Corfu History

According to Greek Mythology, the daughter of Asopos river, a nymph named Korkyra, was loved by Poseidon, god of the seas, and was brought here on Corfu, named Korkyra after her; please keep in mind that, some four and a half thousand years later, the Modern Greek name of Corfu is Kerkyra, astonishingly similar to Korkyra.

From the union of Poseidon, god of the sea, and the nymph, Korkyra, Phaeax or Phaeakas was born, and his name was given to the inhabitants of the island; so Homer, in Odyssey, was right to name them Phaeakes (Phaeaceans).  Also, poet Apollonius of Rhodes refers to the island in his "Argonauts." According to him, the Argonauts, having stolen the Golden Fleece and being pursued by the Colchains, had found refuge and were received as guests in Alcinoos' palace.

According to Homer, the island was first settled by people coming from Hyperia in the 12th century B.C.  After the Trojan War, Odysseus, after having perilously wandered for ten years, was wrecked and washed ashore here on Corfu, where he met with Nafsika, daughter of the Phaeacian king Alcinoos.  It is here that he was received as guest and helped to sail to his homeland, leaving behind Nafsika in silent pain from her hopeless love for him.

Corfu remained autonomous until 731 B.C., when it was attacked by a group of settlers coming from Corinth. The Phaeacian rule was interrupted and the settlers from Corinth came into power. In the future, until the Roman occupation, Corfu was considered to be a Corinthian Colony.

Corfu, or Kerkyra, was the first Greek territory to fall under Roman rule.  Utilizing the Oligarchy, the Romans created an aristocracy, and in consequence led the island into a steep decline.  It was during this period, in the first century A.D., that the saints Jason and Sosipatros, disciples of Saint Paul, brought Christianity to the island.  Soon after, Nero visited Kassiopi, a plague ravaged the population, and Christians suffered persecution.

In 337 the Roman Empire split, and Corfu temporarily fell into the western section.  In 395, though, Corfu was ceded to the Eastern Roman Empire.  There followed dark years, during which Corfu, being very far away from Constantinople, the Capital, suffered barbarian raids. Worst one took place in 455 when the Vandals, under Genzerichos, depopulated the island.  The sack of Corfu by the Goths under Totila followed in 550, an event which led to the abandonment of the ancient city and its relocation for defensive purposes in the Old Fortress (photo left).  In the second half of the 7th century, Saracens seized Corfu, ravaged it, and then used it as a base.  The Byzantines expelled the Saracens, signaling the start of a new era under Byzantium.  In 1081 the Normans under Robert Guiscard besieged and captured the island.  Their rule did not last long, however, since the Byzantines, with the help of Venice, beat them in a naval battle and again took possession.

Various Frankish knights conquered the island in subsequent years, and in 1204, when knights of the Fourth Crusade seized Constantinople, Corfu fell into Venetian hands.  The next decade was Corfu's first period under Venice, but in 1214, Byzantium again took the island, which became part of the Despotate of Epirus, at that time one of three independent Greek states.  Half a century of peace followed, until there began a new threat from Sicily.  The use of the Greek language in the Eastern Roman Empire constituted the basis for the development of a different consciousness from that of Rome.  The Church left the control of the Pope and came under the auspices of the Patriarch in Constantinople.  Corfu became a Metropolitan Bishopric, and the Greek world opposed the Latin one.  When in 1267 the Angevins conquered Corfu, they attempted to impose the Catholic Church in place of Orthodox, an attempt which failed completely.  Indeed, nothing could blunt the strong Greek Orthodox faith amongst the population of Corfu.

