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49-548: The ancient city of Corfu, known as Korkyra , took part in the Battle of Sybota which was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War , and, according to Thucydides, the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time. Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of fifth-century-BC Greece, along with Athens and Corinth . Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across

98-606: A Peloponnesian fleet, under the command of Mnasippus , attacked Korkyra. After the siege, the resident Korkyraeans (who were suffering from hunger) deserted and were sold as slaves or put to death later by Mnesippus. During the Hellenistic Period , Korkyra changed hands several times. In 303 BC, after a vain siege by Cassander of Macedon , the island was occupied for a short time by Lacedaemonian General Cleonymus of Sparta and then regained its independence. Three years later, Cassander besieged it again, but his fleet

147-432: A Roman protectorate , which de facto ended the independence of the polis. Around 189 BC it was governed by a Roman prefect, presumably nominated by the consuls, and in 148 BC, it was attached to the province of Macedonia . Citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city . It may be a castle , fortress , or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of city , meaning "little city", because it

196-525: A commanding eminence, was important in the life of the people, serving as a lookout, a refuge, and a stronghold in peril, as well as containing military and food supplies, the shrine of the god and a royal palace . The most well known is the Acropolis of Athens , but nearly every Greek city-state had one – the Acrocorinth is famed as a particularly strong fortress. In a much later period, when Greece

245-528: A different part of Jerusalem. At various periods, and particularly during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , the citadel – having its own fortifications, independent of the city walls – was the last defence of a besieged army, often held after the town had been conquered. Locals and defending armies have often held out citadels long after the city had fallen. For example, in the 1543 Siege of Nice

294-557: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csa ). The summers are hot and generally dry but with high relative humidity and daytime temperatures reaching 33 °C (91 °F). The winters are mild and wet, with temperatures around 10 °C (50 °F). Up until 1866, Corfu had no mayors. This list starts from 1866 and on. Corfu is twinned with: The city hosts consulates from the following countries: Korkyra (polis) Korkyra (also Corcyra / k ɔːr ˈ s aɪ . r ə / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Κόρκυρα )

343-597: A larger fleet of [piratical] galleys than ever against the Greek shores, some of which sailed straight for Corcyra...." Another part of the fleet that had sailed for Epidamnius was repulsed went also "there, to the terror of the inhabitants, they disembarked and set about besieging the town... the Corcyreans... sent off envoys to the Achaean and Aetolian leagues, begging for instant help... ten decked ships of war belonging to

392-489: A member of the Epirote League until 255 BC, when it regained independence after the death of Alexander II , last King of Epirus. In 229 BC, after a Greek defeat in the naval Battle of Paxos , the city briefly suffered an occupation by Illyrians , under the command of Demetrius of Pharos . Polybius wrote on the background of the incident in that same year: "When the season for sailing had come, [Queen] Teuta sent out

441-792: A significant cause of the Peloponnesian War . Korkyra, otherwise neutral as far as the two major powers (the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League ) were concerned, appealed to Athens, the head of the Delian League, for assistance against Corinth, which belonged to the Peloponnesian League. In 427 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, there was a revolution and civil war in Korkyra between

490-449: A square of that name, coming from a Venetian word meaning evening promenade , but it can also refer to the closed-list aspect of an up-scale area reserved to the nobility registered in the Libro d'Oro . The citadel was depicted on the reverse of the Greek 500 drachmas banknote of 1983-2001. The city of Corfu has a long tradition in the fine arts . The Philharmonic Society of Corfu

539-405: Is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In a fortification with bastions , the citadel is the strongest part of the system, sometimes well inside the outer walls and bastions, but often forming part of the outer wall for the sake of economy. It is positioned to be the last line of defence, should the enemy breach the other components of the fortification system. Some of

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588-613: Is part of that tradition. The Museum of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu presents in detail the musical heritage of the island. Corfu is the only place in Greece where cricket is popular. It was imported into the island during British rule. The Hellenic Cricket Federation is based in Corfu and it is the only Greek sport federation that is based outside Athens. The most Greek cricket clubs are based in Corfu and they star in

