Fana Church history is long and complicated. Historians assert that the church has been rebuilt and enlarged several times. Fana Church was mentioned in writings for the first time in 1228, when Pope Gregory IX released a conscription to the vicar and brothers at 'the holy cross church and hospital in Fana'. Parts of the existing church building are from the Romanesque age, and the walls show signs of there having been a stone building at the site, most likely a church, before 1220. Due to this, it is believed that the core of the church was built in the second half of the 12th century.
The legend 'The Holy Silver Cross' is connected to Fana church. In 1626, when the king gave professor Worm at Copenhagen University commission to register all historical objects and occurrences in Bjørgvin bishopric, Skonvig, the son of a priest, sent a letter about the legend. Two fishermen found a silver cross at Korsnes in Korsfjorden, and they tried to get the cross on land near Milde. However, the cross was too heavy to carry, so they knew the cross was meant for Fana. When they arrived at Fanahammeren, the cross was easy to carry. They brought it to the church where it was settled at the altar. One of the fishermen was blind, but when he touched the cross and scratched his eyes he gained sight again. The story about the healing cross reached many, and pilgrims visited the church hoping to be healed. It is said that at a small knoll close to the church there was a lot of crutches and canes that pilgrims had left behind after having been healed at the cross. According to the legend, the priest in Fana burned 6 horse loads of crutches in 1546.
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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 northwest.
Angelokastro is one of the most important fortified complexes of Corfu. It was an acropolis which surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle.
Angelokastro formed a defensive triangle with the castles of Gardiki and Kassiopi, which covered Corfu"s defences to the south, northwest and northeast.
The castle never fell, despite frequent sieges and attempts at conquering it through the centuries, and played a decisive role in defending the island against pirate incursions and during three sieges of Corfu by the Ottomans, significantly contributing to their defeat.
During invasions it helped shelter the local peasant population. The villagers also fought against the invaders playing an active role in the defence of the castle.
The exact period of the building of the castle is not known, but it has often been attributed to the reigns of Michael I Komnenos and his son Michael II Komnenos. The first documentary evidence for the fortress dates to 1272, when Giordano di San Felice took possession of it for Charles of Anjou, who had seized Corfu from Manfred, King of Sicily in 1267.
From 1387 to the end of the 16th century, Angelokastro was the official capital of Corfu and the seat of the Provveditore Generale del Levante, governor of the Ionian islands and commander of the Venetian fleet, which was stationed in Corfu.
The governor of the castle (the castellan) was normally appointed by the City council of Corfu and was chosen amongst the noblemen of the island.
Angelokastro is considered one of the most imposing architectural remains in the Ionian Islands.