Corfu Town

Corfu town offers a rich in contrasts combination of old and modern elements, which coexist in perfect harmony and able to cover all tastes.

The island has a variety in sandy and stone beaches situated in 200 km coastline and clear blue seas, ideal for swimming and water sports.

An excursion to the inner parts of the island rewards the visitors with breath-taking views and offers an insight to the traditional Corfiot village life.

Corfu town is located only 25 minutes from the Dandidis Seaside Pension, is the main port and the biggest town of the Ionian Islands. It was built between two Venetian fortresses, which give this unique atmosphere to the town. There are plenty of shops, situated within a magical scene of elegant buildings, churches, impressive fortresses and narrow alleys leading to hidden quarters. The high buildings with their “volta” (arcs), the “kantounia” (narrow cobbled streets) and the “mouragia” (seawalls) indicate the clear Italian influence. Corfu’s old town was honoured as a UNESCO town in 2007, a title of great importance.

Historical Information

About 590 AD the Artemis temple in the antique Corfu was built, of which only few remains are saved. Corfu, as a Greek town, was subdued in 229 AD by the Roman Empire. In 1204 Corfu became part of the Republic of Venice. In 1706 Ottoman troops tried to siege Corfu, an act repulsed by Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, who served the Venetians. In 1815 Corfu became capital city of the independent Ionian Island Republic. The Ionian University, founded in 1824, is the oldest Greek modern university. In 1864 Corfu became part of the rest of Greece. The town of Corfu (Kerkyra in Greek) is the capital city of the island and the municipality of Corfu. It is situated on the east coast on a North West descending foothill, has an international airport (CFU) and a safe port, which is connected through shipping lines with Brindisi, Ancona, Patras and Igoumenitsa.

The city centre with its 32.095 inhabitants formed until 2010 the urban municipality which in 2010 became a large municipality (municipality made up of several, formerly independent municipalities) covering the whole island of Corfu and the Diapontic Islands. From then on the municipality became a municipal local authority (dimotiki enotita) where the city centre is characterised as a municipal district (dimotiki kinotita).