637-631: The Battle of Salamis . Herodotus ascribes that to a desire among the Korkyraeans to remain neutral and thus not to support the losing side. The excuse given for failing to join the battle was unfavourable winds, but Herodotus says that had the Persians been victorious, the Korkyraeans would have claimed to have deliberately avoided the battle to gain favour from the invading Persians. Writing between 431 and 395 BC, Thucydides credited Korkyra's conflict with Corinth over their joint city Epidamnus as

686-597: The Greek Championship . Notable cricket clubs of Corfu are Kerkyraikos G.S. (KGS), founded in 1893, GSK Vyron , founded in 1925 and AO Phaeax founded in 1976. In other sports, Corfu has two teams with presence in higher divisions. The football club AOK Kerkyra , founded in 1969 originally as "AO Kerkyra", that plays in A Ethniki and the water polo club NAO Kerkyra (NAOK) founded in 1935, with earlier presence in A1 Ethniki Polo . Corfu city has

735-695: The Ionian Islands ) is a large structure of white Maltese stone. Near Gastouri 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

784-785: The Parc de la Ciutadella . A similar example is the Citadella in Budapest , Hungary. The attack on the Bastille in the French Revolution – though afterwards remembered mainly for the release of the handful of prisoners incarcerated there – was to considerable degree motivated by the structure's being a Royal citadel in the midst of revolutionary Paris. Similarly, after Garibaldi 's overthrow of Bourbon rule in Palermo , during

833-669: The Spanish Civil War , in which the Nationalists held out against a much larger Republican force for two months until relieved, shows that in some cases a citadel can be effective even in modern warfare; a similar case is the Battle of Huế during the Vietnam War , where a North Vietnamese Army division held the citadel of Huế for 26 days against roughly their own numbers of much better-equipped US and South Vietnamese troops. The Citadelle of Québec (the construction

882-521: The 1860 Unification of Italy , Palermo's Castellamare Citadel – a symbol of the hated and oppressive former rule – was ceremoniously demolished. Following Belgium gaining its independence in 1830, a Dutch garrison under General David Hendrik Chassé held out in Antwerp Citadel between 1830 and 1832, while the city had already become part of independent Belgium. The Siege of the Alcázar in

931-491: 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". However, they note that the layout and structure of the city, including its Venetian fortifications, make Corfu a quintessential example of a fortified maritime city. The town of Corfu stands on the broad part of a peninsula, whose termination in

980-645: The Achaeans were manned... fitted out in a few days, set sail for Corcyra in hopes of raising the siege." However, "the Illyrians obtained a reinforcement of seven decked ships from the Acarnanians" engaging off the island of Paxi. They bested the Achaeans, capturing four ships and sinking one; the remaining five ran back home." "The Illyrians, on the other hand, filled with self-confidence by their success, continued their siege of [Corcyra] in high spirits... while

1029-468: The Assyrian city of Kaneš in modern-day Kültepe , featured citadels. Kaneš' citadel contained the city's palace, temples, and official buildings. The citadel of the Greek city of Mycenae was built atop a highly-defensible rectangular hill and was later surrounded by walls in order to increase its defensive capabilities. In Ancient Greece , the Acropolis , which literally means "high city", placed on

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1078-495: The Corcyreans, reduced to the despair of their safety by what had happened, after sustaining the siege for a short time longer, made terms with the Illyrians, consenting to receive a garrison, and with it Demetrius of Pharos." The Roman Republic intervened almost immediately by sending one of the consuls to relieve the island. At the end of the First Illyrian War , Korkyra was declared a free city and transformed into

1127-569: The Korkyraeans killed Lycophron. In punishment, Periander captured 300 young men of Korkyra with the intention of castrating them. That is more likely to be a myth explaining the animosity between Corinth and Korkyra and justifying the use of the word tyrant for Periander's rule than an actual historical event. During the Persian War of 480 BC, Greek envoys were sent to Korkyra requesting aid. Korkyra enthusiastically promised ships and fitted out 60 of them, but they failed to arrive in time for

1176-594: The Ottoman forces led by Barbarossa conquered and pillaged the town and took many captives, but the citadel held out. In the Philippines , the Ivatan people of the northern islands of Batanes often built fortifications to protect themselves during times of war. They built their so-called idjangs on hills and elevated areas. These fortifications were likened to European castles because of their purpose. Usually,

