Villa Theodora

Gardiki - An octagonal fortress (13th century).

by Jerelis

We parked the car under a huge olive tree and walked our way to the huge entrance of this powerful fortification. The castle is renowned for its impregnable fortifications that defended the residents of Corfu on numerous occasions from the marauding on all conquering enemies. It's an octagonal fortress from the 13th century and is built on a low hill and right in the middle there is this huge olive tree. The fact that the castle is nestled in the midst of verdant olive groves, imparts a touch of ethereal beauty to the castle's surroundings.

The Corfiotes consider this a twin to the fortress at Angelokastro. Gardiki was built during the same period - and by Michael the II - the same Epirus Archbishop as that in Paliokastritsa. It consists of an ellipsoidal enclosure supported by 8 towers. It great to see that 6 of the 8 towers are nearly completely preserved. The surrounding walls were decorated with plinth lascias characteristic of Byzantine art. The remains that you can see to the right of the current entrance to the castle may possibly belong to a chapel of the fortification.

Address:
Fortress of Gardiki.

Directions:
Situated at the middle west east side of the island. It is a 21 km drive from the capital of Corfu, Corfu Town.

Kato Garouna

by mickeyboy07

This a small mountain village located near the centre of the island.It is not often visited by tourists which means its relatively untouched by tourism and maintains it Greek style,a quiet place with not much to do but worth a stroll though the narrow cobbled streets or pop into a taverna for an Ouzo and a chat with the locals.the views from hear are very nice and you can see the west coast on a clear day,the roads are accesible by car and there is a large car park in the village,wear a hat though as it gets very hot up here.
The village is 700m above sea level.

Corfu, Odyssey’s island of the Phaeacians

by JLBG

Corfu is the largest and the northernmost of the 7 Ionion islands that formed for a little more than half a century (1799-1864) the seven islands Republic: Corfu, Cephalonia, Lefkas, Zakinthos, Kithira Ithaki and Paxos.

In the antiquity, Corfu was named Corcyra. In the Odyssey, the description of the island of the Phaeacians where Ulysses landed just before his return to Ithaka, matches well with Corfu. Many European writers, painters or sculptors have celebrated the beauties of Corfu. Sissi (Elisabeth of Austria) ordered the building of the Achilleion in a superb landscape.
For the last fifty years, it has attracted millions of visitors from all over the world. Some sites have been spoiled by mass tourism but on the whole, the island has kept most of its charm as mass tourism has been mostly limited to a few places.

The island has a total population of about 100,000 spread over an area of 585 km2. One third of the population is in the capital, Corfu. For more on the city, visit my Corfu page.

Besides the island of Corfou (Kerkyra), the province of Kerkyra comprises the islands of Paxos and Antipaxos.