CORFU TOWN

The city of Corfu is a former municipality located in the island of Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece. It became world wide known since it plays a central role in the science-fiction novel Year Zero, by Jeff Long. Corfu has a long tradition in the fine arts and the Philharmonic Society of Corfu is part of this tradition along with its Museum, which presents in detail the musical heritage of the island. Corfu city has a Mediterranean climate with temperatures reaching 33 °C (91 °F) during the warm summers and around on or above 10 °C (50 °F during the mild winters.

The town of Corfu stands on a peninsula, whose termination in the Venetian citadel is cut off from it by an artificial fosse formed in a natural gully. The so called Contra-Fossa is a salt-water ditch at the bottom of the town, that serves also as a kind of marina. The old city is a labyrinth of narrow streets paved with cobblestones, that grew up within fortifications, where every metre of ground was precious. These streets are called “kantounia”. Many of them are too narrow for vehicular traffic.and the older ones sometimes follow the gentle irregularities of the ground. There are good restaurants and European style bistros in the promenade by the seashore towards the bay and also a beautiful esplanade between the town and the citadle.

This island has being  one of the most colonised in the Mediterranean sea. The Corinthians, Romans, Byzantines, Russians, French and Turks were there.  But none of them influenced the island as much as the Venetians, who gave its capital such grace that, two centuries after they left, it attracts people from everywhere. Count von der Schulenburg still stands guard in stone at the Old Fortress’s entrance, where he led Venetians, mercenaries and Corfiots to repel the last westward Ottoman push in 1716. The Spianada, a lawned square show sus the legacies of the British protectorate (1815-64) which include occasional games of cricket. In our times  thousands of sun worshippers who descend on Corfu each summer.  Corfu’s highest peak (Mount Pantokrator) located in the north-eastern part of the island, reaches the 2,972 feet  (906m) height. At the summit, the whole of Corfu as well as Albania which lies a short distance from there, can be seen. At the top there is a café for tourists, a telecommunications station, and a monastery dated from around 1689, with its current facade built during the 19th century. A place that is worth visiting…