1225-559: The Venetian citadel ( Greek : Παλαιό Φρούριο ) 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 known as Contra-Fossa . 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" ( καντούνια ) and

1274-529: The ancient city of Korkyra, also known as Palaiopolis , include ancient temples which were excavated at the location of the palace of Mon Repos, which was built on the ruins of the Palaiopolis. The temples are: Kardaki Temple , Temple of Artemis , and the Temple of Hera . Hera's temple is situated at the western limits of Mon Repos, close to Kardaki Temple and to the northwest. It is approximately 700 m. to

1323-625: The boundaries of a country. These modern citadels are built to protect the command centre from heavy attacks, such as aerial or nuclear bombardment. The military citadels under London in the UK, including the massive underground complex Pindar beneath the Ministry of Defence , are examples, as is the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker in the US. On armoured warships, the heavily armoured section of

1372-634: The city are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans. The city has become known since the Middle Ages as Kastropolis (Castle City) because of its two castles. From 1386 to 1797, Corfu was ruled by Venetian nobility; much of the city reflects this era when the island belonged to the Republic of Venice , with multi-storied buildings on narrow lanes. The Old Town of Corfu has clear Venetian influence. The city

1421-481: The city was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List . The municipal unit of Corfu city has a land area of 41.905 km (16.180 sq mi) and a total population of 40,047 inhabitants. Besides the city of Corfu/Kérkyra, its largest other towns are Kanáli (population 4,786), Potamós (3,840), Kontokáli (1,660), Alepoú (3,149), and Gouviá (838). In the city of Corfu, the ruins of

1470-491: The democrats, who wished to remain in an alliance with Athens, and the aristocrats, who claimed that they were being enslaved to Athens and wished to form an alliance with Corinth and Lacedaemon. After a period of violent skirmishes, the democrats won with assistance from the Athenian navy and subsequently slaughtered those they suspected of being an enemy, while the rest of their foes fled to the Greek mainland. Around 375 BC,

1519-760: The first chancellor in 1824) in 1823, but disestablished on the cessation of the British protectorate. Based on the ICOMOS evaluation of the old town of Corfu, 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 German World War II blitzes; these were "replaced by new constructions in

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1568-765: The history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire . The Hellenistic garrison of Jerusalem and local supporters of the Seleucids held out for many years in the Acra citadel, making Maccabean rule in the rest of Jerusalem precarious. When finally gaining possession of the place, the Maccabeans pointedly destroyed and razed the Acra, though they constructed another citadel for their own use in

1617-417: 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

1666-461: 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 an esplanade between the town and the citadel called Liston  [ it ] ( Λιστόν ) where upscale restaurants and European style bistros abound. The origin of the name Liston has several explanations: many former Venetian cities have

1715-702: The oldest known structures which have served as citadels were built by the Indus Valley civilisation , where citadels represented a centralised authority. Citadels in Indus Valley were almost 12 meters tall. The purpose of these structures, however, remains debated. Though the structures found in the ruins of Mohenjo-daro were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive against enemy attacks. Rather, they may have been built to divert flood waters. Several settlements in Anatolia , including

1764-437: The only entrance to the castles would be via a rope ladder that would only be lowered for the villagers and could be kept away when invaders arrived. In times of war, the citadel in many cases afforded retreat to the people living in the areas around the town. However, citadels were often used also to protect a garrison or political power from the inhabitants of the town where it was located, being designed to ensure loyalty from

1813-599: The origins of the Celts were attributed to this period by John T. Koch and supported by Barry Cunliffe . The Ave River Valley in Portugal was the core region of this culture, with a large number of small settlements (the castros ), but also settlements known as citadels or oppida by the Roman conquerors. These had several rings of walls and the Roman conquest of the citadels of Abobriga, Lambriaca and Cinania around 138 BC

1862-436: The ship that protects the ammunition and machinery spaces is called the armoured citadel . A modern naval interpretation refers to the heaviest protected part of the hull as "the vitals", and the citadel is the semi-armoured freeboard above the vitals. Generally, Anglo-American and German languages follow this while Russian sources/language refer to "the vitals" as цитадель "citadel". Likewise, Russian literature often refers to

