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Saint Spyridon Church in Corfu isn鈥檛 just a building you pass by鈥攊t鈥檚 a 16th-century heavyweight in both history and faith. Raised in 1589, it honours Corfu鈥檚 patron saint, Spyridon, a 4th-century figure celebrated for his miracles and steadfast belief. After his death, his relics were safeguarded in Constantinople until the city fell, then ferried to Corfu, where they eventually found a permanent home in this church within the old city walls.

Its Venetian stamp is hard to miss. The red-domed bell tower鈥攖all enough to make its presence known across the Ionian Islands鈥攄ominates Corfu Town鈥檚 skyline. Inside, it鈥檚 all about detail and devotion: golden flourishes, a painted ceiling narrating episodes from the saint鈥檚 life, and at the heart, the silver casket holding his relics. These remains are central to Corfu鈥檚 identity, carried through the streets in processions that mark the island鈥檚 brushes with sieges, plagues, and survival against the odds.

The crypt adds its own intrigue, with a double sarcophagus encasing the saint鈥檚 body, surrounded by 53 incense burners鈥�18 fashioned in gold, the rest in silver. Even the Romanov coat of arms above the west door tells a story of connections that looks hard to believe at first glance.

Step inside today, and you鈥檒l find a place where Orthodox devotion meets Venetian elegance, where pilgrims kneel in reverence and curious visitors look upward in awe. The church and island are in good hands, as Saint Spyridon had centuries to master his craft. Even though not always in physical form.

Spianada Square in Corfu, whose name comes from the Italian spianare, meaning 鈥渢o flatten,鈥� lives up to its name鈥攖hough not in spirit. It spreads out as the largest square in the Balkans, a broad stage where centuries of history have left their mark. The Venetians began the story in the 16th century, clearing away houses to create an open zone of defense for the Old Fortress. Later came the French, with their taste for order and neat urban planning, followed by the British, who sprinkled in their own additions. The result is a patchwork of empires, still visible in stone, gardens, and arcades.

At the heart of the square stands the Peristyle of Maitland, a circle of twenty Ionic columns raised in 1817 by General George Whitmore. It rests on top of what was once a water cistern, though the locals still call it the 鈥淪terna.鈥� Monuments dot the area like footnotes in marble鈥攁mong them the statue of Count von der Schulenburg, remembered for repelling the Turks in 1716. In the 鈥淏oschetto鈥� garden, fountains and busts of figures such as poet Konstantinos Theotokis and author Gerald Durrell soften the grandeur with quieter, more personal notes.

One side of Spianada is framed by the Liston Arcade, a French-era creation from 1807 inspired by Paris鈥檚 Rivoli street. Today its arcades shelter caf茅s whose tables are among the most coveted in Corfu. Not far off rises the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George, a British-built neoclassical landmark from 1824, now housing the Museum of Asian Art. Together, they turn the square into a living open-air gallery of European design.

But Spianada is no museum piece. Cricket matches鈥攁n odd British legacy鈥攕till play out on its lawn, while Easter parades, concerts, and festivals keep the square buzzing with life. It is Corfu鈥檚 civic heart, where military history, imperial flair, and everyday social life continue to mingle in the open air.

A jagged rock rising from the sea, crowned with walls that have seen more as many cannons as boats floating in the sea. That鈥檚 Corfu鈥檚 Old Fortress, first fortified back in the 6th century AD when locals, tired of getting knocked around by Ostrogoth raids, hauled themselves onto this peninsula for safety. The Byzantines took over the project in the 12th century, adding towers on two peaks and giving the place its dual identity as Old Castle and New Castle.

Then came the Venetians, and with them, big ideas. From 1386 to 1797, they carved the Contrafossa canal, severing the fortress from the town and turning it into a floating citadel. They stacked on bastions, underground passages, and towers robust enough to stare down three separate Ottoman sieges. The last, in 1716, dragged on for seven weeks until Count von der Schulenburg and his defenders forced the Ottomans packing. But the fortress wasn鈥檛 invincible鈥攖wo years later, a lightning strike hit the powder magazine and blew the place sky-high, Venetian commander included.

