Old Fortress, Corfu (must see)

The site of the Old Fortress was first fortified in the 6th century AD. Invading Ostrogoths, as was their wont, had destroyed the nearby city of Corcyra. Local Corcyreans found refuge in fortifications on the promontory of Corfu.

In the 12th century, the Byzantines further strengthened their defenses. A citadel was formed by two peaks with strong towers. The eastern peak was named Castle by the Sea (Castle a Mare) or Old Castle (Castle Vecchio). The peak to the west was called Castle near Land (Castel a Terra) or New Castle (Castle Nuovo).

Venetians occupied Corfu from 1386 until 1797. They mostly replaced the fortifications they found with their own designs. They separated the promontory tip from the rest of the city by digging the Contrafossa, a navigable canal from the Gulf of Kerkyra in the north to the Bay of Garitsa in the south, creating an island citadel.

The fort successfully repelled three determined Ottoman sieges in 1537, 1571, and 1716. After the first siege, military engineers Savorgnan and Martinengo designed new defensive zones with bastions and towers. Access over the Contrafossa was by a drawbridge. A permanent bridge is in place today.

The final Ottoman siege lasted seven weeks. The Ottomans were defeated by troops commanded by Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg. In 1718, a flash of lightning struck the powder magazine in the Old Castle, creating a chain of explosions. Hundreds died, including the Venetian Commander.

In 1923 both Old and New Fortresses were bombarded by the Italian air force. In the Second World War, Nazis used the Old Fortress as a prison for Jews in transit to death camps in Germany. Out of the 1,800 Jews deported from Corfu, only 120 returned.

Today, the Old Fortress houses the Public Library of Corfu. It is the venue for art and cultural events, and the Hellenistic Music Research Lab of Ionian University is located there.