Editing Corfu (section)

===Venetian rule===
{{further|Ionian Islands under Venetian rule}}
[[File:I Corfu - Buondelmonti Cristoforo - 1420.jpg|thumb|15th-century map by [[Cristoforo Buondelmonti]]]]
[[File:Corfu citadel.jpg|thumb|The northern side of the Venetian [[Old Fortress, Corfu|Old Fortress]] at night. The ''Great Cross'' can be clearly seen as described in the [[#Palaio Frourio|Palaio Frourio]] section of this article.]]

From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the [[Ottoman Empire]] and became one of the most fortified places in Europe.<ref name="Keyssler1760"/> The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the [[Adriatic]]. Corfu repulsed several [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] sieges, before passing under [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[United States of the Ionian Islands|rule]] following the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=Scots>{{cite book |title=The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wV0AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA916 |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1809 |publisher=Archibald Constable |volume=71 |page=916 |quote=Under the Venetians, in the middle ages, and down even to the seventeenth century, Corfu was esteemed the advanced bastion and bulwark of the Christian states, against the Ottoman power, when the Solymans and the Sclims menaced ...}}</ref><ref name="Norwich2007">{{cite book |author=John Julius Norwich |title=The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lN4ouZAUSrMC&pg=PT385 |access-date=6 July 2013 |date=4 December 2007 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-38772-1 |page=385 |quote=For Venice only a single bulwark remained: Corfu. The army that, early in 1716, the Grand Vizir flung against the citadel of Corfu consisted of 30,000 infantry and some 3,000 horse.}}</ref><ref name="of 1842">{{cite book |author=Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower Grosvenor Westminster|title=Narrative of a Yacht Voyage in the Mediterranean: During 1840–41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkQLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA250 |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1842 |publisher=J. Murray |page=250 |quote=Corfu thus became a strong bulwark against the Turks, whose frequent attacks were successfully repulsed. In 1716 it was besieged for forty-two days by a formidable Ottoman army and fleet, and several daring attempts were made to storm ...}}</ref><ref name="Phillips1822">{{cite book |author=Sir Richard Phillips |title=New Voyages and Travels: Consisting of Originals, Translations, and Abridgments; with Index and Historical Preface |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRIyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA63 |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1822 |publisher=C. Wiley |page=63 |quote=The town of Corfu, the bulwark of Italy and of the east, is Covered in all directions, towards the sea and land,}}</ref><ref name="Knox1767">{{cite book |author=John Knox |title=A New Collection of Voyages, Discoveries and Travels: Containing Whatever is Worthy of Notice, in Europe, Asia, Africa and America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dcCvipadYhMC&pg=PA203 |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1767 |publisher=J. Knox |page=203 |quote=Some pieces by Castiglione, deserved particular notice, together with the last siege, and the new fortifications of Corfu, which is not only painted on a picture, but curiously modelled in wood. Corfu is not only a bulwark to the Venetians, against ...}}</ref><ref name="Setton1991">{{cite book |author=Kenneth Meyer Setton |title=Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XN51y209fR8C |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1991 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |isbn=978-0-87169-192-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XN51y209fR8C/page/n261 253] |quote=Thus the important stronghold of Corfu was protected (according to a dispatch of Antonio Priuli, proveditor generale da ... Morea would prove to be, for they were bulwarks against the Turks' intrusion into the Adriatic.17 Corfu was apparently ...}}</ref><ref name="Jervis-White-Jervis1852">{{cite book |author=Henry Jervis-White-Jervis |title=History of the island of Corfú and of the republic of the Ionian Islands |url=https://archive.org/details/historyislandco00jergoog |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1852 |publisher=Colburn and co. |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyislandco00jergoog/page/n144 126] |quote=...sister of Sixtus-Quintus, to the Book of Gold, the Holy Father having expressed his gratitude, the Venetians represented to him that the protection of Corfu and Candia, which were the two bulwarks of Christianity, cost them more than 500,000 ... |author-link=Henry Jervis-White-Jervis}}</ref>

