Corfu (Kerkyra in Greek) is the second largest of the Ionian Islands and the most populous, a few miles off the Albanian coast and a night's ferry from Apulia. In antiquity it was the island of the Phaeacians where, in the Odyssey, the shipwrecked Odysseus was welcomed by Princess Nausicaa.
A European history
Corfu was Venetian for over four centuries (1386-1797) and repelled two great Ottoman sieges, in 1537 and 1716: it was never conquered by the Ottomans. The French followed and, from 1815 to 1864, the British protectorate, which left cricket, ginger beer and the Palace of St Michael and St George. Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of state of independent Greece, was born here. Among old Corfiot families Italian was the language of culture, and the dialect keeps many Venetian words.
The old town
Corfu town, a UNESCO site since 2007, is a tangle of lanes (kantounia), small squares and Venetian palazzi between two fortresses.
| Place | Why |
|---|---|
| Old Fortress | On the headland cut off from the town by a moat, with views over the whole gulf |
| New Fortress | Venetian bastions above the old port |
| Spianada and Liston | The great square and the arcades built by the French on the model of the rue de Rivoli, with cafés |
| Church of St Spyridon | Holds the relics of the patron saint, carried in procession four times a year |
| Palace of St Michael and St George | British residence, now the Museum of Asian Art |
| Kanoni and Pontikonisi | Vlacherna monastery and Mouse Island, the island's postcard view |
The rest of the island
South of town, the Achilleion is the villa Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi) built in 1890 in honour of Achilles, later bought by Kaiser Wilhelm II. On the north-west coast Paleokastritsa has turquoise coves below a monastery and the viewpoint of Angelokastro. The north is mountainous, crowned by Pantokrator (906 m), with villages such as Old Perithia and the coast of Kassiopi and Kalami, where the Durrell family lived. Beaches: Glyfada, Myrtiotissa, Agios Gordios and Pelekas in the west, the Canal d'Amour at Sidari, Issos and Halikounas in the south, among dunes and a lagoon.
Food and festivals
Corfiot cooking has strong Venetian influences: pastitsada (meat in spiced sauce with pasta), sofrito (veal with wine and garlic), bourdeto (spicy fish), and kumquat liqueurs. Easter is famous for its brass bands and, on Holy Saturday, for large clay pots (botides) hurled from windows. See Easter in Greece.
Getting there
The airport has direct summer flights from many European cities and year-round flights from Athens. Ferries to Corfu sail from the Italian ports of Brindisi, Bari, Ancona and, in some seasons, Venice; from Igoumenitsa the crossing takes about an hour and a half. See ferries to Greece.