CORFU-ISLAND OF LEGEND

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 3 December 1940, Page 5

CORFU-ISLAND OF LEGEND

CHEQUERED HISTORY 1 GREAT STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE Corfu—one of the most beautiful of the lonian Islands—is bathed in the . legends of antiquity, j Lying off the south of Corfu is I the picturesque islet known as j Ulysses Isle, where, according to ; legend. Ulysses lived for ten years after his shipwreck. Tradition goes even so far as to say that the isle with its pointed ends ar.d mast-like cypress trees, is in fact, Ulysses’ own ship under the spell of a sorceress. STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE Corfu is not very large, being but forty miles long by twenty miles broad, but in war-time it is important for its strategic position at the entrance to the Adriatic Sea and in peace-time it is frequented for its splendid climate and scenery. The northern region of the island is mountainous, the centre undulating and the southern region low-lying, giving variety to the landscape, and though the olive groves and the vineyards—the main industries of Corfu —give a monotony to the colouring of the landscape, the broken introduces the blue of the lonian Sea constantly into the vision. At the western extremity of the island stands the Achilleion Palace built for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and later owned and used as a holiday home by Kaiser William of Germany. The palace is of no great architectural beauty, but it is surrounded by lovely gardens over which a fine statue of Achilles presides. Inside the palace tourists may gaze upon a few relics of the occupation of the ex-emperor, including his writing-desk with its curious saddle-seat, complete with stirrups, which evidently gave him some puerile feeling of being “rlways in the saddle.” Though the palace is of no great interest internally, the views from its many windows are superb. Three aspects of the building look out across the sea and the fourth across park lands to the mountains. RICH AND POWERFUL At the east end of the island it the only city, Corfu, with its population of about 32,000. The history of Corfu goes back to its colonisation by the Corinthians in 734 B.C. The city, then named Corcyra, grew great in riches and power and became involved in disputes leading ultimately to the Peloponnesian War. In 229 8.C., it passed into the hands of Rome and became an important base in various Roman wars. When the power of the Roman Emperors declined, Corcyra passed into the control of the great I‘r’im merchant cities. Sicilians and Genoese were, in turn, expelled by the Venetians who ruled the island from 1386 until 1797, when it was ceded to France. Under the Venetians Corcyra became Corfu, During the Turkish wars of conquest, Greek scholars fled to Corfu and established there the first academy of Modern Greece. CHANGES OF FORTUNE In 1799, the island wns seized by Russia, but was returned to France by the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. After the fall of Napoleon, Corfu became a British protectorate. Under British administration public works, such as road construction, the establishment of schools and city improvements, went ahead, but there was a constant and serious friction which resulted ir the handing over of the island to Greece. During the Great War, Corfu was used as a recuperating base for the Serbian army. The Italians, under Mussolini, bombarded and occupied the island in 1923, and evacuated only on the agreement of Greece to pay an indemnity of 50,000,000-lire. There is nothing outstanding in the general aspect of the city of Corfu, but when one leaves the esplanade and the broader streets, made during the British protectorate, and follow* the tortuous streets of the portion of the city which once was a fortified area, one comes upon odd picturesque corners, quaint churches and remains of Roman masonry, all reminding of the various historical periods of the island.