Corfu, which is identified as the Homeric island of the Phaeacians, Odysseus' penultimate stop on his voyage home to Ithaca (Odyssey vi), is one of the best-known and most highly developed tourist islands in the Mediterranean. Its natural beauty and mild climate, many places of interest, sparkling sea, ultra-modern hotels, abundant opportunities for entertainment and sports, its combination of a cosmopolitan character and couleur locale, its aristocratic town and picturesque villages are the principal poles of attraction for visitors.

The northernmost of the Ionian Islands, Corfu is 611 sq. km. in area and has 200 km. of coastline. Its terrain is fertile, with lush vegetation and lots of water, vast olive groves, vineyards, pine forests, orchards of fruit trees and vegetable gardens. The geomorphology of the coastline varies. Steep. rocky cliffs on the west and gentle shores on die east and north, ending in tranquil bays in which the greenery of the land is reflected in the limpid waters of the Ionian Sea.

Human habitation can be traced back to the Palaeolithic Age but the island enjoyed a particular heyday in the eighth century BC and was enhanced as a great maritime and mercantile power later. During the Peloponnesian War it allied with the Athenians but later came under Spartan influence. From 229 BC to AD 337 Corcyra was occupied by the Romans. In 1537 it suffered a devastating attack by Barbarossa. In more recent times the island experienced many conquerors (Venetians, Russians, Ottomans, French, British and Italians), which largely explains the diversity of its monuments, witnesses to the long and troubled course of the island's history. On 21 May 1864 Corfu was united with Greece, along with the other Ionian Islands, while during World War II the town of Corfu was badly damaged by incendiary bombs.

Corfu has a splendid cultural tradition, particularly in the Arts and Letters, which continue to be cultivated to this day.

Corfu Town - The island's capital and port, of the same name. is located in about the midpoint of the east coast. opposite Epirus on the mainland. It is the largest medieval city in Greece still inhabited and one of the loveliest in the Mediterranean. The medley of cultural traits endows this Eptanesian town with its unique noble ambience, with a particular charm. Quite fascinating are the foreign architectural influences and the various orders that are blended with the local vernacular features and the spectacular natural landscape, creating an aesthetic result without parallel.

The old town of Corfu was included in the UNICEF world heritage list in 2007.

The town of Corfu has one of the largest public squares inGreece, the impressive Spianada, the left side of which is dominated by the magnificent Liston building complex with its distinctive arcades, a meeting place for locals and visitors. On the north side of the Spianada stands the palace of Sts Michael and George, which dates from the period of British rule (1814-1824), while on the west looms the imposing and intriguing Venetian Old Fort, constructed on a peninsula in the fifteenth century.

Of interest too are the New Fort, built on St Mark's hill in the sixteenth-seventeenth century, and the buildings of the Town Hall (17th c.), the Ionian Academy and the Ionian Parliament, the Reading Society (the oldest intellectual foundation in modern Greece) and the old Prefecture headquarters (Capodistrias Building - 1832), which now house the offices of the Ionian University.

It is worthwhile wandering through the quarters of the town: Kampielo, the oldest neighbourhood, with Venetian kantounia (narrow cobbled streets); Mouraya, one of the prettiest neighbourhoods by

the seaward walls of the city; Mantouki near the new harbour; Ovriaka, the old Jewish quarter; Saroko Square, the centre of the new town; Garitsa Bay with its quaint alleyways, detached houses and two-storey residences, where the Menekrates Monument is located.

Of the town's churches, the most famous is that of St Spyridon (1859), on account of the presence of the sacred relic of the town's patron saint and the distinctive campanile. Important too are the churches of Sts Jason and Sosipater in the Anemomylos (windmill) quarter, a Byzantine cross-in-square church with octagonal dome (10m c.), the Greek Orthodox cathedral of the Virgin Spiliotissa or St Theodora (1577), the Platytera monastery at Mantouki (18m c.), which houses the tomb of the first Governor of Greece, I. Capodistrias, the Virgin of Foreigners (1689), the Roman Catholic cathedral (Duomo) of St James in Town-Hall Square and others.

The Archaeological Museum (tel. 26610-30.680), the Museum of Byzantine and Postbyzantine Art in the church of the Virgin Antivouniotissa, the Museum of Asian Art (Palace of Sts Michael and .George, tel. 26610-30.443) Municipal Gallery (tel: 26610 48.690), the Museum of Dionysios Solomos (tel. 26610-30.674) and Corfu Gallery (tel: 26610 41.085-8): all merit a visit.

Three kilometres from the centre of the town is Mon Repos, initially the summer residence of the British Governor-General of the island and later the summer palace of the Greek royal family, converted into a museum. The Palaiopolis basilica, also known as the basilica of St Kerkyra (5m c.) is nearby.

On Analipsis Hill, ruins of a Doric temple from the 6m century BC and a fountain (Kardaki) were found, as well as the monastery of Sts Theodores and the ruins of the temple of Artemis (6m c. BC), to which the Archaic pediment with the Gorgon belonged (now in the Corfu Archaeological Museum). Kanoni at the edge of the peninsula (Halikopoulos Lagoon), south of the town, is a modern tourist resort, linked by a little bridge to the islet on which the much-photographed Virgin of Vlaherna monastery stands. A short distance away is densely wooded Pontikonisi, with the Byzantine chapel of Christ Pantocrator (13th c.) in the midst of the greenery.