A brief history of Corfu

Corfu through the ages. Corfu has a long and varied history. Here is a quick summary of the more noteworthy events.

PREHISTORIC
Corfu was first inhabited in Palaeolithic times (30000-7000 BC). The earliest settlement site in Corfu was found in near Sidari and dates back to the Neolithic period (6000 BC). This part of Corfu continued to be occupied during the Bronze Age (3000-1000 BC), with remains being found in Afiones, Ermones and Ag.Stefanos (Avliotes).

HISTORICAL YEARS 734BC to 337AD
A Corinthian colony established about 734 BC replaced a settlement of Eretrians from Euboea which has been identified as Scheria, home of the Phaeacians in Homer's Odyssey. Proudly independent and even hostile to its mother city of Corinth, the new colony was subdued (c. 600 BC) by the Corinthian tyrant Periander, but later it regained independence and devoted itself to commerce. After the Persian Wars, in which Corcyra was not involved a further dispute with Corinth led the Corcyreans to ally themselves in 435 BC with Athens, and the intervention of Athens contributed to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Corfu quit the war in 410, but a new alliance with Athens (375) resulted in hostilities with Sparta. After 303, the island changed hands several times for a quarter century. Seized in 229 BC by the Illyrians, it was delivered by the Romans, who retained it as a naval station and made it a free state under Roman protection. In 31 BC Octavian (later the emperor Augustus) used it as a base against Mark Antony, but his foundation of Nicopolis Actia on the site of his victory caused Corfu to lose a great deal of its prestige.

BYZANTINE PERIOD 337AD to 1024AD
Corfu joined the East Roman Empire which later became the Byzantine Empire. During this Period Corfu endured continual attacks by the Vandals, Huns, Normans, Saracens & Genauts. After the First Crusade Corfu was given to the Venetians who had supported the Crusade.

VENETIAN PERIOD 1024 to 1214
This Venetian dominance lasted only for 10 years. Corfu and was fought over by the kings of Sicily and the Italian city-states of Genoa and Venice.

RULE OF EPIRUS 1214 to 1267
In 1204 the island was annexed to the Greek despotate of Epirus but passed back to King Manfred of Sicily (1259) and then (1267) to the Angevins of Naples.

ANGEVINS 1267 to 1386
The Angevins were French who had conquered the South of Italy. During their rule the Church lost its power and many Orthodox churches were made Catholic. During this time the first Jews arrived and built settlements.

VENETIANS 1386 to 1797
Venetian sovereignty was restored in 1401 and was to last 400 years. The threatened danger from the Turks resulted in the construction of the twin-peaked old citadel, with fortifications built by the Venetians (1550). Twice the Turks sieged Corfu, in 1537 & in 1716. Corfu was destroyed but not conquered Its old town, with its labyrinth of hilly, narrow streets, was a seat of a Greek metropolitan and a Roman Catholic bishop.

FRENCH PERIOD 1797 to 1799
Upon the dismemberment of the Venetian republic (1797), Corfu was assigned to France. The French brought their culture, established the Law Courts, Library & schools. But a Russo-Turkish fleet soon expelled the French garrison.

THE IONION ISLANDS 1799 to 1807
The Russians and Turks made an agreement in Constantinople that recognised the Ionian independent Greek State having it's own flag and constitution. This gave the rest of Greece hope of achieving more independence being occupied at the time by the Turks.

THE FRENCH PERIOD 1807 to 1814
Incorporated into the Napoleonic empire in 1807 after the Tilsit Treaty. The Ionion Islands were abolished and it was declared a French colony.

THE BRITISH 1814 to 1864
The last conquest was by the British and it became a British protectorate after the emperor's final defeat (1815). This period was very positive with special attention to the Health system and water works. The Town was decorated with many fine buildings and intellectual establishments founded. British administration displeased the inhabitants and in May 1864 Corfu was ceded, with the other Ionian Islands to Greece.

GREECE 1864 ONWARDS
During World War I the French took temporary military possession of the island in 1916 to provide a refuge for the exhausted Serbian army. The Declaration of Corfu, proclaiming the union of the Yugoslavs, was signed here in 1917. In 1923 Italian forces bombarded and held Corfu briefly, following the murder of an Italian boundary delegation. In World War II, the city was again bombed by the Italians and occupied in succession (1941-44) by Italians and Germans forces until it was retaken by Greek and British troops in October 1944 and restored to Greece. Many of its buildings and other landmarks were destroyed in the fighting of 1943; but the Royal Palace (1816), a former residence of British governors and now a museum escaped. The island escaped the great earthquake of 1953, which destroyed large parts of the southern Ionian Islands, and became very popular with tourists. In 1962 a palace built (1890-91) for Elizabeth, empress of Austria, was converted to use as a casino.

Modern Greek Corfu or "Kerkyra" (Latin ancient Corcyra) the chief city and port, and capital of the nomόs, lies on a peninsula on the east coast of the island which is in north-western Greece, the most northerly of the Ionian Islands, in the Ionian Sea. It is about 36 miles (58 km) long, while its greatest breadth is about 17 miles (27 km) and its area 229 square miles (593 square km). Corfu is separated from the Greek and Albanian mainland by a narrow channel. With the small islands of Paxi and Antipaxos, it forms the department (nomόs) of Corfu (population, 2001: 113,479 ), the capital and largest town of which is the port of Corfu (pop., 2001 41,048) on the eastern coast of Corfu Island. The northern part of the island is mountainous with Mount Pantokrator reaching 906 m (2972 ft), the central part hilly, and the southern part low and fairly level. Its north-eastern protrusion, close to the Albanian coast, trends east-west and reaches a peak in Pantokrator ; the other range, in the island's centre, is lower. The island is well watered, fertile, and reputed to have the most attractive countryside of the Greek islands. Olive trees predominate, but figs, oranges, lemons, grapes, and corn (maize) are also cultivated. Exports include olive oil, fruit, grain, and wine. This historical background, culture and the natural beauty of the Island has made it a must for tourists.

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