Following the administrative pattern established by the Byzantines, Corfu belonged to the Department of Kefallinia, being one of the prefectures of this Department, under the control of a Prefect.  The Prefecture was in turn divided into Klimas and these into Episkepsis, each of which comprised a small number of villages, whose economy was administered by the appointed figure.  Later, the departments and climas were abolished, and the administrative districts were reduced to just prefectures and episkepsis.  In all probability, the villages of Klimatia, Episkepsis, Episkopi and Episkopiana took their names from these districts.  As far as society was concerned, the Nobility had dominion over the peasants, who could be either free or dependent.  The dependent peasants were either salaried or 'unwritten.'  Four centuries of Venetian rule determined the character of the island.  The existing feudal system was strengthened through the nobility which was listed in the Libro d'Oro, while at the same time, two new social classes made their appearance, the civili (bourgeoisie) and the popular (the masses).  Not only were commerce and agriculture at their peak, thanks to the encouragement of olive culture, but intellectual and artistic life also flourished.  While the rest of the Greek world was under the Turkish yoke, the Corfiots spoke Italian and enjoyed a rich cultural life, and it was for this reason that many literary and artistic figures made their way from other parts of Greece to settle in Corfu.  But this cultural development was the privilege of the aristocracy, and was made at the expense of those in the country who, working without economic profit and living in a cultural void, began to revolt.

The first uprising came in 1610 and was followed by four major and several minor revolts, all of which were savagely suppressed.  As a result, when the French fleet sailed into Corfu, they were welcomed as liberators.  During the Venetian period, Corfu suffered repeated but ultimately unsuccessful attacks by Genoese pirates and Turks, who razed villages and devastated the countryside.  The resulting decline in the population forced the Venetians, who needed a labor force so as to exploit the island, to encourage immigration from the mainland.  When the French occupied Corfu, the local people, fired by the ideals of the French Revolution, had visions of independence and of an end to the days of the nobility.  The Libro d'Oro was burned, and emblems of Venetian rule were destroyed.  But the authoritative policy, which the French in turn imposed, antagonized the people.  In 1799 Russia and Turkey, concerned about French territorial expansion, formed an alliance and took Corfu.  A year later, on March 21st 1800, Corfu and the other Ionian Islands joined to create the independent Septinsular State, but this was dissolved when, in 1807, Corfu was ceded again to France under Napoleon.

By 1814 the Ionian Academy and the Library had been founded, and the local economy had improved.  That year, following the final defeat of Napoleon, the Ionian Islands were declared an independent state under the protection of .  Under the British, the economy recovered fully, a road network was constructed, the Ionian Academy was established as the first Greek university and, most important of all, Greek became the official language.  The British remained until 1864, when the islands were united with on May 21st 1864; Corfu and the Ionian Islands recovered their Greek identity, and the long years of foreign occupation came to an end.  But it also signalled the end of Corfu as the capital of the Ionian Islands .  The newly established Greek State could not allow another pole of culture and wealth to exist outside Athens , and the University and other institutions had to be sacrificed.  By 1900, Corfu was just another provincial town with a glorious past.  In 1923 it was bombarded and occupied by the Italians after the Italian General Cellini was murdered on Greek territory.  During the Second World War, in 1940, it was bombed and occupied by the Italians and, in 1943, was bombed by the Germans, when the Ionian Academy , the Library and the Municipal Theater were burnt down.  In the hard years that followed the end of the war, Corfu shared the fortune of the rest of .  Poverty, crisis, and emigration continued until the late 1960's, when tourist development gave a new impetus to the economic and social life of .

The island's attraction for tourists was already evident by the turn of the previous century. As well as being the spot chosen by the Empress Sissi for her Achillion Palace, built in 1890 as a refuge from the intrigues of the Hapsburg Court, it also became the setting of the Bella Venezia Hotel, a beautiful hostelry (photo of lounge interior to the left), often compared with the Grande Bretagne in Athens, and attracting the aristocracy of Europe as its guests.  From the early years of the century, up until the Second World War, Corfu rivalled Capri and Mallorca as the favorite Mediterranean destination of the European elite.  During the last 40 years, the explosion of mass tourism, coupled with the island's natural beauty and historic past, has made Corfu one of the most popular holiday destinations for millions of people, who treasure memories of their stay as one of the best in their lives.  Visiting the fortresses, the old mansions, the monasteries, the cafes and tavernas of this island, the visitor can take delight in the experience of a living culture, discerning it also in the character of the beguiling people of Corfu .