Corfu

Corfu

Authenticity and Integrity of a Greek Town

Corfu, Greece

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    The Old Town of Corfu, on the Island of Corfu off the western coasts of Albania and Greece, has a strategic position at the entrance to the Adriatic Sea, and traces its roots back to the 8th century B.C. The three forts of the town, designed by renowned Venetian engineers, were used for four centuries to defend the maritime trading interests of the Republic of Venice against the Ottoman Empire. 
Corfu, Town centre   

 

 

  
In the course of time, the forts were repaired and partly rebuilt several times, more recently under the British rule in the 19th century. The mainly neoclassical housing stock of the Old Town is partly from the Venetian period, partly of later construction, notably from the 19th century. As a fortified Mediterranean port, Corfu’s urban and harbour ensemble is notable for its high level of integrity and authenticity. One third of the area of the historic town centre is taken up by the Spianada (Esplanade), which lies between the Old Fortress and the built-up area and was enlarged to its present size by the demolition of numerous buildings in 1628, for defensive reasons. The Spianada, the largest open space within the site, is planted with fine trees and nineteenth-century ornamental gardens, and is closely associated with the town’s history. The sea and the trees, woodlands, olive groves and other vegetation of the town’s landscape setting are 
   important elements of the natural environment. Some features of the buffer zone are closely associated with the town’s history, such as the historic cemeteries, the Sotiros Hill, the Avrami Hill and the parks of Garitsa and Anemomylos. This unique cultural entity of great aesthetic value was nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List on the 31 July, 2007 and declared by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture to be a ‘historic monument scheduled for preservation.’ The ensemble of fortifications and the Old Town of Corfu are situated in a strategic location at the entrance to the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the town’s roots go back to the 8th century B.C. and to the Byzantine period. It has thus been subject to various influences and a mix of different peoples. From the 15th century, Corfu was under the Venetian rule for some four centuries, then passing to French, British and Greek governments.
Corfu, Heroes of Cypriot Struggle Square   

 

 

   At various occasions it had to defend the Venetian maritime empire against the Ottoman army. Corfu is an excellent example of fortification engineering, designed by architect Michele Sanmicheli, and it has proven its worth in practical warfare. Corfu has its specific identity, which is reflected in the design of its system of fortification and in its neo-classical building patrimony. As such, it can be placed alongside other major Mediterranean fortified port cities. The inscription on the World Heritage List was under the Criterion (iv): the urban and port ensemble of Corfu, dominated by its fortresses of Venetian origin, constitutes an architectural example of outstanding universal value in both its authenticity and its integrity. The overall form of the    fortifications has been retained and displays remnants from the Venetian occupation, including the Old Citadel and the New Fort, but primarily interventions from the British period. The present form of the ensemble results from the reconstructions in the 19th and 20th centuries. The authenticity and integrity of the urban fabric are primarily those of a neo-classical town. The responsibility for its protection is shared by several institutions and defined by their relevant decrees. These include the Hellenic Ministry of Culture (Ministerial decision of 1980), the Ministry of the Environment, the Spatial Planning and Public Works (Presidential decree of 1980) and the Municipality of Corfu (Presidential decree of 1981). 

Corfu, Palace of St. Michael and St. George

 

  

Ancient Greeks, Romans and Byzantines

Corfu, the first of the Ionian Islands encountered at the entrance to the Adriatic, was first settled by a group of Eretrians (775–750 B.C.). In 734 B.C. the Corinthians founded a colony known as Kerkyra to the south of where the Old Town now stands. The town became an important maritime point and trading post on the route to Sicily and founded further colonies in Illyria and Epirus. The coast of Epirus and Corfu itself came under the sway of the Roman Republic (229 B.C.) and served as the point base for Rome’s expansion into the east. During the reign of Caligula two disciples of Apostle Paul, St Jason, Bishop of Iconium, and Sosipater, Bishop of Tarsus, introduced Christianity to the island. Corfu fell to the lot of the Eastern Empire at the time of the division and entered a long period of unsettled fortunes, during which it was also attacked and plundered by the Goths (551). The population gradually abandoned the old town and moved to the peninsula surmounted by two peaks (the korifi) where the ancient citadel now stands. The Venetians, who were beginning to play a more decisive role in the southern Adriatic, came to the aid of a failing Byzantium, thereby conveniently defending their own trade with Constantinople against the Norman prince Robert Guiscard. Corfu was taken by the Normans in 1081 and returned to the Byzantine Empire in 1084. Following the Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, the Byzantine Empire was broken up and, in return for their military support, the Venetians obtained all the naval bases they needed to control the Aegean and the Ionian Seas, including Corfu, which they occupied briefly from 1204 to 1214.
 

