Corfu Hotel
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Corfu
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A few words about Corfu:
Corfu (ΚΕΡΚΥΡΑ in Greek) (ancient and modern Greek Kerkyra, Latin Corcyra) is an
island of Greece, in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Albania, from which it
is separated by a strait varying in breadth from less than 2 to about 15 miles
(3 to 25km) including one near Albania near Butrint and a longer one west of
Thesprotia. It has ferry services to the rest of Greece with Igoumenitsa and
Gaios in the island of Paxoi and as far as Patras. There is also a small port
in Lefkimmi. The coastline and its beaches is about 217 km which includes
capes and points. The highest point is Pantokratoras, the second is
Stravoskiadi (849 m).
It is linked by two highways, GR-24 in the west and GR-25 in the south. The
airport is located some kilometres to the south. The airport offers flights
with Olympic Airlines (OA 600, 602 and 606) and Aegean Airlines (A3 402, 404
and 406). Corfu now also has a univerisity named University of Corfu. The city
is covered with hills while the west is covered with hills. Capes and points
include Agia Aikaterini, and Draptis to the north, Lefkimmi and Asprokavos to
the southeast and Megachoro to the south. Another island is in the middle of
Gouva Bay which covers the eastern part of the island; it is called Ptychia.
Campgrounds are founded in Palaiokastro, Agrillos, two in the northern part,
Pyrgi, Gouvia and Messonghi.
Geography
The name Corfu is an Italian corruption of the Byzantine
Koryphō, which is derived from the Greek Koryphai, meaning "Crests." In shape
it is not unlike the sickle (drepanē), to which it was compared by the
ancients, the hollow side, with the town and harbor of Corfu in the centre,
being turned towards the Albanian coast. Its extreme length is about 40 miles
(60km). and its greatest breadth about 20 miles (30km). The area is estimated
at 227 sq. miles (580 km²). 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 most important of the two ranges is
that of San Salvador, probably the ancient Istone, which stretches east and
west from Cape St. Angelo to Cape St. Stefano, and attains its greatest
elevation of 3300 ft (1000 m) in the summit from which it takes its name. The
second culminates in the mountain of Santi Jeca, or Santa Decca, as it is
called by misinterpretation of the Greek designation hoi Hagioi Deka, or the
Ten Saints. The whole island, composed as it is of various limestone
formations, presents great diversity of surface, and the prospects from the
more elevated spots are magnificent. Beautiful and sparkling beaches with
yellow sands are founded in Agii Gordi, the Korissi lagoon, Agios Georgios,
Marathia, Kassiopi, Sidari, Roda, Palaiokastritsa and many others.
The new citadel at the right of Corfu is generally considered the most
beautiful of all the Greek isles, but the prevalence of the olive gives some
monotony to its coloring. It is worthy of remark that Homer names, as adorning
the garden of Alcinous, seven plants only—wild olive, oil olive, pear,
pomegranate, apple, fig and vine. Of these the apple and the pear are now very
inferior in Corfu; the others thrive well and are accompanied by all the fruit
trees known in southern Europe, with addition of the Japanese medlar (or
loquat) and, in some spots, the banana. When undisturbed by cultivation, the
myrtle, arbutus, bay and ilex form a rich brushwood and the minor flora of the
island is extensive.
The town of Corfu stands on the broad part of a peninsula, whose termination
in the citadel is cut from it by an artificial fosse formed in a natural
gully, with a salt-water ditch at the bottom. Having grown up within
fortifications, where every foot of ground was precious, it is mostly, in
spite of recent improvements, a labyrinth of narrow, tortuous, up-and-down
streets, accommodating themselves to the irregularities of the ground, few of
them fit for wheel carriages. There is, however, a handsome esplanade between
the town and the citadel, and a promenade by the seashore towards Castrades.
