Editing Corfu (section)

==Urban landscape==
===Old town===
{{Main|Corfu (city)}}
{{wide image|Corfu Town R02.jpg|800px|Panoramic view of parts of Old Town of Corfu as seen from Old Fortress. The Bay of Garitsa is to the left and the port of Corfu is just visible on the top right of the picture. [[Spianada Square]] is in the foreground.}}

The Old Town of [[Corfu (city)|Corfu city]] is a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. In several parts of the old city, buildings of the [[Venice|Venetian]] era are to be found. The old city's architectural character is strongly influenced by the Venetian style, coming as it did under Venetian rule for a long period; its small and ancient side streets, and the old buildings' trademark arches are particularly reminiscent of [[Venice]].

The city of [[Corfu (city)|Corfu]] stands on the broad part of a peninsula, whose termination in the Venetian [[citadel]] ({{langx|el|Παλαιό Φρούριο}}) is cut off from it by an artificial [[moat|fosse]] formed in a natural gully, with a seawater moat at the bottom,<ref name=EB1911/> that now serves as a [[marina]] and is called the ''Contrafossa''. In the old town there are many narrow streets paved with cobblestones. These streets are known as {{Transliteration|grc|kantoúnia}} ({{langx|el|καντούνια}}), and the older amongst them sometimes follow the gentle irregularities of the ground; while many are too narrow for vehicular traffic. A promenade rises by the seashore towards the bay of Garitsa (Γαρίτσα), together with an esplanade between the city and the citadel known as ''Spianada'' with the {{Interlanguage link|Liston (square){{!}}Liston|it|3=Liston}} arcade ({{langx|el|Λιστόν}}) to its west side, where restaurants and bistros abound.<ref name="Independent">{{Cite news |last=Packe |first=Cathy |date=22 November 2016 |title=The Complete Guide To: Corfu |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/complete-guide-corfu-851348.html |access-date=27 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427030450/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/complete-guide-corfu-851348.html |archive-date=27 April 2021}}</ref>

===Ano and Kato Plateia and the music pavilion===
{{main|Spianada}}
[[File:Music Pavilion in Corfu.JPG|thumb|The Music Pavilion in [[Spianada Square]] (Ano Plateia) with Palaio Frourio in the background. The philharmonics use it regularly for their free concerts.]]

Near the old Venetian Citadel a large square called ''Spianada'' is also to be found, divided by a street in two parts: "Ano Plateia" (literally: "Upper square") and "Kato Plateia" (literally: "Lower square"), (Ανω Πλατεία and Κάτω Πλατεία in Greek). This is the biggest square in South-Eastern Europe and one of the largest in Europe,<ref>[http://www.corfulife.co.uk/corfutown.html Corfu Life UK] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004235752/http://www.corfulife.co.uk/corfutown.html |date=4 October 2008 }} Quote: "The French were the ones who turned the Spianada into a public square and park – one of the biggest in Europe"</ref><ref>[http://www.sognefk.no/viktige%20filer/BROCHURE%20OF%20KERKYRA%20CUP%20IN%20ENGLISH.pdf Brohure of Kerkyra] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003065731/http://www.sognefk.no/viktige%20filer/BROCHURE%20OF%20KERKYRA%20CUP%20IN%20ENGLISH.pdf |date=3 October 2008 }} Quote: "SOCCER The tournament will start on Wednesday 04 of July An Open Ceremony and a parade of all the teams will take place in the biggest square in the Balkansand one of the most impressive ones in the whole continent, to the square Spianada itself which is constructed similarlyto the Royal Gardens of Europe."</ref> and replete with green spaces and interesting structures, such as a Roman-style rotunda from the era of British administration, known as the ''Maitland monument'', built to commemorate [[Sir Thomas Maitland]]. An ornate music pavilion is also present, where the local "Philharmonikes" (Philharmonic Orchestras) (Φιλαρμονικές), mount classical performances in the artistic and musical tradition for which the island is well known. "Kato Plateia" also serves as a venue where [[cricket]] matches are held from time to time. In Greece, cricket is unique to Corfu, as it was once a British protectorate.

