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HISTORY OF CORFU The past is not perhaps so obvious in Corfu as it is in other parts of Greece but the island has a history which is just as rich and fascinating. Due to its geographical position Corfu's adherence to Greece has never been secure. Over the centuries the island was part of the Roman, Byzantine and Venetian empires. At the end of the 18th century it was successively part of Napoleon's French Republic, then a Russian protectorate, then captured again by Napoleon and finally, from 1815, an independent state under the protection of Great Britain. In 1864 the island became part of Greece. Traces of these occupying powers are still visible and for those who find the beach too much of a good thing fourteen days running many are worth a visit. The cannon which gives Kanoni its name was left behind by the Russians in 1803 and on the Garitsa road out to Kanoni is the pretty Byzantine church of SS Jason and Sospiter, rebuilt in the 12th century. A more remote Byzantine relic is the fortress
at Gardiki south of Aghios Mattheos. The old and new forts in Corfu Town are both Venetian
and the latter is certainly worth the climb to the top for the view of the town and the
island. Less well known is the Venetian arsenal which you can find on the right off the
road between Kondokali and Gouvia. The Liston, inspired by the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, was
built by a French engineer. The British built Mon Repos, formerly the Greek king's summer
villa, the Palace of St Michael and St George, taught the Corfiots to play
cricket (which they still do) and introduced ginger beer to the island (now
rather hard to find). There is also a British cemetery containing the
graves of soldiers killed in the Ionian islands during the British
protectorate; it is in a delightful setting and the 19th century
inscriptions conjure up visions of the life of the ordinary British soldiers
in the heyday of the British Empire. The cemetery is also famous as a
habitat for wild flowers, especially wild orchids. |
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