of the centuries Angelocastro played an important part in the defence of the island In 1403 a force of Genoese soldiers under the command of the French condottiere Boucicaut landed at Palaeokastritsa and attacked The fortress existed in 1272 when it was formally taken over by the Italian Giordano di San Felice in the name of the Angevin rulers of Naples who held the island of Corfu from 1267 to 1386 p 164 Angelocastro was probably built during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenos 1143 1 180 p 164 This was used as a hermitage and was converted into a chapel probably around the end of the eighteenth century p 165 From the top of Angelocastro the view sweeps far and wide over the hills across the breadth of Corfu to the town the Eastern Channel and the mountains on the mainland over a sheer drop of a thousand feet to the sea below p 325 Michael S Kordōses 1981 Symvole sten historia kai topographia tes perioches Korinthou stous mesous chronous Vivliopōleio D N Karavia p 140 Retrieved 19 September 2013 H ypar3h byzantinwn ereipiwn sth 8esh Patima deixnei pi8anotata oti sto shmeio ayto yphrxe byzantinos oikismos Den apokleietai se dyskolotera xronia o plh8ysmos na metoikhse apo th 8esh aythstsn oxyrwmeno lofo Ektos apo to byzantino froyrio sthn perioxh toy Aggelokastroy paroysiazoyn endiaferon kai dyo palies ek klhsies poy O Buchon poy episkef8hke to kastro ypo8etei oti xtisthke ata telh toy IB aiwna apo kapoio melos ths oikogeneias twn Aggelwn Komnhnwn se mia taragmenh epoxh poy eynooyse proswpa me kyros na ginontai ane3arthta apo to kentro Ta teixh toy grafei martyroyn biastikh kataskeyh John S Bowman Peter Kerasiotis Sherry Marker 10 January 2012 Frommer s Greece John Wiley amp Sons p 567 ISBN 978 1 118 20577 8 Retrieved 11 February 2013 Nondas Stamatopoulos 1993 Old Corfu history and culture N Stamatopoulos pp 164 165 ISBN 9789608403000 Retrieved 6 April 2013 Again during the first great siege of Corfu by the Turks in 1537 Angelocastro and After a siege lasting a year the invaders were finally driven away by the defenders of the fortress who were helped by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages In 1571 when they once more invaded Corfu the Turks again unsuccessfully attacked Angelocastro where 4 000 people had taken refuge During the second great siege of the city by the Turks in 1716 Angelokastro once again served DK Publishing 1 May 2012 Top 10 Corfu amp the Ionian Islands DK Publishing p 80 ISBN 978 0 7566 9434 0 a b Nick Edwards 2003 The Rough Guide to Corfu Rough Guides p 223 ISBN 978 1 84353 038 1 On the other side of Mount Ayios Matheos 2 km by road is Gardiki Pirgos the ruins of a thirteenth century castle built in this unlikely lowland setting by the despots of Epirus a b Demetres Philippides 1983 Greek Traditional Architecture Eastern Aegean Sporades Ionian Islands Vol 1 Melissa p 222 a b The Old Town of Corfu Nomination for inclusion on the World Heritage List STATE PARTY Greece STATE PROVINCE OR REGION Greece lonian Islands Region Corfu Prefecture NAME OF PROPERTY The Old Town of Corfu PDF UNESCO p 29 One thing is certain however The area under plough outside the walls increased since the village communities multiplied across the entire island if we are to judge from the Byzantine castles that have survived in order to protect the fields They are castles such as Kassiopi Angelokastro and Gardiki and of course the Old Fortress which was the medieval town itself a b Stamatopoulos Nondas 1993 Old Corfu history and culture 3 ed N Stamatopoulos p 166 ISBN 9789608403000 a b Martin Young 1977 Corfu and the Other Ionian Islands Cape p 108 ISBN 978 0 224 01307 9 Sotiris Voyadjis Aspasia Raptakh January 2007 To kastro ths Kassiwphs Kerkyra Peri Istorias T 5 2007 in Greek Academia edu Ionian Society of Historical Studies 13 34 Synolikh Anadei3h Kastroy Kassiwphs PDF in Greek 21st Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Greece p 384 Tropopoihsh toy ar8roy 1 toy n 3852 2010 Amendment of Article 1 of l 3852 2010 in Greek Government Gazette p 1164 The Literary Panorama and National Register Cox Son and Baylis 1811 p 561 a b E Nikolaides 15 December 2011 Science and Eastern Orthodoxy From the Greek Fathers to the Age of Globalization JHU Press p 171 ISBN 978 1 4214 0298 7 Sir John Edwin Sandys 1967 A History of Classical Scholarship The eighteenth century in Germany and the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States of America Hafner Pub Co p 369 History of the University Ionian University Brochure 2017 www ionio gr Ionian University Summer Schools www ionio gr