Kerkyra, the "Door of Venice" during the centuries when the whole Adriatic was the [[Gulf of Venice]],<ref>"The Gulf of Venice runs for {{convert|800|mi|0|abbr=in}} between Italy and Esclavonia, and at the end of it is the island of Corfu, which the Venetians call their door, although Venice is in fact {{convert|800|mi|0|abbr=in}} away." ([[Pedro Tafur]] in 1436, ''[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/tafur.html#ch5 Andanças e viajes]'').</ref> remained in Venetian hands from 1401 until 1797, though several times assailed by Ottoman naval and land forces<ref name=EB1911/> and subjected to four notable sieges in [[Siege of Corfu (1537)|1537]], 1571, 1573 and [[Siege of Corfu (1716)|1716]], in which the strength of the city defences asserted itself time after time. The effectiveness of the powerful Venetian fortifications as well as the strength of some old Byzantine castles in [[Angelokastro (Corfu)|Angelokastro]], [[Kassiopi Castle]], [[Gardiki Castle, Corfu|Gardiki]] and elsewhere, were additional factors that enabled Corfu to remain free. [[Will Durant]] claimed that Corfu owed to the [[Republic of Venice]] the fact that it was one of the few parts of Greece never conquered by the Ottomans.<ref>Will Durant. ''The Renaissance''. page 684. MJF Books. New York, 1981 {{ISBN|1-56731-016-8}}</ref>

A series of attempts by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] to take the island began in 1431 when Ottoman troops under [[Ali Bey Evrenosoglu|Ali Bey]] landed on the island. The Ottomans tried to take the city castle and raided the surrounding area, but were repulsed.<ref name="History of Corfu">{{cite web |url=http://www.corfuweb.gr/gb-history6.htm |title=History of Corfu |publisher=Corfuweb.gr |access-date=29 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411090942/http://www.corfuweb.gr/gb-history6.htm |archive-date=11 April 2009}}</ref>

The [[Siege of Corfu (1537)]] was the first great siege by the Ottomans. It began on 29 August 1537, with 25,000 soldiers from the Ottoman fleet landing and pillaging the island and taking 20,000 hostages as [[Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|slaves]]. Despite the destruction wrought on the countryside, the city castle held out in spite of repeated attempts over twelve days to take it, and the Turks left the island unsuccessfully because of poor logistics and an epidemic that decimated their ranks.<ref name="History of Corfu"/>

Thirty-four years later, in August 1571, Ottoman forces returned for yet another attempt to conquer the island. Having seized [[Parga]] and [[Mourtos]] from the Greek mainland side, they attacked the [[Paxi]] islands. Subsequently they landed on Corfu's southeast shore and established a large beachhead all the way from the southern tip of the island at Lefkimi to Ipsos in Corfu's eastern midsection. These areas were thoroughly pillaged as in past encounters. Nevertheless the city castle stood firm again, a testament to Corfiot-Venetian steadfastness as well as the Venetian castle-building engineering skills. Another castle, [[Angelokastro (Corfu)|Angelokastro]], situated on the northwest coast near [[Palaiokastritsa]] (Greek: Παλαιοκαστρίτσα meaning ''Old Castle place'') and located on particularly steep and rocky terrain, also held out. The castle is a tourist attraction today.<ref name="History of Corfu"/>
 
These defeats in the east and the west of the island proved decisive, and the Ottomans abandoned their siege and departed. Two years later they repeated their attempt. Coming from Africa after a victorious campaign, they landed in Corfu and wreaked havoc on rural areas. Following a counterattack by the Venetian-Corfiot forces, the Ottoman troops were forced to leave the city sailing away.<ref name="History of Corfu"/>

[[File:Gardiki Castle.jpg|thumb|Outer perimeter of the [[Gardiki Castle, Corfu|Gardiki Castle]] which provided defence to the southern part of the island]]