===Palaia Anaktora and its gardens===
{{Main|Palace of St. Michael and St. George}}
[[File:Palaia Anaktora in Kerkyra. (cropped).jpg|thumb|View of the Palace of Saints Michael and George (Palaia Anaktora). The gates of St. Michael and St. George are on the left and right respectively. The gardens are to the right of the arch of St. George. The statue of Sir [[Frederick Adam]], a British governor of Corfu, is at the front.]]
[[File:Kipos tou Laou in Corfu.jpg|thumb|The ''Garden of the People'' at the [[Palace of St. Michael and St. George]] (Palaia Anaktora) with the Ionian Sea in the background]]

Just to the north of "Kato Plateia" lie the "Palaia Anaktora" (Παλαιά Ανάκτορα: literally "Old Palaces"): a large complex of buildings of Roman architectural style which formerly housed the Kings of Greece, and prior to that the [[List of Lord High Commissioners of the Ionian Islands|British Governors]] of the island. It was then called the Palace of Saints Michael and George. The [[Order of St. Michael and St. George]] was founded here in 1818 with motto ''auspicium melioris aevi'',<ref>{{harvnb|Stamatopoulos|1993|p=172}}: "The Palace of St. Michael and St. George (Plate III), which is generally considered the finest of the British buildings in ... seat of the Order of St. Michael and St. George which had been instituted in 1818 to honour distinguished British and local ..."</ref><ref name="Madden1985">{{cite book |author=A. F. Madden |title=Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth: "The Empire of the Bretaignes," 1175–1688 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8ZN3sMulRcC&pg=PA690 |year=1985 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-23897-0 |pages=690–}}</ref> and is still awarded by the United Kingdom. Today the palace is open to the public and forms a complex of halls and buildings housing art exhibits, including a [[Museum of Asian Art (Corfu)|Museum of Asian Art]], unique across Southern Europe in its scope and in the richness of its Chinese and Asian exhibits. The gardens of the Palaces, complete with old Venetian stone aquariums, exotic trees and flowers, overlook the bay through old Venetian fortifications and turrets, and the local sea baths (Μπάνια τ' Αλέκου) are at the foot of the fortifications surrounding the gardens. A café on the grounds includes its own [[art gallery]], with exhibitions of both local and international artists, known locally as the Art Café. From the same spot, the viewer can observe ships passing through the narrow channel of the historic [[Vido|Vido island]] (Νησί Βίδου) to the north, on their way to Corfu harbour (Νέο Λιμάνι), with high speed retractable [[aerofoil]] ferries from [[Igoumenitsa]] also cutting across the panorama. A wrought-iron aerial staircase, closed to visitors, descends to the sea from the gardens; the Greek royal family used it as a shortcut to the baths. Rewriting history, locals now refer to the old Royal Gardens as the "Garden of the People" (Ο Κήπος του Λαού).

===Churches===
In the city, there are thirty-seven Greek churches, the most important of which are the city's cathedral, the church dedicated to Our Lady of the Cave (η Παναγία Σπηλιώτισσα (hē Panagia Spēliōtissa)); [[Saint Spyridon Church]], wherein lies the preserved body of the patron saint of the island; and finally the suburban church of St Jason and St Sosipater (Αγιοι Ιάσων και Σωσίπατρος), reputedly the oldest in the island,<ref name=EB1911/> and named after the two saints probably the first to preach Christianity to the Corfiots.

=== Pontikonisi ===
The nearby island, known as [[Pontikonisi]] (Greek meaning "mouse island"), though small is very green with abundant trees, and at its highest natural elevation (excluding its trees or man-made structures, such as the monastery), stands at about {{cvt|2|m|2}}. Pontikonisi is home of the monastery of Pantokrator (Μοναστήρι του Παντοκράτορος); the white stone staircase of the monastery, viewed from afar, gives the impression of a (mouse) tail, which lent the island its name.