Corfu Κέρκυρα
Corfu, as seen from the New Fortress
Flag
Corfu Location within the regional unit
Coordinates: 39°37′N 19°55′E / 39.617°N 19.917°E / 39.617; 19.917Coordinates: 39°37′N 19°55′E / 39.617°N 19.917°E / 39.617; 19.917
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Ionian Islands
Regional unit	Corfu
Municipality	Corfu
• Municipal unit	41.905 km2 (16.180 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Municipal unit	39,674
• Municipal unit density	950/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
Community [1]
• Population	32,095 (2011)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	49100
Area code(s)	26610
Vehicle registration	ΚΥ
Website	www.corfu.gr
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Old Town of Corfu
Criteria	Cultural: (iv)
Reference	978
Inscription	2007 (31st Session)
Area	70 ha (170 acres)
Buffer zone	162 ha (400 acres)

Corfu or Kerkyra (/kɔːrˈfuː, -fjuː/; Greek: Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra [ˈcercira]; Ancient Greek: Κόρκυρα, romanized: Kórkyra; Latin: Corcyra; Italian: Corfù) is a city and a former municipality on the island of Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality of Corfu island.^[2] It is the capital of the island and of the Corfu regional unit. The city also serves as a capital for the region of the Ionian Islands. The city (population 24,838 in 2011) is a major tourist attraction, and has played an important role since antiquity.

History

The ancient city of Corfu, known as 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.^[3] Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across the city are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans. The city has become known since the Middle Ages as Kastropolis (Castle City) because of its two castles^[4].

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-storied buildings on narrow lanes. The Old Town of Corfu has clear Venetian influence^[5]. The city was subjected to four notable sieges in 1537, 1571, 1573 and 1716, in which the strength of the city defenses asserted itself time after time, mainly because of the effectiveness of the powerful Venetian fortifications. Will Durant claimed that Corfu owed to the Republic of Venice the fact that it was the only part of Greece never conquered by the Ottomans.^[6]

In 2007, the old town of the city was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.^[7][8][9] The municipal unit of Corfu city has a land area of 41.905 km² (16.180 sq mi)^[10] and a total population of 39,674 inhabitants. Besides the city of Corfu/Kérkyra, its largest other towns are Kanáli (population 4,086), Potamós (3,840), Kontokáli (1,660), Alepoú (3,149), and Gouviá (838).

Palaiopolis

Kardaki Temple in Corfu

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.^[11] It is approximately 700 m. to the southeast of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu.^[11] 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.^[11]

Architecture

Map of the "Old Fortress" of Corfu, 1573.

Typical houses of Corfu city.

The old fortifications of the town, formerly so extensive as to require a force of from 10,000 to 20,000 troops to man them, were in great part thrown down by the British in the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} In several parts of the town may be found houses of the Venetian time, with some traces of past splendour. The Palace of St. Michael and St. George, built in 1815 by Sir Thomas Maitland (1759–1824; Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands) is a large structure of white Maltese stone. Near Gasturi stands the Pompeian style Achilleion, the palace built for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and purchased in 1907 by the German emperor, William II.

Of the thirty-seven Greek churches the most important are the cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of the Cave; St. Spiridon's, with the tomb of the patron saint of the island; and the suburban church of St Jason and St Sosipater, reputedly the oldest in the island.^{[citation needed]} The city is the seat of a Greek and a Roman Catholic archbishop; and it possesses a gymnasium, a theatre, an agricultural and industrial society, and a library and museum preserved in the buildings formerly devoted to the university, which was founded by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (1766–1827, himself the first chancellor in 1824) in 1823, but disestablished on the cessation of the British protectorate.

Based on the ICOMOS evaluation of the old town of Corfu,^[8] it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The ICOMOS experts have noted that "about 70% of the pre-20th century buildings date from the British period" and that "whole blocks were destroyed" in the Old Town by the German World War II blitzes; these were "replaced by new constructions in the 1960s and 1970s". The urban fabric was classified as being predominantly of the Neoclassical period "without special architectural features for which it could be distinguished".^[8]