The [[Siege of Corfu (1716)|second great siege]] of Corfu took place in 1716, during the last [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18)]]. After the conquest of the Peloponnese in 1715, the Ottoman fleet appeared in [[Buthrotum]] opposite Corfu. On 8 July the Ottoman fleet, carrying 33,000 men, sailed to Corfu from Buthrotum and established a beachhead at Ipsos.<ref name="History of Corfu"/> The same day, the Venetian fleet encountered the Ottoman fleet off the [[Corfu Channel]] and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle. On 19 July, after taking a few outlying forts, the Ottoman army reached the hills around the city of Corfu and laid siege to it. Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting, the Ottomans were unable to breach the defences and were forced to raise the siege after 22 days. The 5,000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries, together with 3,000 Corfiotes, under the leadership of Count [[Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg|von der Schulenburg]] who commanded the defence of the island, were victorious once more.<ref name="History of Corfu from Corfu City Hall website"/><ref name="History of Corfu"/><ref name="History of Corfu from xenos website">{{cite web |url=http://www.corfuxenos.gr/History/venetian.htm |title=History of Corfu from xenos website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814153129/http://www.corfuxenos.gr/History/venetian.htm |archive-date=14 August 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The success was owed in no small part to the extensive fortifications, where Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds. The repulse of the Ottomans was widely celebrated in Europe, Corfu being seen as a bastion of [[western culture|Western civilization]] against the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] tide.<ref name=Scots/><ref name="Cambridge Illustrated">{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492–1792 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neUKEvaYPZYC&pg=PA25 |access-date=6 July 2013 |year=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47033-9 |page=25 |quote=The Ottomans were a major and expanding presence in Europe, Asia, and Africa. ... The knights, their fortifications strengthened by bastions, resisted assaults and bombardment before accepting ... Ottoman naval pressure on Europe increased in the Mediterranean, with sieges of Corfu in 1537 (map 2) and Reggio in 1543.}}</ref> Today, however, this role is often relatively unknown or ignored, but was celebrated in ''[[Juditha triumphans]]'' by the Venetian composer [[Antonio Vivaldi]].

====Venetian policies and legacy====
Corfu's urban architecture differs from that of other major Greek cities, because of Corfu's unique history. 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-storeyed buildings on narrow lanes. The Old Town of Corfu has clear Venetian influence and is amongst the [[List of World Heritage Sites in Greece|World Heritage Sites in Greece]]. It was in the Venetian period that the city saw the erection of the first opera house ([[Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù]]) in Greece.

Many Venetian-speaking families settled in Corfu during these centuries; they were called [[Corfiot Italians]], and until the second half of the 20th century the ''[[Venetian language|Veneto da mar]]'' was spoken in Corfu. During this time, the local Greek language assimilated a large number of Italian and Venetian words, many of which are still common today. The internationally renowned Venetian-born British photographer [[Felice Beato]] (1832–1909) is thought to have spent much of his childhood in Corfu. Also many [[Italian Jews]] took refuge in Corfu during the Venetian centuries and spoke their own language ([[Italkian]]), a mixture of Hebrew-Italian in a Venetian or Apulian dialect with some Greek words.

Venetians promoted the [[Catholic Church]] during their four centuries of rule in Corfu. Today the majority of Corfiots are [[Greek Orthodox]], but the small Catholic minority (5%), living harmoniously with the Orthodox community, owes its faith to these origins. These contemporary Catholics are mostly families who came from [[Malta]], but also from [[Italy]], and today the Catholic community numbers about 4,000 ({{frac|2|3}} of Maltese descent), who live almost exclusively in the Venetian "Citadel" of [[Corfu City]]. Like other native Greek Catholics, they celebrate Easter using the same calendar as the [[Greek Orthodox]] church. The [[Cathedral of Saint James and Saint Christopher|Cathedral of St. James and St. Christopher]] in Corfu City is the see of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia]].

The island served also as a refuge for Greek scholars, and in 1732, it became the home of the first academy of modern Greece.<ref name=EB1911/> A Corfu cleric and scholar, [[Nikephoros Theotokis]] (1732–1800) became renowned in Greece as an educator, and in Russia (where he moved later in his life) as an Orthodox archbishop.

The island's culture absorbed Venetian influence in a variety of ways; like other Ionian islands (see [[Cuisine of the Ionian islands]]), its local cuisine took in such elements and today's Corfiot cooking includes Venetian delicacies and recipes: "[[Pastitsada]]", deriving from the Venetian "Pastissada" (Italian: "[[Spezzatino]]") and the most popular dish in the island of Corfu, "[[Sofrito]]", "[[Strapatsada]]", "Savoro", "Bianco" and "Mandolato".

<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px">
File:Corfu Pinargenti 1573.jpg|Venetian [[Old Fortress]], Map 1573
File:Venetian blazon in Corfu.jpg|Venetian [[blazon]] with the [[Lion of Saint Mark]], as frequently found on the [[New Fortress]] walls
File:Παλιό Φρούριο και Παλιά Πόλη από το Νέο Φρούριο.JPG|Panoramic view of [[Corfu (city)]] from the New Fortress
File:Detail of the south wing of the entrance at Kassiopi Castle.JPG|Detail of the south wing of the entrance at [[Kassiopi Castle]]
File:View of Kassiopi village from the castle.JPG|View of Kasiopi village from the castle
</gallery>