Kerkyra Things to Do

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Palaiopolis is located Kanoni Peninsula.the Archaeological site of Palaiopolis and Mon Repos is the site of the market of the Ancient City of Corfu,as it evolved from the ancient times till the 6th century A.D.the most important monuments of the site are the agora,the doric temple of Kardaki,the roman baths and a pre-Hellenistic round building,which was transformed into a Christian church during the first Christian era.

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The tallest tower in all of Corfu is saint Sryridon's church which can be seen all over Corfu Town.Built in 1596,the body of St.Spyridon rests in the church after arriving in Corfu in 1456.Ceiling decorations originally consisted of gold-plated wood carved by P.Doxaras who took until 1727 to cmplete the work.Due to the lack of presevation the decorations were replaced later by Nicolaos Aspiotis.

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Just outside the New fortress is a monument dedicated to the Jewish community of Corfu for those who perished under the hands of the Nazi's during World War Two.the monument has a plaque which was erected in november 2001.

Another unique for the Greek standards museum that a visitor can visit in Corfu, is the Museum of Asian Art.It is housed in the Palace of SS Michael and George, one of the finest examples of European Neoclassicism.

It was founded in 1927 after an initial donation of 10.000 objects of Asian provenance by the Greek diplomat Gr. Manos.Later, the collection was significantly enriched by donations from other collectors. (Chiotakis, Chatzivasiliou, Almanachou and Siniosoglou, just to name them).

It was Sir Thomas Maitland, the first High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands (do not forget that during the describing period, the Ionian Islands were under British occupation!), who undertook the construction of the Palace to house the residence of the Lord High Commissioner, the Ionian Parliament and Senate, as well as, the ceremonies of the Order of SS Michael ang George.

Some technical details: we know that the building was designed by General Sir George Whitmore and constructed between the years 1819 and 1824.

Some historical facts: In 1864, after the unification of the Ionian Islands with Greece, it was given to the Royal Family to use it as a summer residence.It was seriously damaged during the Second World War, as the whole city of Corfu has been bombardized by the Nazi airplanes.In the recent years an extensive renovative work has been carried out in order to be used for the European Union Summit Meeting in 1994.

The Museum is considered as one of the 5 best European ones, concerning Asian Art!

A Must! A real Jewel!
If you do not have time and you want just to visit only one museun in Corfu, this is the museum to be!Everything you always wanted to know about the Byzantine art-Corfiot style and the Byzantine icons under the same roof!
The church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God Antivouniotissa was probably built at the end of the 15th century.In 1979, the descendants of the founders (4 families), decided to bestow a donation on the church, which has a rich collection of heirlooms and portable icons, on condition that it should become a Museum.In 1984 the Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa opened officially its doors.
The collection of icons includes some important items, by both known and anonymous artists, dating back from the 15th to the 19th century.You can admire works by famous religious painters like: Michael Damaskinos, Emmanuel Lambardos, Emmanuel Tzanes, Victor and Michael Avramis and others.
My favourite icon is painted by Michael Damaskinos (post 1571) and depicts: Saint Sergius, Bacchus and Justine.Especially, Saint Justine is so sweet!!!

Go exploring - the tiny little alleys and back streets are beautiful to walk around; in some there will be little shops, in others you'll be passing people's homes, with washing strung across the lane (just like in this photo). The cobbles and mellow, honey-coloured buildings just glow in the sun - it's one of my favourite memories of my stay there.

Sadly I didn't take any photos of my own as I'd run out of film by that point!

It is a private museum dedicated to "the beautiful world of the deep" and encourages you "to explore the underwater world".

The founder and his family, after many years of dangerous expeditions around the world, they have managed to collect many specimens from the beautiful world of the deep.

Corfu Art Gallery is the first private institution exhibiting Corfiot art.It was established in order to house and exhibit the private collection of the Corfiot engineer and collector, Michail Aggelos Vradis, with paintings from the 19th, 20th and 21th century.

The building of Corfu Art Gallery was designed and created by the founder and consists of 5 levels.

The paintings are of Corfiot art and from the period of Pavlos Prosalentis (1784-1837), one of the most important Greek painters of Corfiot origin.

The permanent exhibition numbers roughly 550 works, while 1100 more works are found in store rooms.

Of special attention is the room dedicated to Spyros Alamanos, another important Greek painter and sculptor of Corfiot origin.