Libraries and Museums from the City Hall website Archived from the original on 6 January 2008 Frommer s Review Archaeological Museum The New York Times Archived from the original on 11 August 2011 Retrieved 26 September 2011 Eleni Bistika Kathimerini Article on Ioannis Kapodistrias 22 February 2008 Quote H geneteira toy Kerkyra psyxraimh apolambanei to pronomio na exei to gohteytiko Moyseio Kapodistria sth 8esh Koykoyrisa Translation His birthplace Corfu cool enjoys the privilege to have the charming Museum Kapodistria in the location Koukourisa and e3oxikh katoikia me ton mageytiko khpo ths oikogeneias Kapodistria poy h Maria Desylla Kapodistria dwrise stis treis kerkyraikes etaireies Translation summer residence with the enchanting garden of the Kapodistrias family which Maria Dessyla Kapodistria donated to the three Corfiote societies Robert Holland 26 January 2012 Blue Water Empire The British in the Mediterranean since 1800 Penguin Books Limited p 506 ISBN 978 1 84614 555 1 John Freely 30 April 2008 The Ionian Islands Corfu Cephalonia and Beyond I B Tauris p 44 ISBN 978 0 85771 828 0 Essential Corfu AA Publishing 1995 p 11 ISBN 978 0 7495 0921 7 A dreadful storm coupled with the rumour that St Spyridon was threatening the Turkish army with a flaming torch broke the Turks Michael Pratt Lor 1978 Britain s Greek Empire Reflections on the History of the Ionian Islands from the Fall of Byzantium Rex Collings p 47 ISBN 978 0 86036 025 4 refers to the 1716 siege when Spyridon is meant to have frightened away the Turks Dana Facaros Michael Pauls 2007 The Greek Islands New Holland Publishers p 450 ISBN 978 1 86011 325 3 Baroque Music As far as his theatrical activities were concerned the end of 1716 was a high point for Vivaldi In November he managed to have the Ospedale della Pieta perform his first great oratorio Juditha Triumphans devicta Holofernis barbaric sic This work was an allegorical description of the victory of the Venetians the Christians over the Turks the barbarians in August 1716 Corfu the Garden Isle editor Frank Giles John Murray 1994 ISBN 0 7195 5375 X a b c d e f Birth of Greek opera Paper Archived 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Kostas Kardamis San Giacomo and Greek ottocento XI Convegno Annuale di Societa Italiana di Musicologia Lecce 22 24 October 2004 History of the theatre from Corfu cityhall a b c d e History of the municipal theatre from Corfu cityhall Horton John Joseph 1990 John Joseph ed Yugoslavia 2 ed Clio Press p 12 ISBN 978 1 85109 105 8 The addition of the Greek island of Corfu to the south where the declaration of the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes was made at the municipal theatre in 1918 Anthony Hirst Patrick Sammon 26 June 2014 The Ionian Islands Aspects of their History and Culture Cambridge Scholars Publishing p 343 ISBN 978 1 4438 6278 3 After 1818 when an opera composed by Rossini was first scheduled for presentation in Corfu operas by Rossini predominated over works composed by earlier or contemporary artists This development reflected a general change in Europe clearly illustrated by the performance of Wagner s Lohengrin in Italian for the inauguration of the new Municipal Theatre of Corfu 1902 a b c d Corfu city hall website on Easter festivities Archived from the original on 14 December 2007 As the Old Philharmonic concludes its marching in front of their building with a hearty rendition of the Graikoi March the New Philharmonic appears and salutes their rivals with yet another rendition of the same march YouTube a b c Corfu city hall website on Karnavalia Archived from the original on 14 December 2007 Hercules slept with a minor goddess named Melite and she bore him a son named Hyllus not to be confused with Hyllus Hercules son by Deianeira Marvunapp com Retrieved 29 June 2009 Mirror Newspaper Travel section Daily Mirror Archived from the original on 6 June 2011 Retrieved 2 April 2018 Landon Letitia Elizabeth 1834 picture Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1835 Fisher Son amp Co Landon Letitia Elizabeth 1834 poetical illustration Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1835 Fisher Son amp Co Landon Letitia Elizabeth 1837 poetical illustration Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1838 Fisher Son amp Co Landon Letitia Elizabeth 1837 picture Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1838 Fisher Son amp Co Landon Letitia Elizabeth 1836 poetical illustration Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1837 Fisher Son amp Co Landon Letitia Elizabeth 1836 picture Fisher s Drawing