2 - UNESCO: World Heritage

DESCRIPTION
The historic suburbs and their development over time are witness, inter alia, to the continuity of the town
between the 19 th and 20 th centuries since all residential or functional needs that could not be served within the
limited space of the walled town developed there.
Garitsa & Anemomylos
Today these are consecutive quarters which are laid out linearly around the round network from the centre of
the town towards Paleopolis. They stand out for the fact that they coexist with the remarkably exceptional
archaeological finds at Paleopolis since they were built atop the ancient city. It is certain that Kyprou St., one of
the three main streets of Garitsa, follows the ancient path that would once have led to and passed through the
archaic and classical graveyard of the ancient city.
During the period of British rule following the demolition of the southern gate in the walls (Porta Raimonda in
1837) a coastal road was created giving the town an additional port to meet the needs of the first industrial
plants that had established themselves in the area during the 19 th century and beginning of the 20 th century.
Low income bracket population groups from classical times onwards had mainly been involved here in
manufacturing ceramic items as well as ship building and repair.
The image of Garitsa and Anemomylos today is one characterized by popular architectural style buildings
along a contiguous front with low single storey, two or three floor storey, tiled houses with small or large
gardens behind them. There are few town houses (multi-storey blocks from the period of English rule) and
quite a few interesting examples of large urban detached houses dating from the time when the affluent and
the new middle class moved here following industrial development. Indicative of the built wealth of these
suburbs is that, in addition to the recognized archaeological sites and the Byzantine and post Byzantine
monuments in the area, there are 110 more modern buildings (dating from 1830 onwards) characterized as
listed buildings and works of art.
Manduki
This is a separate suburb on the NW coast of the old town which pre-dates the wall of the town of Corfu (1588)
and which was part of the outer town (Exopolio).
Families of Cretan refugees following the fall of Candia (Heraklion) to the Turks in 1669 and later refugees from
the Peloponnese and Parga settled in Manduki under Venetian rule. The residents were engaged in maritime
activities, fisheries, building and repairing boats and caiques. They were also engaged in transporting
merchandise and passengers. Up until 1960 the area was the main industrial and handicrafts centre on Corfu
(producing oil, soap, leather, ice, salted preserves and pottery) with a large number of factories of which a
small number have been preserved.
The architecture of this linear settlement too is characterized by an alternation between contiguous fronts of
single storey, two and three storey popular style houses with others more urban in character which retain the
morphological features of houses in the town.
Manduki today has more than 100 buildings characterized as listed and works of art in addition to important
churches and the Platytera Monastery where the Corfiot politician and first President of free Modern Greece,
Ioannis Capodistrias is entombed.
The Old Town of Corfu Nomination for inclusion on the World Heritage List 20
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