1911-516: The southeast of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu . Hera's Temple was built at the top of Analipsis Hill, and, because of its prominent location, it was highly visible to ships passing close to the waterfront of ancient Korkyra . In several parts of the town may be found houses of the Venetian time, with some traces of past splendour. The Palace of St. Michael and St. George , built in 1815 by Sir Thomas Maitland (1759–1824; Lord High Commissioner of

1960-525: The town as well as on the sea approaches. Barcelona had a great citadel built in 1714 to intimidate the Catalans against repeating their mid-17th- and early-18th-century rebellions against the Spanish central government. In the 19th century, when the political climate had liberalized enough to permit it, the people of Barcelona had the citadel torn down, and replaced it with the city's main central park,

2009-609: The town that they defended. This was used, for example, during the Dutch Wars of 1664–1667, King Charles II of England constructed a Royal Citadel at Plymouth , an important channel port which needed to be defended from a possible naval attack. However, due to Plymouth's support for the Parliamentarians , in the then-recent English Civil War , the Plymouth Citadel was so designed that its guns could fire on

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2058-600: Was an ancient Greek city on the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea that is adjacent to Epirus . It was a colony of Corinth that was founded in the Archaic period . Korkyra was acting as a port of call on the sailing routes, especially to reach the Italian coast or to venture farther north. According to Thucydides , the earliest recorded naval battle took place between Korkyra and Corinth, roughly 260 years before he

2107-459: Was destroyed by an intervention of Agathocles of Syracuse . The tyrant of Syracuse added the island to his own domains and in 295 BC offered it as a dowry to his daughter Lanassa on her marriage to Pyrrhus , King of Epirus . When Lanassa left Pyrrhus in 291 BC, she tried to transfer Korkyra to her next husband, King Demetrius Poliorcetes of Macedon , but in 274 BC, Pyrrhus's son Ptolemy recovered Korkyra for his father. Korkyra remained

2156-465: Was estranged from his younger son, Lycophron , who believed that his father had killed his mother, Milissa. After failing to reconcile with Lycophron, he sent him to Korkyra, which was within Corinth's governance. In his old age, Periander sent for his son to come and rule over Corinth and suggested that they would trade places and he would rule Korkyra while his son came to rule Corinth. To prevent that,

2205-403: Was possible only by prolonged siege . Ruins of notable citadels still exist, and are known by archaeologists as Citânia de Briteiros , Citânia de Sanfins , Cividade de Terroso and Cividade de Bagunte . Rebels who took power in a city, but with the citadel still held by the former rulers, could by no means regard their tenure of power as secure. One such incident played an important part in

2254-652: Was ruled by the Latin Empire , the same strong points were used by the new feudal rulers for much the same purpose. In the first millennium BC, the Castro culture emerged in northwestern Portugal and Spain in the region extending from the Douro river up to the Minho , but soon expanding north along the coast, and east following the river valleys. It was an autochthonous evolution of Atlantic Bronze Age communities. In 2008,

2303-657: Was started in 1673 and completed in 1820) still survives as the largest citadel still in official military operation in North America . It is home to the Royal 22nd Regiment of the Canadian Army and forms part of the Ramparts of Quebec City dating back to 1620s. Since the mid 20th century, citadels have commonly enclosed military command and control centres, rather than cities or strategic points of defence on

2352-401: Was subjected to four notable sieges in 1537 , 1571, 1573 and 1716 , in which the strength of the city defenses asserted itself time after time, mainly because of the effectiveness of the powerful Venetian fortifications. Writer Will Durant claimed that Corfu owed to the Republic of Venice the fact that it was the only part of Greece never conquered by the Ottomans. In 2007, the old town of

2401-418: Was writing, and thus in the mid-7th century BC. He also writes that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers in 5th-century BC Greece, along with Athens and Corinth. The antagonism between Korkyra and its mother city, Corinth, appears to have been an old one. Quite apart from the naval battle that Thucydides mentions, Herodotus records a myth involving the tyrant of Corinth, Periander . Periander

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