Corfu is called Kerkyra in Greek and owns its name from mythology, from the derivation of the name of the Nymph Korkira, who was the daughter of the River God, Aesopos.

According to mythology, Poseidon, God of the Sea, fell in love with the Nymph Korkira, kidnapped her and brought her to the island; since then, the island took the name of the nymph.From 300 BC, Corfu was successively attacked and conquered by Spartans, Illyrians and Romans, who stayed on the island from 229 BC to 337 AD.

During Roman times, the island was allowed to keep a part of autonomy and, in return, the Romans could use the port and ships of the town. Corfu joined the East Roman Empire which later became the Byzantine Empire.

During this Period Corfu endured continual attacks by the Vandals, Huns, Normans, Saracens & Genauts. After the First Crusade Corfu was given to the Venetians who had supported the Crusade.The Roman contribution to the island was     Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Venice and, in 1797, Corfu became part of the French State; Napoleon came as a liberator and publicly burnt the “Libro d’Oro” (Golden Book), which was the book enumerating the privileges of the Nobles.

In 1799, the allied fleet of the Turks, the Russians and the English disembarked on the island of Corfu.Archaeological excavations have proved that the island was inhabited since the Palaeolithic Era (7th- 4th centuries BC) and that during this period Corfu was a very important commercial centre which inhabitants were the Phoenicians.

The Eretreans from Evia were the first Greek settlers of the island, moving there during the 8th century; they were followed by a group of refugees from Corinth who founded a colony on Corfu.

The town of the island, that was already the capital, was trading with all the towns of the Adriatic Sea, becoming an important commercial centre, a strong naval power, an important colonial town and became independent from Corinth; since then, the two powerful towns entered in competition and many conflicts took birth from this.

Then in 1807 when Russia and France signed the treaty of Tilsit, Corfu and the other islands became provinces of Napolean. This time around the French took more of an interest in the intellectual and economic development of the Corfu Greece and founded the Ionian Academy, constructing new buildings and introducing new crops like potatoes and tomatoes.


The Ionian islands did not become a part of Greece until 1864 even though Ioannis Capodistrias was elected the first President of Greece in 1827 and assassinated in 1831.
Although Corfu was never under the control of the Turks, its inhabitants helped financially the rest of Greece to realize the Greek Revolution.

In the 21st of May, 1864, the Ionian Islands were donated from the British to the new King of Greece.In the 20th century, Corfu took part in the two World Wars and suffered great damages: the Ionian Academy, the Library and the Municipal Theatre were burnt and totally destroyed.