In several parts of the town may be found houses of the Venetian time, with
some traces of past splendour, but they are few, and are giving place to
structures in the modern and more convenient French style. The town is as
mundane as Rome, looks like Venice and has the flair of Cuba. Of the
thirty-seven Greek churches the most important are the cathedral, dedicated to
Our Lady of the Cave, St Spiridion's, with the tomb of the patron saint of the
island; and the suburban church of St Jason and St Sosipater, reputed the
oldest in the island. The nearby island named Ponikonisi (Greek meaning "mouse
island") has only three trees and the grasslands is to the west, the highest
point is about 2 m.
Othonas is the westernmost settlement and island in all of Greece. Erikoussa
is the northernmost of the Ionian Islands. All areas lie below the 40° N.
About a quarter of the villages ends with -ades and there is some villages
that also ends with -ades outside Corfu and are a few in the prefecture of
Ioannina. The southern part and on Paxoi have villages ending with -atika and
one ending with -eika and is Gramateika.
History
According to the local tradition Corcyra was the Homeric
island of Scheria, and its earliest inhabitants the Phaeacians. At a date no
doubt previous to the foundation of Syracuse it was peopled by settlers from
Corinth, but it appears to have previously received a stream of emigrants from
Eretria. The splendid commercial position of Corcyra on the highway between
Greece and the West favoured its rapid 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. This opposition came to a head in the early
part of the 7th century, when their fleets fought the first naval battle
recorded in Greek history (about 664 BC). These hostilities ended in the
conquest of Corcyra by the Corinthian tyrant Periander who induced his new
subjects to join in the colonization of Apollonia and Anactorium. The island
soon regained its independence and henceforth 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 and sought assistance from
Athens (see Battle of Sybota). 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). During the Sicilian campaigns of Athens Corcyra
served as a base for supplies; 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 Lacedaemonian
armament, but in spite of the devastation of its flourishing countryside held
out successfully until relief was at hand. In the Hellenistic period Corcyra
was exposed to attack from several sides; after a vain siege by Cassander it
was occupied in turn by Agathocles and Pyrrhus. It subsequently fell into the
hands of Illyrian corsairs, until in 229 BC it was delivered by the Romans,
who retained it as a naval station and gave it the rank of a free state. In 31
BC it served Octavian (Augustus) as a base against Mark Antony.
Eclipsed by the foundation of Nicopolis, Corcyra for a long time passed out of
notice. With the rise of the Norman kingdom in Sicily and the Italian naval
powers, it again became a frequent object of attack. In 1081-1085 it was held
by Robert Guiscard, in 1147-1154 by Roger II of Sicily. During the break-up of
the Later Roman Empire it was occupied by Genoese privateers (1197-1207) who
in turn were expelled by the Venetians. In 1214-1259 it passed to the Greek
despots of Epirus, and in 1267 became a possession of the Neapolitan house of
Anjou. Under the latter's weak rule the island suffered considerably from the
inroads of various adventurers; hence in 1386 it placed itself under the
protection of Venice, which in 1401 acquired formal sovereignty over it.
Corcyra remained in Venetian hands till 1797, though several times assailed by
Turkish armaments and subjected to two notable sieges in 1536 and 1716-1718,
in which the great natural strength of the city again asserted itself. The
Venetian feudal families pursued a mild but somewhat enervating policy towards
the natives, who began to merge their nationality in that of the Latins and
adopted for the island the new name of Corfu. The Corfiotes were encouraged to
enrich themselves by the cultivation of the olive, but were debarred from
entering into commercial competition with Venice. The island served as a
refuge for Greek scholars, and in 1732 became the home of the first academy of
modern Greece, but no serious impulse to Greek thought came from this quarter.
By the Treaty of Campo Formio, Corfu was ceded to the French, who occupied it
for two years, until they were expelled by the Russian squadron under Admiral
Ushakov. For a short time it became the capital of a self-governing federation
of the Hephtanesos ("Seven Islands"); in 1807 its faction-ridden government
was again replaced by a French administration, and in 1809 it was vainly
besieged by a British fleet. When, by the Treaty of Paris of November 5, 1815,
the Ionian Islands became a protectorate of the United Kingdom, Corfu became
the seat of the British high commissioner. The British commissioners, who were
practically autocrats in spite of the retention of the native senate and
assembly, introduced a strict method of government which brought about a
decided improvement in the material prosperity of the island, but by its very
strictness displeased the natives. In 1864 it was, with the other Ionian
Islands, ceded to the kingdom of Greece, in accordance with the wishes of the
inhabitants. The island has again become an important point of call and has a
considerable trade in olive oil; under a more careful system of tillage the
value of its agricultural products might be largely increased.
