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Corfu Monuments & sights

For centuries the various cultural influences ranging from the first Greek colonization at 750 BC , the Archaic period, the Byzantine era followed by the period of Venetian rule and later the French and the English, have left Corfu a unique cultural and architectural heritage, beautiful buildings, unique monuments that do not exist anywhere else in Greece.
Apart from Paleopolis which was the ancient Greek metropolis of the island and is considered as an archaeological treasure, tens of later buildings marks the current culture of Corfu and our duty is to preserve and highlight them.
And there are too many of theese monuments in Corfu, here we describe only a few of them.

The Old Fortress

Byzantine building of the 8th century AD which contained all of the small medieval town located in this physical intrusion of land.
The rock was then fortified to protect the city from the numerous invasions of the Middle Ages.
Later the Venetians having to face the Turkish threat, strengthened its fortifications, bastions were extended and the pit grew up, known as the kontrafossa which separated the fortress from the land, this way the Venetians created impenetrable triple line of defense both by land and from the sea.
Inside the old fortress later in 1840 the Doric church of St. George was build by the British.
Most buildings that were inside the fort have now been demolished.
Deserving attention is the central gate, the bastions of Savornian, Martinengo and Mandraki, the towers of the land and the sea at the east, the English hospital and the English barracks, the clock tower and the lighthouse.

There is still a prison built in 1786 by the Venetians, which was later expanded by the British, the military chapel and the two English barracks in 1850, the military hospital is housing now the Music Department of Ionian University.
The fortress now houses the historical records of more than six centuries of history, the Byzantine collection of sculptures and images of the Byzantine era and the public library.
Right at the entrance of the fortress on the Iroon Politechniou street is the statue of Prussian Marshal Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, built by the Venetians in his honor when he successfully repelled the Turkish invasion of 1716.
Today the fortress is a masterpiece of architecture and fortification art while offering visitors the best views of the city, to the harbor across the land and to the mountains of Epirus.

The New Fortress

Another example of the high capacity of Venetians in fortification, and an architectural marvel of art built by the Venetians and with physical labor of the inhabitants from 1576 until 1645.
Venetians due to the permanent threat of the Turks, felt that it was necessary to complete the fortifications of the city which meanwhile had been extended far beyond the old fortress.
They started the construction of a new fortress on the hill of San Marcos extended south with walls and ramparts reaching the sea at Garitsa bay, Corfu is now all within the walls, it was then that Corfu took the name Kastropolis.
To become a fortress, except the exhaustive work of the residents, 2, 000 houses in particular where now stands the vast Esplanade square had to be demolished, the reasons that this happened was not only to find building materials, but primarily defensive, the Venetians wanted to create a large buffer zone between the old fortress and the city which would help better their defense plans, so today Corfu has perhaps the largest square in Europe, the famous Esplanade.
At the entrance of the castle is still the emblem of Venice, the lion of Saint Markos, while inside the fortress is worth seeing the underground galleries, reservoirs and ammunition depots.
The fortress also houses the Museum of Ceramic Art, photography, painting, sculpture as well as concerts and other cultural events.
Inside the fortress today there is also the Naval Station of Corfu.

Palace of Saint Michael and George

During the era of the British rule, High Commissioner Adams in 1819 decided to build a small!! house to stay he and his family.
And so He left in Corfu a unique palace in Georgian style. The building was designed by English engineer Colonel Sir George Whitmore (1775-1862) and despite its enormous size is elegant and beautifull, it is the largest building palace in Greece after the palace of King Otto in Athens, todays Greek parliament. The large line of Doric columns has two gates, the Gate of St. Michael and the gate of St. George.
While in the garden is the statue of commissioner Frederick Adams made by Corfiot sculptor Pavlos Prosalendis.
Outside it has carved representations of the Ionian Islands and within two rows of Ionic columns surrounding the main hall, there are scenes from the Odyssey, the first floor is decorated with Corinthian columns.
There are three main halls: the ballroom, the throne-room and the symposium room. The palace was previously housed the Ionian Senate and the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George and for a half of the century was the summer residence of the former Greek royal family. Today is refurbished as a museum and Classical Antiquities, in this building became the summit of the European Union in 1994.
The building overlooks the north side of Spianada square in the Iroon Politechnioy street, today also houses the Asian Art Museum and the Municipal Gallery.