Roll forward to the British in the 19th century, who added their own flair with a lighthouse and military barracks. Later chapters got grim: Italian bombs in 1923, and under Nazi occupation, the fortress became a holding prison for Corfu鈥檚 Jews before deportation鈥攁 story that ended in tragedy for most.

And yet, the fortress endures. Today it鈥檚 home to the Public Library of Corfu and the Ionian University鈥檚 Music Research Lab, and its courtyards double as stages for concerts and exhibitions. Wander the bastions, slip through shadowy tunnels, or just climb high for sweeping views over Corfu Town鈥檚 terracotta rooftops, the Ionian shimmer, and Albania鈥檚 distant peaks. Part monument, part cultural playground, the Old Fortress is history with a pulse.

Sometime around 600 BC, Menecrates, son of Tlasias and ambassador of Korkyra to Oiantheia (modern-day Galaxidi), was lost at sea. Perhaps there was a battle or pirates. The Korkyreans were determined to honor him with a monument. Praximenes, brother of Menecrates, came from Oiantheia to help with the cenotaph.

In 1843, while demolishing a fortification in Corfu, British soldiers unearthed the cenotaph of Menecrates. The story of Menecrates' disappearance was inscribed on the tomb. A funerary sculpture of a lion was uncovered with the memorial. The lion and the tomb were found in an area known as a necropolis of ancient Korkyra.

The monument and the lion were made of limestone. The monument is a stone cylinder with a conical roof. The conical cover has stones radiating down from a rectangular capstone. The cylinder wall is made of five circular rings in an isodomic construction ( an ancient wall construction technique of finely cut and worked stone). The tomb is almost five feet high and over 15 feet in diameter.

The lion was found near the cenotaph and most likely belongs to it. There is some speculation the lion may belong to the tomb of the warrior Arniadas, who had distinguished himself at a battle by the river Arachthos. The style of the sculpture is Assyrian, and it is in excellent condition. It is kept at the Archeological Museum.

Artemis, daughter of Zeus and Leto, the twin sister of Apollo, was the Goddess of the Moon, wild animals, chastity, and childbirth. A temple was dedicated to her in Korkyra (Corfu) in about 580 BC. It was found on the land of the Saint Theodore Monastery in the suburb of Garitsa. It was the first all-stone Doric temple.

The temple was peripteral, surrounded by a portico with columns. It had a width of 77 feet and a length of 161 feet. It was oriented to the east so the interior would fill with light at sunrise. The immense rectangular altar was in front of the temple. The monastery was partly built over the altar.

The ruins were first uncovered during the Napoleonic Wars by troops of the French general Francois-Xavier Donzelot as they were digging trenches. German emperor Wilhelm II busied himself with excavations in Corfu. He had an "obsession" with Gorgon Medusa's sculpture on the pediment of the temple.

Only the foundation of the temple and associated fragments remain on the site. Despite this, the found remains were enough to establish an architectural reconstruction of the temple. The pedimental sculptures of the Gorgon, her children Pegasus and Khrysaor, and the flanking guardian panthers are kept at the Archeological Museum.

The Temple of Hera, or Heraion, was probably built circa 610 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra, also known as Palaiopolis. It is located within the Mon Repos estate. Hera's sanctuary is considered an early piece of Archaic Greek architecture.

The temple roof was adorned with lions, gorgons, and abstract-looking Daidala maidens painted in bright colors. It was among the most decorated temples of Archaic Greece. The temple had stone columns from the beginning establishing that Doric architecture had made rapid strides around 600 BC.

The Temple of Hera was erected at the top of Analipsis Hill, which made it easily visible to ships passing Korkyra. The Digital Archaic Heraion Project at Mon Repos has begun to digitize fragments found at the Corfu Heraion. The goal is to reconstruct in 3D virtual space Temple at Palaiopolis.

A major fire destroyed the temple in the 5th century BC. It was rebuilt as a new temple in the 4th century. The reconstructed temple was ruined again in the Venetian and Byzantine eras, mostly by looting stones.