Small-group Corfu Town Historical Walking Tour

Our accredited guide will meet you in front of the Old Fortress at the statue of Schulemburg and after she gives you some information you enter together the Old Fortress.

The central square of Spianada is the most significant monument of the town. The name derives from the Venetian word for an "open flat area" and it is said that it is the largest square in the Balkans. Liston which is part of the square houses some of the finest cafes and restaurants in Corfu. The French were the ones who turned the Spianada into a public square. Before the nineteenth century, it used to be a large empty lot used for defensive purposes. Cricket matches are played on the Esplanade, the only place in Greece where the sport is played.

The Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George is located on the northern part of the Corfu town historical centre square. It is the largest and the most significant building of the English rule period, which started in 1814 and ended in 1864 when the Ionian Islands were reunified with the rest of Greece. They were built at the request of the British Lord High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Maitland, to become his own luxurious residence and to house the High Commissioner’s administrative headquarters. Today, it houses the Corfu Museum of Asian Arts, the only one of its kind in Greece, solely dedicated to the art and antiquities of the Far East and India. It was founded in 1928 and its collection currently is comprising approximately 15.000 works of Asian art and it enjoys worldwide recognition, with rare items from its collections being presented in international exhibitions.

We will visit the church of Saint Spyridon, the patron saint of the Island and a miracle worker. It was erected during the 16th century and the architecture of the church is typical of the Venetian architecture. It's bell tower is the highest spot of the town that is seen all over the Old Town of Corfu. The locals have deep faith in Agios Spyridon, who is considered the keeper of the island. Inside the Church of Saint Spyridon is a crypt, where his relics are kept in a double sarcophagus.

As we are walking among the narrow streets we will pass by the Town Hall Square of Corfu, once the exclusive Venetian neighborhood with the opera house and the villas around it. We will admire the town hall building which was used at first as a club for the noblemen and later in 1720, the building hosted the Noble Theatre of Saint Giacomo of Corfu. Finally, in 1903 it was turned into a Town Hall.

The Jewish quarter, the old Venetian “ghetto” that is still called Evraiki in Greek today, stretched across the southeast section of the city, near the Venetian fortifications. It was criss-crossed with alleyways lined with faded, multistoried houses, as in Venice. The ghetto lost its urban unity due to bombardments during the Second World War.