During the Second World War, the Italian Army bombarded the city devastating
most of the area.
Several movies were filmed in Corfu and a song was common that it was set in a
city square and it was called Kerkyra which is dedicated to this city and the
island. It was also set in a Corfiot beach.
In late-2002 and early-2003, heavy rains plunderded the island several times
including one which caused a mudslide near Messonghi Beach.
Archaeology and architecture
Corfu contains very few important remains of antiquity. The
site of the ancient city of Corcyra (Kerkyra) is well ascertained, about 1 1/2
miles (2km) to the south-east of Corfu, upon the narrow piece of ground
between the sea-lake of Halikiopoulo and the Bay of Castrades, in each of
which it had a port. The circular tomb of Menekrates, with its well-known
inscription, is on the Bay of Castrades. Under the hill of Ascension are the
remains of a temple, popularly called of Poseidon, a very simple dome
structure, which still in its mutilated state presents some peculiarities of
architecture. Of Cassiope, the only other city of ancient importance, the name
is still preserved by the village of Cassiopi, 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. Throughout the island there are numerous
monasteries and other buildings of Venetian erection, of which the best known
are Paleokastritsa, San Salvador and Pelleka. The Achilleon or Achilleas
Thniskon is a palace commissioned by Elisabeth of Austria and purchased in
1907 by Wilhelm II of Germany; it is now a popular tourist attraction.
Corfu Town is famous for its Italianate architecture, most notably the Liston,
an arched colonnade lined with cafes on the edge of the Spianada (Esplanade),
the vast main plaza and park which incorporates a cricket field and several
pavilions. Also notable are the Old and New castles, the recently restored
Palace of Sts. Michael and George, formerly the residence of the British
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 Duke of
Edinburgh.
Music and Festivities
Corfiotes are great lovers of music. Most people readily join
in the singing of the cantadas, impromptu choral songs in two, three or four
voices, usually accompanied by a guitar. Corfu Town is home to three famous,
top-quality marching brass bands, the red-uniformed Old Philharmonic, the
blue-uniformed Mantzaros Philharmonic and the white-uniformed Capodistria
Philharmonic. The bands give regular weekend promenade concerts and partake in
the yearly Holy Week celebrations. There is considerable rivalry among them,
and their respective repertoires are rigorously adhered to. For example on
Good Friday the Old Philharmonic will parade the streets playing Albinoni's
Adagio, the Mantzaros plays Verdi's Marcia Funebre from Don Carlo, and the
Capodistria plays Chopin's Funeral March and Mariani's Sventura. They make
sure their paths never cross.
The only time when the three bands coexist is Holy Saturday morning, when the
Epitaphios of the St. Spiridon Cathedral is paraded, along with the Saint's
relics. At this time the bands play Miccheli's Calde Lacrime, the Marcia
Funebre from Faccio's opera Amleto, and the Funeral March from Beethoven's
Eroica. The custom dates from 1574, when the Venetians banned the traditional
Good Friday Epitaphios parade. The defiant Corfiotes held the parade the
following morning, and paraded the relics of St. Spiridon as well, so that the
Venetians would not dare intervene.
The parade is followed by the most spectacular Corfiote celebration by far,
the "Early Resurrection". Balconies in the old town are decked in bright red
cloths, and Corfiotes throw large clay pots (the botides) full of water down,
so that they smash on the street pavement. This is done in anticipation of the
Resurrection of Jesus, which is to be celebrated that same night.
During Venetian rule, the Corfiotes developed a fervent appreciation for
Italian opera. The Corfu Opera House was a fixture in famous opera singers'
itineraries, and those who were successful there were given the title "applaudito
in Corfu".
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