Relaxing Walking-Old Fortress Corfu Island

Relaxing Walking-Old Fortress Corfu Island
The Old Fortress of Corfu island The Old Fortress of Corfu is one of the most impressive fortifications works in Europe. It is the first thing to see as the ferry approaches Corfu island. It stands on the eastern side of the town, on a rocky peninsula that gets into the sea. This fortress is called Old in contrast to the New Fortress (of Saint Mark), that was also built to protect the town from enemies and pirates. 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, which is 60 m long and stands 15 m above the fosse, locally known as contafossa.

The entrance to the fortress is available through Spianada, the famous square of Corfu island, which is, in fact, the second largest square in Europe. The entrance is arched and has a Venetian symbol above it, carved in marble. After the entrance, there are two rooms on both sides that now host the Byzantine Collection of Corfu and a gift shop. A few steps away, there is another fosse of 22m, arid today, that was used as an additional protection measure.

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