Medieval rulers: Normans, Angevins, Venetians

For the next half-century, the island fell under the sway of the Despots of Epirus (1214–67) and then of the Angevins of Naples (1267–1368), who used it to further their policies against both the Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Venice. The tiny medieval town grew between the two fortified peaks, the Byzantine Castel da Mare and the Angevin Castel di Terra, in the shelter of a defensive wall fortified with towers. Writings from the first half of the 13th century tell of a separation of administrative and religious powers between the inhabitants of the citadel and those of the outlying parts of the town occupying what
  

 

is now the Spianada. In order to assert its naval and commercial power in the southern Adriatic, the Republic of Venice took advantage of the internal conflicts raging in the Kingdom of Naples to take control of Corfu (1386–1797). The ongoing work on defining, improving, and expanding the medieval fortified perimeter reflects the economic and strategic role of Corfu during the four centuries of Venetian occupation. In the early 15th century this activity concentrated on the medieval town, with the development of harbour facilities (docks, quays and arsenals) and continued with the renovation of the defence works. Early in the following century a canal was dug, cutting off the medieval town from its suburbs. Following the siege of the town by the Ottomans in 1537 and the burning of the suburbs, a new programme of works was launched to isolate the citadel further and strengthen its defences. The strip of land (now the Spianada) cleared in 1516 was widened by demolishing houses facing the citadel walls, two new bastions were raised on the banks of the canal, the elevation of the perimeter walls was lowered, and the two castelli were replaced by new structures. The works, based on plans drawn by Michele Sanmicheli (1487–1559), were completed in 1558, bringing the town’s defences up to date with the rapid progress made in artillery in the preceding decades. Yet another siege by the Ottomans in 1571 decided the Venetians that they should embark on a vast project covering the medieval town, its suburbs, the harbour, and all the military buildings (1576–88). Ferrante Vitelli, architect to the Duke of Savoy, sited a fort (the New Fort) on the low hill of St. Mark’s to the west of the old town, which was to command the surrounding land and the sea, and also the 24 suburbs enclosed by a ditched wall with bastions and four gates. More buildings, both military and civil, were erected, and the 15th-century Mandraki harbour was restructured and enlarged. At the same time, the medieval town was converted to more specifically military uses (the cathedral was transferred to the new town in the 17th century) to become the Old Citadel. Between 1669 and 1682 the system of defences was further strengthened to the west by a second wall, the work of military engineer Filippo Vernada. In 1714 the Ottomans sought to reconquer Morea (the Peloponnese). but the Venetian resistance hardened when the Ottoman forces headed towards Corfu. The support of Christian naval fleets and an Austrian victory in Hungary in 1716 helped to save the town. 
Corfu, Kapodistrias Palace   
 

 

  

Modern Corfu: the French, the British, the Hellenic Kingdom

The treaty of Campo Formio (1797) marked the end of the Republic of Venice and saw Corfu come under French control (1797–99) until France withdrew before the Russian-Turkish alliance that founded the State of the Ionian Islands, of which Corfu would become the capital (1799–1807). The redrawing of territorial boundaries in Europe after the fall of Napoleon made Corfu, after a brief interlude of renewed French control (1807–14), a British protectorate for the next half-century (1814–64). As the capital of the United States of the Ionian Islands, Corfu lost its strategic importance. Under the governance of the British High Commissioner Sir Thomas Maitland (1816–24), the development activity concentrated on the Spianada; his successor, Sir Frederic Adam (1824–32), turned his attention towards public works (building an aqueduct, 
   restructuring the Old Citadel, and adding new military buildings at the expense of the Venetian buildings, reconstructing and raising the town’s dwellings) and reorganising the educational system (the new Ionian Academy was opened in 1824), which contributed to the upsurge in intellectual interests sparked during the French occupation. At the same time, the British began demolishing the outer fortifications on the western edge of the town and planning residential areas outside the defensive walls. In 1864 the island was attached to the Hellenic Kingdom. The fortresses were disarmed and several sections of the perimeter wall and the defences were gradually demolished. The island became a favoured holiday destination for the aristocracy of Europe. The Old Town was badly damaged by bombing in 1943. Added to the loss of life was the destruction of many houses and public buildings (the Ionian Parliament, the theatre, and the library), fourteen churches, and a number of buildings in the Old Citadel. 
Corfu, Old fortress