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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates:
39°40′N 19°45′E / 39.667, 19.75

Island Chain: Ionian Islands
Area:592.877 km² (229 sq.mi.)
Highest Mountain: Mt. Pandokratoras (906 m (2,972 ft))
Population:107,879 (as of 2001)
Density:182 Km² (471 /sq.mi.)

 

Corcyra or Corfu (Greek: Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, Ancient Greek Κέρκυρα or Κόρκυρα, Latin: Corcyra, Italian Corfù) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea.
The principal town of the island is also named Corfu, or Kerkyra in Greek.

Its Greek name, Kerkyra, is connected to two powerful water symbols: Poseidon, god of the sea and Asopos, an important Greek mainland river. According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra, daughter of Asopus and river nymph Metope, and abducted her, as was the custom among gods of that era's myths - Zeus himself was a serial offender. Poseidon brought her to the hitherto unnamed island and, being in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra, which gradually evolved to Kerkyra. Together, they had a child they called Phaiax, after whom the inhabitants of the island were named: Phaiakes, that was then transliterated via Latin to Phaeacians.This myth, with its themes of romance between a powerful god and a beautiful nymph, with a trace of adventure, centred around the element of water, is suggestive of the special ambiance of the place.
The island's history is full of battles and conquests, indicative of Corfu's turbulent position in a historical vortex that lasted until modern times, when after the unification with modern Greece in 1864 the history of the island became one with the mainland's, with no more foreign intervention. The legacy of these struggles remains in the form of castles that exist in strategic locations all over the island. Two of these castles enclose the city. It is the only city in Greece to be surrounded by castles this way and as a result has officially been declared as a Kastropolis (Castle city) by the Greek Government. In 2007, the old town of the city was named to the UNESCO World Heritage List after a recommendation by ICOMOS.

The name Corfu is an Italian corruption of the Byzantine Κορυφώ (Koryphō), meaning city of the peaks, which is derived from the Greek Κορυφαί (Koryphai), meaning Crests or Peaks, denoting the two peaks of the fortresses that enclose the city. In shape it is not unlike the sickle (drepanē, δρεπάνι), to which it was compared by the ancients, the hollow side,with the town and harbour of Corfu in the centre, being towards the Albanian coast. It is about 60 km long, and its greatest breadth is about 30 km. The area is estimated at 580 km² Two high and well-defined ranges divide the island into three districts, of which the northern is mountainous, the central undulating and the southern low-lying. The most important of the two ranges is that of San Salvador (Αγιος Σωτήρας), probably the ancient Istone, which stretches east and west from Cape St. Angelo to Cape St. Stefano, and attains its greatest elevation in the summit from which it takes its name. The second culminates in the mountain of Santi Jeca, or Santa Decca, as it is called by misinterpretation of the Greek designation Άγιοι Δέκα (Hagioi Deka), or the Ten Saints. The whole island, composed as it is of various limestone formations, presents great diversity of surface, and the views from the more elevated spots are magnificent. Corfu is located near the Kefalonia geological fault formation and as such earthquakes sometimes are felt. The coastline is about 217 km including capes. The highest point is Mount Pantokrator (906m); the second is Stravoskiadi (849 m).