The Cultural Heritage of Corfu

The basis that has formed the western world began in Greece -  philosophy, mathematics, medicine and pharmaceuticals are words of Greek origin and the most profound influences in these fields have Greek foundations. In Corfu, there flourishes a long-standing cultural tradition dating back to the time when Seven Islands were a Venetian dominion. It was natural that Corfu adopted a western culture and became the first place in Greece where all new cultural streams and trends were established.

Literature & Education

Three literary institutions were founded in Corfu. The most notable one was the Accademia degli Assicurati, active from 1656 to 1716.  The Ionian Academy was established in Corfu – the first university in Greece.

Literary figures including Goethe, Oscar Wilde, Gerald and Lawrence Durrell have all immortalised its beauty with their pens.

Nikiphoros Theotokis (1731-1800) is another famous Corfiot who was the first to introduce the study of mathematics and natural sciences to Greece.

 Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857), a lyric poet, was regarded as the greatest poet of modern Greece. His works include the Hymn to Liberty, composed in 1823, the first stanzas of which were adopted later as the National Anthem of Greece.

The Venetians introduced opera to Corfu when they converted local “Loggia” into a theatre (San Giacomo), the first in Greece in modern times.                          Opera performances at San Giacomo started in 1733. The first music institution in Corfu and in the whole of modern Greece was founded on 12^th September 1840, under the title of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu (also called the ‘Old Philharmonic’).

 A Corfiot named Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos-Mantzaros (1795-1872) founded the first modern school of music in Greece.  Spyros Samaras (1861-1917) is the most distinguished Corfiot composer and is considered one of the founders of the contemporary School of Italian opera. He also composed the “Olympic Hymn”

FINE ARTS

Fine Arts was influenced by the Cretan School of painting and most of the Corfiot fine arts reflect a Greek and Ionian religious painting. There are icons, miniature paintings, panel and ceiling paintings in churches.

It was in Corfu where the first private school of Fine Arts in Greece was established.  Panayiotis Doxaras is considered the founder of the school known as “The Septinsular School of Painting” which led Ionian religious painting into the main stream of Western art. His main work was the decoration on the ceiling of the Church of St. Spyridon, painted in 1727. The best exhibitions of fine arts you may find in the Byzantine Museum of Corfu and in the Palace of Metropolitan. 

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