Cyclades
Islands
: Amorgos, Andros,
Folegandros, Ios,
Kea, Kythnos,
Milos, Mykonos,
Naxos, Paros
and Antiparos, Santorini,
Sifnos, Serifos,
Sikinos, Syros,
Tinos
Northern
Aegean Islands:
Chios, Ikaria,
Limnos, Lesvos,
Samos, Samothraki,
Thassos
Ionian
Islands:
Corfu (Kerkyra), Ithaki,
Kefalonia, Kythera,
Lefkada, Paxos,
Zakynthos
Saronic
Islands:
Aegina, Angistri,
Poros, Hydra,
Salamina, Spetsis
Sporades
Islands:
Alonissos, Skiathos,
Skopelos, Skyros
Dodecanese
Islands:
Astypalia, Halki,
Kalymnos, Karpathos,
Kassos, Kastellorizo,
Kos, Leros,
Nisyros, Patmos,
Rhodes, Symi,
Tilos
Other
Islands:
Crete, Evia,
Cyprus
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Ionian Islands - Corfu (Kerkyra, Kerkira, or Corcyra)
Corfu lies off the coast of
Epirus, and is a long island about 229 square miles
in size. It is composed primarily of limestone, and is
mountainous in the north, low in the south. Its highest
peak is Pandokrator Mountain, which is about a half mile
tall. The island, like all the
Ionian Islands, is fertile and well watered. Corfu
is said to have the prettiest countryside of all the Greek
islands. Growing on the islands are olive groves, fig
trees, orange and lemon trees, grape vines, and American
corn or maize. Corfu also manufactures soap and textiles.
In addition to its natural beauty, Corfu also offers a
rich history and a casino.
Kerkira is the chief city and port, and is on a peninsula
on the east coast; when it was first established, it was
on an islet, but changes in the geography of the islands
linked it to Corfu. It is a twin peaked citadel, with
fortifications built by the Venetians in the 16th century.
The older part of the town is a labyrinth of hilly, narrow
streets.
Corfu was, according to Homer, once occupied by the Phaeacians.
Corinth established a colony here in the eighth century
BC, supplanting a settlement of Eretrians. Corfu remained
independent of Greece for a long time, though it allied
with Athens. The Illyrians conquered it later, and turned
it over to the Romans, who established a naval station
there and made it free otherwise.
After Roman times, the history of Corfu was not so free.
It fell in succession to Goths, Lombards, Saracens, and
Normans, and then became a bone of contention between
Sicily, Genoa, and Venice; Venice eventually won out.
During Napoleonic times, Corfu was taken by France, and
then by Britain. The island rebelled against British rule
and was ceded to Greece. In 1953, an earth quake destroyed
many of the southern Ionian islands, but Corfu escaped
mostly unharmed.
Today, Corfu is rich in beauty, soil, and archaeological
treasures. For those who aren’t terribly interested
in visiting museums, Corfu also has a casino in a converted
palace built for an empress of Austria in the 1800s.
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