Corfu is situated in the Ionian sea and is the second largest of the Ionian Greek islands!
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this famous Greek island!
- Corfu or Kerkyra is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea
- It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands
- And including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece
- The island is part of the Corfu regional unit
- And is administered as a single municipality
- Which also includes the smaller islands of Ereikoussa, Mathraki and Othonoi
- The municipality has an area of 610,9 km2
- The island proper 592,8 km2
- The principal city of the island and seat of the municipality is also named Corfu
- Corfu is home to the Ionian University
- The island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology
- Its history is full of battles and conquests
- Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota
- hich was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War
- Αnd, 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
- Αlong with Athens and Corinth
- 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
- hich 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
- From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island, having successfully repulsed the Ottomans during several sieges, was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire
- It became one of the most fortified places in Europe
- The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic
- Corfu eventually fell under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars
- It was eventually ceded to Greece by the British Empire along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands
- Unification with modern Greece was concluded in 1864 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
- In 2007, the city’s old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List
- Following a recommendation by ICOMOS
- The 1994 European Union summit was held in Corfu
- The island is a very popular tourist destination
- 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
- According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra
- He was the daughter of Asopos and river nymph Metope
- Poseidon abducted her
- Poseidon brought Korkyra to the hitherto unnamed island
- And, in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra
- Which gradually evolved to Kerkyra (Doric)
- They had a child they called Phaiax
- After whom the inhabitants of the island were named Phaiakes, in Latin Phaeaciani
- Corfu’s nickname is the island of the Phaeacians
- The name Corfù, an Italian version of the Byzantine Κορυφώ (Koryphō)
- Meaning “city of the peaks”
- Derives from the Byzantine Greek Κορυφαί (Koryphai) (crests or peaks)
- Denoting the two peaks of Palaio Frourio
- Corfu is one of the locations in the legend of Simon and Milo
- There 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 The Broom of the System
- Drake mentions Corfu in a song
- 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
- 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 stop over 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
- 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
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