Layout

View of the old town

Agion Panton Street

The town 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 salt-water ditch at the bottom, that serves also as a kind of marina known as Contra-Fossa. The old city having grown up within fortifications, where every metre of ground was precious, is a labyrinth of narrow streets paved with cobblestones, sometimes tortuous but mostly pleasant, colourful and sparkling clean.^{[citation needed]} These streets are called "kantounia" (καντούνια) and the older ones sometimes follow the gentle irregularities of the ground while many of them are too narrow for vehicular traffic. There is promenade by the seashore towards the bay of Garitsa (Γαρίτσα), and also an esplanade between the town and the citadel called Liston [it] (Λιστόν) where upscale restaurants and European style bistros abound. The origin of the name Liston has several explanations: many former Venetian cities have a square of that name, coming from a Venetian word meaning evening promenade, but it can also refer to the closed-list aspect of an up-scale area reserved to the nobility registered in the Libro d'Oro.

The citadel was depicted on the reverse of the Greek 500 drachmas banknote of 1983-2001.^[12]

Panoramic view of the old town

Culture

The city of Corfu has a long tradition in the fine arts. The Philharmonic Society of Corfu is part of that tradition. The Museum of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu presents in detail the musical heritage of the island.

Sports

Corfu is the only place in Greece where cricket is popular. It was imported into the island during British rule. The Hellenic Cricket Federation is based in Corfu and it is the only Greek sport federation that is based outside Athens.^[13] The most Greek cricket clubs are based in Corfu and they star in the Greek Championship. Notable cricket clubs of Corfu are Kerkyraikos Gymnastikos Syllogos (KGS), founded in 1893, GSK Vyron, founded in 1925 and AO Phaeax founded in 1976.

In other sports, Corfu has two teams with presence in higher divisions. The football club AOK Kerkyra, founded in 1969 originally as "AO Kerkyra", that plays in A Ethniki and the water polo club NAO Kerkyra (NAOK) founded in 1935, with earlier presence in A1 Ethniki Polo.

Climate

Corfu city has a Mediterranean climate. The summers are hot, rainless but humid with temperatures reaching 33 °C (91 °F). The winters are mild and wet, temperatures around on or above 10 °C (50 °F).

Government

Spianada Square

The City Hall (former Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù).

Statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias with the Ionian Academy in the background.

View of the Palace of St. Michael and St. George, with the statue of Sir Frederick Adam, which houses the Museum of Asian Art

Mayors

Up until 1866, Corfu had no mayors. This list starts from 1866 and on.^[17]

• Nikolaos V. Manesis (1866–1870)


• Christodoulos M. Kiriakis (1870–1879)


• 
  Georgios Theotokis (1879–1885)


• Ioannis Padovas (1885-1887)^[18]


• 
  Michael Theotokis [el] (1887–1895)


• 
  Angelos Psoroulas [el] (1895–1899)


• Dimitrios Kollas (1899–1911)


• Ioannis Mavrogiannis (1914–1925)


• Spiridon Kollas (1925–1951)


• Stamatios Desyllas (1951–1955)^[19]


• 
  Maria Desylla-Kapodistria (1956–1959), first female mayor in Greece.^[19]


• Panagiotis Zafiropoulos (1959–1964)


• 
  Spyros Rath (1964–1967)


• Konstantinos Alexopoulos (1974–1975)


• 
  Spyros Rath (1975–1978)


• Ioannis Kourkoulos (1979–1990)


• Chrisanthos Sarlis (1991–2002)


• Alexandros Mastoras (2003–2006)


• Sotirios Micallef (2007–2010)


• Ioannis Trepeklis (2011–2014)


• Kostas Nikolouzos (2014–)^[20]

Twin cities

Corfu is twinned with:^[21][22]

Quarters

Gallery

• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Vido island near the city
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Old depiction of Corfu, 1487
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Old Fortress
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  The New Fortress
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Belltower of the Saint Spyridon Church, patron saint of the city
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Panagia Mandrakina
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Saint George Temple at the Old Fortress
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  View of Spilias Square
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Liston
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Mon Repos
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Achilleion façade
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Statue of Georgios Theotokis (sculp. Georgios Dimitriades)
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Panorama of the city
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Carnival in Kerkyra by Charalambos Pachis
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  The Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Belltower of Annunziata/Lontsiada Catholic church (Evangelistria)
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Panagia Spiliotissa Cathedral
  

  
  

  
  

References

• 
   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Corfu" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 145–146..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Corfu town.

• 
  Corfu Town travel guide from Wikivoyage


• Municipal website