Sightseeing
Old Town
The Old Town is the top landmark of Corfu.
Forts, magnificent squares, narrow alleys and arches, old churches, museums. Byzantine and Venetian styles blend together to compose the genuine mosaic of the island’s Old Town atmosphere, which has always been the main point of interest for visitors.
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Spianada
A stroll in the Old Town traditionally starts from Spianada, the largest square in the Balkans and 27th largest in the world. Green spaces and dozens of monuments adorn the center of the social life in the town of Corfu and one of the most famous and popular sights on the island.
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Liston
The most famous “walk” for Corfiot people, also one of the most popular sites in the Old Town. This is the main pedestrian street of Corfu. On one side, Liston borders the evergreen Lower Square, while on the other side rise imposing buildings of the French Army.
Located at the western end of Spianada, it is outlined by mansions that form large arches on their top floor, the so-called by local people as “voltes”. Today, these arches host a number of cafés and restaurants, which make Liston the center of Corfu day life and a reference point for each visitor.
Liston district also hosts the Epitaph litany on Good Friday, the First Resurrection and the -unique in Corfu- Easter tradition of ‘botides’, when residents of Corfu are flying huge jugs and pots filled with water from their balconies.
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Kandounia
One walk in the picturesque ‘kandounia’ is never enough. Those narrow alleys, some of which are staired with ‘skalinades’, form a fairytale-like maze of serpent lanes extending through immense buildings, churches and small squares.
As visitors explore the kandounia, they discover something wonderful around every other corner. The look falls on the tall impressive arched buildings, the huge lampposts and the laundry lines hanging over one’s head, inviting a warm and welcoming feeling.
Buildings from the era of the British and Venetial rule; The Palace of St Michael and St George today housing the Museum of Asian Art, which was established in 1928; The building of the Ionian Parliament, the building of the island’s first Philharmonic and the former San Giacomo theater, which later housed the Town Hall.
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San Giacomo
An architectural masterpiece, located downtown on the homonymous square.
It was built in 1690, made entirely of local carved Sinian stone and functioned as the first theater on Corfu, where opera was performed for the first time in the Balkan region and the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1902, the theater was converted into a town hall, redesigned by the engineer Serpieris and operated for about a century.
Today, the premises are used as a reception hall for officials who visit Corfu, special meetings, press conferences and some official celebrations held by the Town Hall.
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Ionian Academy
The Ionian Academy was founded in 1824. It was the first university-level Greek institution in modern times and served as the Academy of the United State of the Ionian Islands. It was the first University in the history of modern Greek education and originally included four faculties: Medicine, Law, Theology and Philosophy. It was inspired and realized by the British philhellene Frederick North, Earl of Guilford, who was particularly associated with Corfu, when the island was still under Venetian rule. It is an imposing three-storey building, which has a main entrance and a double stone staircase, overlooking the square and the Old Fortress.
Although it no longer functions as an Academy, it has fulfilled its mission to the maximum, promoting significantly the education and the uprise of administrative and judicial officials who contributed the most to the development of the then newly formed Greek state.
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The Corfu Reading Society
The Reading Society of Corfu is the oldest cultural institution in Greece, established in 1836 and active ever since.
Since the early 20th century it is housed in its own two-storey 18th century emblematic building, located on the eastern seafront of the old town of Corfu.
Prominent personalities of Corfu of the last two centuries have been its members, among which Dionysios Solomos, Andreas Kalvos, Iakovos Polylas, Konstantinos Theotokis, Lorentzos Mavilis etc.
The Society boasts a rich, specialized and constantly growing library, as well as unique collections of varied archival material, such as manuscripts, maps, newspapers, art works, photographs.
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