2 - UNESCO: World Heritage

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
JUSTIFICATION I STATEMENT OF OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUE
The nominated Property consists of the space that corresponds to the once-walled town of Corfu, as it
developed both dynamically and as a result of geometric planning. Influencing factors included successive,
large scale interventions into the urban plan that were related to the defense system, most notably between the
15th and 18th centuries, during the period of Venetian dominance and finally in the lgth century, mainly by the
British.
The lbrttfkations with their crowning elements, the Old and New Fortresses, constitute a large scale technical
work that was constructed to support the critical maritime and strategic role played by Corfu in the protection of
the interests of the Serene Republic of Venice, but also for the projection of her moral authority and grandeur.
A monument of military architecture of utmost significance, it was designed and built by some of the most
famous architects and military engineers working for Venice. Moreover, its effectiveness was proven by
successive repulses of Turkish attacks-In addition to embodying all the developments in defensive science over
the course of the four hundred years when the Venetians ruled the island, the fortification works of Venetian
Corfu also influenced the development of the residential ensemble. The importance of Corfu's fortifications for
the history of defensive architecture is huge. From both the technical and aesthetic point of view they constitute
one of the most glorious examples preserved, not only in Greece, but across the Eastern Mediterranean more
widely. Among other things they are considered of tremendous importance for the study of the principles for the
mapping out and execution of fortifications with bastions thanks to the vast archival material that has survived,
mainly in the archives of Venice.
h l'ha urban ensamble developed within the confines of the land and sea. Clearly defined by the perimeter
walls, it consolidates all the features of urban planning distinctive to walled towns in the West, making it today a
vivid and exceptionally fine example of a town's organization in relation to its defenses. The planning
framework, in conjunction with a dense and multi-storey construction style and a building morphology that
assimilates, in full harmony and continuity, characteristics of a diachronic cultural process, create together a
unique entity with international worth and particular importance for the history of architecture, urban planning
and the fine arts. In particular, subsequent to the disasters of 1953 that almost completely destroyed the two
other large lonian urban centres (Zakynthos and Cephalonia) Corfu's importance for the history of architecture
is priceless and unique.
The town's buildings dating from the period of Venetian rule are a rare example of architecture that developed
on Greek soil, but was directly dependent on foreign contemporary standards, thereby representing Greek
participation in the western movements (Renaissance and Baroque styles). At the same time, Corfu, being one
of the few areas of Hellenism in which civilization progressed smoothly and without abrupt discontinuations, is
a uniquely preserved example of an easy transition to Neo-Classicism. The latter emerged in the West as well
as the natural continuity of previous styles and blended with them in a unique homogeneity. Moreover, the
relationship with Neo-Classical architecture is of special importance for the history of Modern Greek
architecture, since it was on Corfu that this style first appeared on Greek soil.