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Trip ideas  /  7 days in Corfu  /  Old Fortress
Old Fortress, Corfu, Ionian Islands
Historic site · Corfu, Ionian Islands

Old Fortress

A moat that made an island.Three Ottoman sieges.Seven weeks in 1716.Lightning in 1718.

Photo: Dr.K., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Two peaks

The town got its Western name from the twin peaks of the fortress

The town of Corfu got its Western name from the twin peaks of the fortress, called Coryphe in Greek. The earliest fortifications on the site date from around the 6th century AD. The western and higher peak was called Castel a Terra by the Venetians, the eastern one Castel a Mare.

The moat

The Venetians cut a moat and made the citadel an artificial island

The Venetians created the Contrafossa, a moat that connects the Gulf of Kerkyra on the north with the Bay of Garitsa on the south. A drawbridge gave access to the citadel, and in modern times a permanent bridge has replaced it.

Three sieges

The fort repulsed all three major Ottoman sieges

The fort repulsed the great siege of 1537, the siege of 1571 and the second great siege of 1716. For the last, Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg strengthened the defences, and the Ottomans left after a siege of seven weeks.

1718

A lightning strike in 1718 set off the powder stores

Lightning struck the powder magazine at Castel da Mare in 1718. The explosion set off three more ammunition stores and destroyed most buildings inside the castle, including the palace of the Captain General, and many city buildings.

1944

In June 1944 the Jews of Corfu were held in the fortress prison

On 8 June 1944 the Jews of Corfu were told to present themselves at the old Fort the next morning. The Nazis took their jewelry and keys, and held them in the prison inside the fortress for days. About 1,800 Corfiot Jews were then deported to Birkenau, and 120 eventually returned.

Day 1, morning

Next is Spianada Square.

More stories from this trip idea

The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Old Fortress, Corfu, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.

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