The building of Townhall

In 1663 started the construction of the gallery of noble "loggia nobili" that lasted almost 30 years.
This beautiful building later housed the famous San Giacomo theater.
Director of the orchestra in operas that played there was Nicholas Mantzaros composer of our national anthem.
Today the building keeps intact its beauty and architecture and is home to the Town Hall.
Located at the intersection of Eugene M. Voulgareos street and M.Theotoki street.

The building of Ionian Parliament

At the intersection of Napoleon Zabeli and Moustoxidi streets is the building of the Ionian Parliament.
In this space the representatives of the people of the Ionian Islands voted for union with Greece and eventually ratified by resolution of the Ionian Isles at 23 september in 1863
The building was designed by Ioannis Chronis in 1855 in a neoclassical style and distinctive entrance with Doric columns.
Restored in 1978 and since then is the house of the Museum devoted to the struggle of people of eptanisa for freedom.
We hope that it will be restored into its previous glory and officially be the Ionian Parliament.

Ionian Academy

At The intersection of Akadimias and Kapodistriou streets at Southwest Upper Square of Spianada was one of the entrances to the city at the era of Venetian rule.
There the General Proveditore of the city (that is how they called him then) Grimani Correr started to build a building to be used as barracks. Already in 1823 following by a resolution of the Ionian parliament with the help of Lord Frederick Guilford founded the Ionian Academy, the first Greek university, which until 1841 was hosted in a government building in the old fortress.
In 1841 the university moved to the former Grimani Correr barracks which since then is named the building of the Ionian Academy, there were housed the schools philosophy, law and medicine and later the polytechnic, the obstetrics and pharmacology.
In 1865 with the Union of Ionian islands with Greece, the Greek kingdom immediately rewarded the fights and the fervent desire of Corfiot people for union with Greece by closing our university, removing electricity factory already operating in Corfu and moving all equipment in Piraeus, Corfu immersing in spiritual and economic stagnation, Athens state denying us the spiritual and cultural leadership, condemning us to a century-late
After the closure of the university the building housed the Public Library, during the Second World War the building was bombing by the Germans in September 1943, restored in 1994.

Achillion Palace

10 km south of the city and three north of the village Benitses next to Gastouri village lays the beautiful Achillion.
It is the palace built by Empress Elizabeth of Austria who became known as the sad queen sissy.
The queen, whose life became a movie, did a tour in the Mediterranean islands and decided to settle here trying to overcome the grief of her family's tragic losses.
Palace was built in 1890 by Italian architect Rafael Carito and took its name from the mythical hero Achilles, Elizabeths beloved hero.
The decoration of the building was from Elizabeth herself and reflects her admiration and love for Classical Greece, both stepping outside gardens and the interior are decorated with statues of ancient philosophers, heroes and mythical ancient gods.
The entrance is decorated with many statues and columns, two centaurs decorate the balcony on the first floor and four brass Mouses the balcony of the second floor, inside the columns are statues of gods and philosophers.
In the second floor there is a brass statue of God Hermes and the central large hall dominated by works of Italian painters, most notably that of the Austrian Franz Matt depicting the triumph of Achilles.
On the balcony of the first floor, where there were the departments of Queen, the Ionic columns are adorned by the heads of philosophers and statues of the nine muses.
In the gardens of Achillion palace we find the famous statues of the dying Achilles, Dionysus with Satyros on his shoulders, an impressive statue of Achilles 11.5 meters high and a statue of Lord Byron.
After the murder of Elizabeth by an Italian who wanted to avenge the occupation of northern Italy, the palace was bought by the then Kaiser of Prussia William II
The Kaiser made additions to the building and built the famous Kaiser bridge, 2 km from Benitses, to use it for swimming away from prying eyes and has been said that he came here every summer to draw up his war plans.
The building during the First World War was used as a military hospital, during the decades of 80s and 90s housed the famous Casino of Corfu and today has been converted permanently to museum and historical site.