Top historic sites in Corfu
Palace of St. Michael and St. George
The Palace of St. Michael and St. George originally served as the residence of the British Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. It was built between 1819 and 1824, to a neoclassical design of Colonel George Whitmore. The palace was designed in the Greek Revival style of neoclassical architecture, and it was the first building of that style to be constructed on Greek territory. It was designed by the British ar ...
Founded: 1819-1824 |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Old Fortress of Corfu
The Old Venetian Fortress of Corfu covers the promontory which initially contained the old town of Corfu that had emerged during Byzantine times. Before the Venetian era the promontory, which lies between the Gulf of Kerkyra to the north and Garitsa Bay to the south, was defended by Byzantine fortifications which the Venetians largely replaced with fortifications of their own design. As part of their defensive plans the ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Achilleion
Achilleion is a palace built in Gastouri on the Island of Corfu for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi. Elisabeth was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of her only son, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria following the Mayerling incident in 1889, and a year later she had this summer palace built as a refuge. Achilleion is located about ten kilometres south of the city of Corfu and provides a panoramic view ...
Founded: 1889 |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
New Fortress of Corfu
The New Fortress of Corfu is a Venetian fortress built on the hill of St. Mark in Corfu. The current buildings which exist within the fortress were built by the British during their rule of the island (1815–63). In the aftermath of the first great Ottoman siege of Corfu in 1537, the Venetians developed plans to expand the fortifications of the city. Venetians built the New Fortress at the hill of St. Mark to further st ...
Founded: 16th century |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Kassiopi Castle
Kassiopi Castle was one of three Byzantine-period castles that defended the island before the Venetian era (1386–1797). The castles formed a defensive triangle, with Gardiki guarding the island"s south, Kassiopi the northeast and Angelokastro the northwest. The exact origins of the castle are not clear, with various theories being advanced, but they appear to be Byzantine. During excavations in the two towers adja ...
Founded: 6th century AD |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Angelokastro
Angelokastro is a Byzantine castle on the island of Corfu. It is located at the top of the highest peak of the island"s shoreline in the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa and built on particularly precipitous and rocky terrain. It stands 305 m on a steep cliff above the sea and surveys the City of Corfu and the mountains of mainland Greece to the southeast and a wide area of Corfu toward the northeast and northwes ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Basilica of Palaiopolis
The Basilica of Palaiopolis, one of the most important Byzantine monuments in Corfu, was built in the mid-5th AD century by the Bishop Ioviano. The temple was built in the center of the Roman market of Corfu. It was a five-aisled basilica with a transept, double narthex, atrium and rich sculpture and mosaic decoration. For building materials from the adjacent ancient pagan temples , which still visible on its walls. The ...
Founded: 5th century AD |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Kardaki Temple
Kardaki Temple is an Archaic Doric temple in Corfu, built around 500 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra. The temple features several architectural peculiarities that point to a Doric origin. The temple at Kardaki is unusual because it has no frieze, following perhaps architectural tendencies of Sicilian temples. It is considered to be the only Greek temple of Doric architecture that does not have a frieze. The spacing of t ...
Founded: 500 BCE |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Gardiki Castle
Gardiki Castle is a 13th-century Byzantine castle on the southwestern coast of Corfu and the only surviving medieval fortress on the southern part of the island. It was built by a ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, and was one of three castles which defended the island before the Venetian era (1401–1797). The three castles formed a defensive triangle, with Gardiki guarding the island"s south, Kassiopi Castle the nor ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis is an Archaic Greek temple in Corfu, Greece, built in around 580 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra. The temple was dedicated to Artemis. It is known as the first Doric temple exclusively built with stone. It is also considered the first building to have incorporated all of the elements of the Doric architectural style. Very few Greek temple reliefs from the Archaic period have survived, and the large ...
Founded: 580 BCE |
Location:
Corfu, Greece