Corfu trivia: 75 amazing facts about one the biggest Ionian Greek islands!

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!

1. Corfu or Kerkyra is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea
2. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands
3. And including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece
4. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit
5. And is administered as a single municipality
6. Which also includes the smaller islands of Ereikoussa, Mathraki and Othonoi
7. The municipality has an area of 610,9 km2
8. The island proper 592,8 km2
9. The principal city of the island and seat of the municipality is also named Corfu
10. Corfu is home to the Ionian University
11. The island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology
12. Its history is full of battles and conquests
13. Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota
14. hich was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War
15. Αnd, according to Thucydides, the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time
16. Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of fifth century BC Greece
17. Αlong with Athens and Corinth
18. Ruins of ancient Greek temples and other archaeological sites of the ancient city of Korkyra are found in Palaiopolis
19. Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across the island are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans
20. Two of these castles enclose its capital
21. hich is the only city in Greece to be surrounded in such a way
22. As a result, Corfu’s capital has been officially declared a Kastropolis (“castle city”) by the Greek government
23. 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
24. It became one of the most fortified places in Europe
25. The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic
26. Corfu eventually fell under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars
27. It was eventually ceded to Greece by the British Empire along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands
28. Unification with modern Greece was concluded in 1864 under the Treaty of London
29. Corfu is the origin of the Ionian Academy
30. The first university of the modern Greek state
31. And the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù
32. The first Greek theatre and opera house of modern Greece
33. The first governor of independent Greece after the revolution of 1821
34. Founder of the modern Greek state, and distinguished European diplomat Ioannis Kapodistrias was born in Corfu
35. In 2007, the city’s old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List
36. Following a recommendation by ICOMOS
37. The 1994 European Union summit was held in Corfu
38. The island is a very popular tourist destination
39. The Greek name, Kerkyra or Korkyra, is related to two powerful water deities
40. Poseidon, god of the sea, and Asopos, an important Greek mainland river
41. According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra
42. He was the daughter of Asopos and river nymph Metope
43. Poseidon abducted her
44. Poseidon brought Korkyra to the hitherto unnamed island
45. And, in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra
46. Which gradually evolved to Kerkyra (Doric)
47. They had a child they called Phaiax
48. After whom the inhabitants of the island were named Phaiakes, in Latin Phaeaciani
49. Corfu’s nickname is the island of the Phaeacians
50. The name Corfù, an Italian version of the Byzantine Κορυφώ (Koryphō)
51. Meaning “city of the peaks”
52. Derives from the Byzantine Greek Κορυφαί (Koryphai) (crests or peaks)
53. Denoting the two peaks of Palaio Frourio
54. Corfu is one of the locations in the legend of Simon and Milo
55. There Simon falls in love temporarily
56. It is the setting of the 1998 song Mediterranean Lady by Prozzak
57. The island is alluded to several times in David Foster Wallace’s The Broom of the System
58. Drake mentions Corfu in a song
59. Corfiotes have a long history of hospitality to foreign residents and visitors
60. Typified in the 20th century by Gerald Durrell’s childhood reminiscence My Family and Other Animals
61. The north east coast has largely been developed by a few British holiday companies
62. With large expensive holiday villas
63. Package holiday resorts exist on the north, east and southwest coasts
64. At the other end of the island, the southern resort of Kavos also provides tourist facilities
65. St George South to the west boasts the largest sandy beach on the island
66. Coupled with a selection of all inclusive package hotels and traditional corfiot villas and flats
67. The Korission lake nature reserve also provides a stop over for European birds migrating south
68. Up until the early 20th century, it was mainly visited by the European royals and elites
69. Including Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
70. Today it is also widely visited by middle class families
71. Primarily from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany
72. With the advent of the jet airliner bringing these groups relatively affordable “package holidays”
73. Corfu was one of the primary destinations for this new form of mass tourism
74. It is still popular with the ultra-wealthy however
75. And in the island’s northeast the homeowners include members of the Rothschild family and Russian oligarchs