Corfu

Corfu (Greek: Κέρκυρα - Kérkyra) is a city in north-western Greece. It is the capital and main town of the island and prefecture of Corfu. The city (pop. 28,185 in 2001) is a major tourist attraction, and has played an important role since the 8th century. The city has become known as a Kastropolis (Castle City) because of its three castles.^[1] In 2007, the old town of the city was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.^[2][3][4] The Municipality of Corfu (Kérkyra) generally stretches in a northwesterly direction from the city on the central east coast of the island, and has a land area of 41.905 km² and a total population of 39,487 inhabitants. Besides the city of Corfu/Kérkyra, its largest other towns are Kanáli (pop. 3,556), Potamós (2,365), Kontokáli (1,616), Alepoú (1,606), and Gouviá (952).

Contents [hide] 1 Climate 2 Layout 3 Architecture 4 Government 4.1 Mayors 4.2 Consulates 5 Twin Cities 6 References 7 External links

Climate

Corfu city's climate is Mediterranean. The summers are warm with moderate humidity, and temperatures reaching 33 Celsius. The winters are mild and temperatures around on or above 10 Celsius.

Layout

The town of Corfu stands on the broad part of a peninsula, whose termination in the Venetian citadel (Παλαιό Φρούριο in Greek) is cut off from it by an artificial fosse formed in a natural gully, with a salt-water ditch at the bottom, that serves also as a kind of marina. The old city having grown up within fortifications, where every metre of ground was precious, is a labyrinth of narrow streets paved with cobblestones, sometimes tortuous but mostly pleasant, colourful and sparkling clean. These streets are called "kantounia" (Greek: καντούνια) and the older ones sometimes follow the gentle irregularities of the ground while many of them are too narrow for vehicular traffic. There is promenade by the seashore towards the bay of Garitsa (Γαρίτσα), and also a handsome esplanade between the town and the citadel called "Liston" (Greek: Λιστόν) where upscale restaurants and European style bistros abound. The name Liston came from the English "List on" meaning the list of the vendors' fare, in other words the menu.

Architecture

The old fortifications of the town, formerly so extensive as to require a force of from 10,000 to 20,000 troops to man them, were in great part thrown down by the English in the 19th century. In several parts of the town may be found houses of the Venetian time, with some traces of past splendour, but they are few compared to the British Neoclassical housing of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The palace, built in 1815 by Sir Thomas Maitland (1759-1824; lord high commissioner of the Ionian Islands) is a large structure of white Maltese stone. Near Gasturi stands the Pompeian style Achilleion, the palace built for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and purchased in 1907 by the German emperor, William II.

Of the thirty-seven Greek churches the most important are the cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of the Cave; St. Spiridon's, with the tomb of the patron saint of the island; and the suburban church of St Jason and St Sosipater, reputedly the oldest in the island. The city is the seat of a Greek and a Roman Catholic archbishop; and it possesses a gymnasium, a theatre, an agricultural and industrial society, and a library and museum preserved in the buildings formerly devoted to the university, which was founded by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (1766-1827, himself the first chancellor in 1824) in 1823, but disestablished on the cessation of the English protectorate.

Based on the ICOMOS evaluation of the old town of Corfu,^[3] it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The ICOMOS experts have noted that "about 70% of the pre-20th century buildings date from the British period" and that "whole blocks were destroyed" in the Old Town by the World War II blitzes; these were "replaced by new constructions in the 1960s and 1970s". The urban fabric was classified as being predominantly of the Neoclassical period "without special architectural features for which it could be distinguished".^[3]

Government

Mayors

Up until 1866, Corfu had no mayors. This list starts from 1866 and on.^[5]

• Nikolaos V. Manesis (1866 - 1870)
• Christodoulos M. Kiriakis (1870 - 1879)
• Georgios Theotokis (1879 - 1887)
• Michael Theotokis (1887 - 1895)
• Aggellos Psoroulas (1895 - 1899)
• Dimitrios Kollas (1899 - 1911)
• Ioannis Mavrogian (1914 - 1925)
• Spiridon Kollas (1925 - 1951)
• Stamatios Dessilas (1951 - 1959)
• Panagiotis Zafiropoulos (1959 - 1964)
• Spiridon Rath (1964 - 1967)
• Konstantinos Alexopoulos (1974 - 1975)
• Spiridon Rath (1975 - 1978)
• Ioannis Kourkoulos (1979 - 1990)
• Chrisanthos Sarlis (1991 - 2002)
• Alexandros Mastoras (2003 - 2006)
• Sotirios Micallef (2007 - present)

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