This was another self walking tour day. Our plan was to wondering around the Old Town, visiting New Fortress and Old Fortress. After we get into Corfu Old Town, we noticed the route to the New Fortress, so we decided to visit it first. After we got to the entrance point, then we noticed that it was closed.
Since the St. Spyridon Church stands out as a landmark to orient people while walking in Old Town, we planned to visit it first, then from there we can move to other attractions. For some reason, we missed the St Spyridon Church and got to Liston. From Liston, then we found the St. Spyridon Church and visited it.
 |
| Liston |
 |
| St. Spyridon Church |
The next stop was the Royal Palace of St Michael & George which has impressive facade with stone columns and it is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
 |
| Stone Columns in front of the Royal Palace of St Michael & George |
 |
| The Royal Palace of St Michael & George |
The Palace is housing the Museum of Asia Art, therefore we decided to visit it. To our surprise, the displays are from China, Japan, India and some other southeastern Asia countries. The museum opened in 1927 as the Museum of Sino-Japanese art with the donation of the Gregorios Manos collection. He was a Greek ambassador to Austria, Manos (1850-1928) had purchased approximately 9,500 Chinese, Korean and Japanese artifacts at art auctions in Vienna and Paris in the late 19th and early 20th century. He compiled, recorded and catalogued his collection himself, with nearly scientific consistency, and is regarded as the first Greek authority on Far Eastern art. The displays along with the explanations are the best we had ever seen. It was a very enjoyable event for us.
Then, we enjoyed the beautiful garden overlooking the ocean. It was a breathtaking scenery spot.
 |
| View from Royal Palace of St Michael & George's Garden |
 |
| Panoramic View from Royal Palace of St Michael & George's Garden |
Next attraction was the Old Fortress. The Old Fortress of Corfu is one of the most impressive fortifications works in Europe. It stands on the eastern side of the town, on a rocky peninsula that gets into the sea. This fortress was constructed by the Venetians in the 15th century on the site of a former Byzantine castle. To make it more secure, they made an artificial fosse and thus they separated the fortress from the mainland. The fortress was connected to the land by a movable, wooden bridge. In 1819, the British replaced this bridge with the present stable pathway, The highest point of the fortress needs about 20 minutes walking up to a tall clock tower. At the top, we had the most wonderful view of the Corfu Town and the ocean surrounding it.
 |
| Main Square in the Old Fortress of Corfu |
 |
| Impressive wall structure of the Old Fortress of Corfu |
 |
| View from the top of the Old Fortress |
 |
| View of Corfu town from the top of the Old Fortress |
No comments:
Post a Comment