Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corfu (22 page)

1266  Cinardo murdered.

1267  Island passes to Charles D’Anjou, King of Sicily and Naples.

1286  Island raided by Villaraut.

1292  Island raided by Roger Doria.

1303  Island raided by Catalans under Roger de Flor.

1373  Island raided by Jacques de Baux.

1382–6  Island passes to Charles D’Anjou II, on whose death the Anjou dynasty ends. At this time the first Jews came to Corfu.

1386  Corfu asks Venetians to take over the island.

1403  Island raided by the Genoese.

1431  Turks under Ali Bey are repulsed.

1537  First great siege by the Turks; 25,000 land at Gouvia and ravage the island throughout August, failing however to take the town. Abandon island in September carrying off 20,000 hostages into slavery.

1571  Don Juan of Austria wins victory of Lepanto over Turks. 1,500 Corfiot sailors in the battle.

1577–9  Town walls built.

1716  Second great Turkish siege; 33,000 Turks land at Gouvia and Ypso. Repulsed before the town with great slaughter by John Schulemberg, an Austrian general in Venetian employ.

1797  Corfu with Ionian islands taken by French.

1799  French driven out by mixed Russo-Turkish force.

1807  Corfu returned to French by Treaty of Tilsit.

1814  Ionian islands taken over by British.

1864  Corfu ceded to Greece.

1923  Shelled and occupied by Italians for two months. Italian attack on Greece. Corfu used as target ground for Italian Air Force. Town almost completely destroyed.

1941  April. Entry of Germans into Athens.

1944  Battle between Germans and Italians for possession of island. Latest reports indicate starvation rife; town badly damaged; Jews deported; but Church of St. Spiridion still standing.

“During the worst part of the shelling, when the inhabitants were ordered to take refuge in the stoutly built Italian school, a very large number preferred to trust in the Saint, and his Church was crowded with worshippers, who today claim yet another miracle; for while the Italian school and other refuges like it were hit repeatedly and demolished, the Church of St. Spiridion was untouched and those in it emerged unscathed. Today it is still proudly standing (December 1945).”

Places to See

  Canoni, Gastouri, Paleocastrizza, Pantocratoras, Benitza.

Things to Visit

  Churches of St. Spiridion and St. Theodora (the Cathedral).

  Monasteries of Myrtiotissa, Paleocastrizza, Pantocratoras.

  Byzantine Church of St. Jason and Sosipater.

  Library of Venetian MSS and rare first editions.

  Mother of Gorgons—beautiful stone relief in Museum.

  Two old forts.

For Surrealists

 
The Achilleion.
A monstrous building surrounded by gimcrack sculptures and lovely gardens belonging to the late Kaiser.

 
The Theatre.
Shadowing the final end of the Italian operatic sense.

For Hunters

  Two brackish lakes, one in the north of the
island and one in the south, called respectively Antiniotissa and Korissia.

Drinks to Try

 
Ouzo
. Aniseed drink, taken with water. Resembling Arabic
zibib
and French pernod. Fairly strong intoxicant.