Our Time in Corfu, Greece

Trip Report: Athens and a Mediterranean Cruise
Lounge Reviews: The Club CLT and Centurion Lounge Charlotte Airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A340-600 Charlotte-Munich
Lodging Review: Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection, Athens
Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)
Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)
Our Time in Athens, Part III (Kerameikos, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium)
Our Time in Athens, Part IV (Restaurants and Observations)
Ship Review: Viking Neptune
Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)
Our Time in Corfu, Greece
Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro
Our Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our Time in Zadar, Croatia
Our Time in Venice, Italy
Flight Review: Iberia A330-300 Madrid-Chicago

An Unexpected Twist

After we returned from our shore excursion in Ancient Olympia we were informed that one of our shore excursions for the following day had been canceled. Our excursion was to take us about an hour away to hike Mt. Pantokrator and then to visit Old Peritheia, Corfu’s oldest village that was once a hideaway from pirates. We had been proactively booked on the afternoon included tour, which was Panoramic Corfu & Old Town Walking Tour. While we hated to miss seeing cool sites, our feet were actually not all that upset. We heard it had rained in the area the day before we arrived and can only speculate that it made the conditions unsafe for the hike. As someone who was injured last year when an excursion took place in the rain instead of being canceled, I was fine with the way it was handled.

But that meant we now had a significant amount of shipboard credit to spend. We decided to make the best of it by getting massages in the Nordic Spa. We were able to schedule them for first thing in the morning, giving ourselves plenty of time before our afternoon tour. It was a very welcome treat after all the walking we’d done in Athens over the prior few days. The tour was scheduled to last 5.5 hours so our credit was enough to cover a one-hour massage and a little bit of the tip.

Exploring on our own

It was about a 200-yard walk from our ship to the Cruise Terminal. We didn’t notice it at the time but there are actually buses that run between the cruise terminal and the ships, so if that’s too far for you to walk, just wait for one of these free shuttles. Once you reach the cruise terminal you’ll exit through the building and then you can catch one of Viking’s shuttles into downtown. Unfortunately we didn’t pay attention that these shuttles were available so we just set out walking. There is not much in the immediate area of the cruise terminal other than a small row of shops across the street. But we just followed the trickle of people both from our ship and the giant one docked next to us and headed east along the coast road.

Port in Corfu

As we looked up we could see the “New” Fortress up on a hill. Of course in this part of the world “new” is a relative term. In this case the first parts of the fortification were probably set in the late 16th century though it may have been as recent as the middle of the 17th century. The current buildings in the fortress were built by the British when they ruled the island from 1815-1863. We were curious about the building but did not fancy having to climb to the top of the hill to explore it!

The New Fortress

The New Fortress

As we kept walking down the road it did turn uphill a bit and we got our first look at the “Old” Fortress which is out on a promontory. Keeping an eye on the time, we turned back to the ship to have lunch before our tour began.

The Old Fortress as viewed from the north. The clouds soon gave way to sun.

On the tour

Kanoni

Our tour began by driving about 15 minutes south from the port to the top of a hill in the area of Kanoni where there were a couple of cafes and a few souvenir shops. The view over the Ionian Sea was just beautiful and just below the viewing point was this small church. It is the which is on a small island (called Mouse Island) and is connected to mainland Corfu via a pedestrian bridge. It was built in the 17th century and functioned as a nunnery until 1980.

Vlacherna Monastery on Mouse Island

Incidentally the hill in Kanoni overlooks one end of the runway of the Corfu airport. There’s a great view of planes taking off and landing but, wow, I had no idea just how loud airplanes were take-off!

Christian Basilica of Paleopolis

I love how in this part of the world you can just be driving down the street and come across some random, ancient building remains. As we headed back down the hill we passed what’s left of the 5th-century Christian Basilica of Paleopolis. It was quite a complex building for its time and suffered destruction by island invaders during the medieval years. It was rebuilt in the 11th century and was a large monastic complex in the 15th century. Unfortunately it was bombed during World War II.

Christian Basilica of Paleopolis

Old Fortress

We stopped at a viewing spot where we were able to get photos of the other side of the Old Fortress. The earliest indications of a fortress at this site date back to the 6th century AD and the western peak, which is the side closer to the town, was fortified by the Byzantines around the 12th century. In the early 15th century, the Venetians started replaing the Byzantine fortification and built much of what we see today. The Venetians also created the moat, making the promontory an artificial island and put out a drawbridge. Even today the moat is known by its Italian name, Contrafassa. The drawbridge has been replaced by a permanent bridge.

Main Entrance of the Old Fortress

In 1718 lightning struck the powder magazine which created a chain reaction of three secondary ammunition facilities exploding as well. This destroyed most of the buildings inside the castle and many in the city too.

Top of the Old Fortress

The fortress was used by the Nazis to imprison Jews during World War II. In 1944 some 1800 Corfiot Jews were deported to the Birkenau camp. Approximately 120 eventually returned.

The Old Fortress as viewed from the south.

Today the fortress houses the public library in the old British barracks and the grounds are used for various types of art and culture exhibits. The Hellenic Music Research Lab of the Ionian University is also based in the fortress.

Municipal Gallery

We stopped beside the Municipal Gallery of Corfu which is housed in the Palace of St. Michael and St. George. It primarily exhibits works of 19th century local artists. The building dates to the early 19th century when it was built as the residence of the British Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian islands. When Corfu was reunited with the Kingdom of Greece in 1864, the palace served as a royal residence.

Municipal Gallery

Old Town Corfu

Our tour ended at the edge of Old Town Corfu where we could see the spire of the Holy Church of St. Spyridon, who is the patron saint of the island and of potters. Though he was originally from Cyprus, his body was disinterred and moved to Constantinople when the Arabs took that island. When Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, his relics were brought to Corfu by a Corfiot monk in 1453 and they have remained here since.  The Old Town of Corfu has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007.

Old Town Corfu including the spire of the Holy Church of St. Spyridon

In the end

I think I would have enjoyed touring both of the fortresses but we didn’t really have time. I suspect if we had more time on the island I would have enjoyed it more. I wouldn’t mind coming back to spend 2-3 days when my feet weren’t so tired!