Corfu - Entrance to the Old Fortress

Entrance to the Old Fortress, originally uploaded by Ava Babili.

The Old Fortress stands over the Esplanade (Spianada Square) and is linked to the town by a fixed iron bridge 60 meters in length. This bridge used to be wooden and was drawn up to isolate the fortress for greater safety.

The first fortifications of the Old Fortress were started about the 6th century AD after the destruction of the ancient city of Corcyra by the Goths, who had forced the population to abandon the ancient city and to settle on the rocky promontory with its two peaks. The Byzantines fortified one of the two peaks, the one that in Venetian times was named 'Castel Vecchio' or 'Castel a Mare'. Later the Venetians fortified the other, peak called 'Castel Nuovo' or 'Castel a Terra'. Between the 6th and 13th centuries the town of Corfu lay within the walls of the fortress. In the 15th century the Venetians replaced the old fortifications. They built bastions, winding galleries and tunnels. They also erected buildings to house the military and political authorities. These bastions are considered masterpieces of military engineering.

On the open space at the foot of the peak named 'Castel a Terra' stands the church of St. George, built in 1840 by the British in Doric style. The church turned over to the Orthodox cult at the end of the British Protectorate.