Corfu

Medieval History

Until the beginning of the 11th C Corfu was part of the eastern Roman Empire. The Norman invasion under Robert Guiscard caused the separation from Rome.

The island remained subject to Neapolitan rule from 1260 into the 14th C and was eventually sold to the republic of Venice. To this day the traces of venetian heritage are very apparent. This is the reason why Corfu strikes those tourists who associate Greece with Cylcades and blue door houses as being pronouncedly un-Greek.

The architecture is far more reminiscent of the towns and villages of southern Italy.