Room Scrap Book 1837 Fisher Son amp Co The Executioner from TCM a b 007 Fact website 007 info 24 June 1981 Retrieved 29 June 2009 imdb IMDb The Price of Lave in Greek Tainiothiki Archived from the original on 1 March 2013 Retrieved 4 May 2013 BFI The Gaze of the Gorgon Archived from the original on 13 December 2013 a b Merten Karl 2004 Antike Mythen Mythos Antike posthumanistische Antikerezeption in der englischsprachigen Lyrik der Gegenwart Wilhelm Fink Verlag pp 105 106 ISBN 978 3 7705 3871 3 Retrieved 4 May 2013 der Raume und Kunstwerke des Achilleions hat von entsprechendem dokumentarischem Filmmaterial begleitet Pearson Allison 4 October 1992 Sunny side up but it s no yolk at all The Independent Retrieved 9 May 2013 Joe Kelleher 1996 Tony Harrison Northcote House p 53 ISBN 978 0 7463 0789 2 Retrieved 9 May 2013 The poem concludes with the proposal that to keep new Europe open eyed they let the marble poet preside Foster Nick 17 September 2009 Overseas Buyers Fall for Corfu s Historic Charm The New York Times Archived from the original on 11 September 2009 Retrieved 30 April 2010 Tsartas Paris September 2003 Tourism Development in Greek Insular and Coastal Areas Sociocultural Changes and Crucial Policy Issues Journal of Sustainable Tourism 11 2 3 116 132 doi 10 1080 09669580308667199 S2CID 41077364 Nick Foster Financial Times Ionian rhapsody 17 June 2011 Daily Telegraph 3 November 2008 At the time of his writing Lambert Gocs found 1800 hectares of vines dominated mainly by white Kakotrygis and red Petrokoritho both cultivars having both red and white versions Also cultivated on the island are the white Petrokoritho Moschato Aspro Robola and Kozanitis and the red Kakotrygis and Mavrodafni Greekwinemakers com Archived from the original on 20 March 2012 Retrieved 29 June 2009 a b Twinnings PDF Central Union of Municipalities amp Communities of Greece Archived PDF from the original on 15 January 2016 Retrieved 25 August 2013 Avgoustinos Kapodistrias Sansimera gr Archived from the original on 2 April 2009 Retrieved 29 June 2009 Bracewell Wendy 2009 Orientations an anthology of East European travel writing c 1550 2000 Central European University Press pp 49 50 ISBN 978 963 9776 10 4 A Venetian Greek in the Ottoman Balkans Marco Antonio Cazzaiti 1 742 Marco Antonio Cazzaiti Markos Antonios Katsaites 1717 1787 was a nobleman from Venetian Corfu a lawyer and geographer Greek in origin and consciousnessGeneral and cited sources EditCruickshank Dan 2000 Architecture 150 Masterpieces of Western Architecture New York NY Watson Guptill Publications ISBN 978 0 8230 0289 4 Darling Janina K 2004 Architecture of Greece Westport CT Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 313 32152 8 Gates Charles 2003 Ancient Cities The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt Greece and Rome New York NY Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 01895 1 Leontsini Maria 2014 The Ionian Islands During the Byzantine Period An Overview of their History and Monuments In Hirst Anthony Sammon Patrick eds The Ionian Islands Aspects of their History and Culture Cambridge Scholars Publishing pp 26 63 ISBN 978 1 4438 6278 3 Raaflaub Kurt A van Wees Hans 2009 A Companion to Archaic Greece Malden MA and Oxford UK Blackwell Publishing Limited John Wiley and Sons ISBN 978 0 631 23045 8 Soustal Peter Koder Johannes 1981 Tabula Imperii Byzantini Band 3 Nikopolis und Kephallenia in German Vienna Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften ISBN 978 3 7001 0399 8 Wilkes John J 1996 1992 The Illyrians The peoples of Europe Blackwell Books ISBN 0631146717 OCLC 438825468 Sasel Kos Marjeta 2005 Appian and Illyricum Narodni muzej Slovenije ISBN 961616936X Barnett Charles 2016 Promisljanja o identitetu etnicitetu i helenizaciji predrimske Liburnije Rethinking Identity Ethnicity and Hellenization in pre Roman Liburnia Miscellanea Hadriatica et Mediterranea in Croatian and English 3 63 98 doi 10 15291 misc 1367 Further reading Edit Corfu A Hand book for Travellers in the Ionian Islands Greece Turkey Asia Minor and Constantinople London J Murray 1840 OCLC 397597 OL 6952607M Corfu Handbook for Travellers in Greece 7th ed London John Murray 1900 OL 24368063M Corfu Greece 4th ed Leipzig Karl Baedeker 1909 OL 24347510M Gardner Ernest Arthur Caspari Maximilian Otto Bismarck 1911 Corfu Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 7 11th ed pp 145 146 Siebert Diana Aller Herren Aussenposten Korfu von 1797 bis 1944 Koln 2016 ISBN 978 3 00 052502 5External links EditCorfu at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
