2 - UNESCO: World Heritage

DESCRIPTION
Following the unification of the island with Greece in 1864, the fortresses were disarmed and, following this,
parts of the walls and of other fortification works of the town were gradually demolished.
The town's structure in the 19 th century presented changes in the building scale, with plot mergers, different
morphological facades and a considerable increase in building height, in total. It is estimated that
appromixately 70% of existing old buildings, built prior to the 20 th century are reconstructions or additions from
the British period.
In any case, the transformations of the 19 th century did not constitute differentiated urban systems within the
Historic Centre. The form of the town's urban fabric, despite the individual restructuring interventions, through
demolitions of walls and forts and collapses of a high percentage of buildings along important roads and free
spaces, shows the long medieval order of things. The criteria of large openings, which developed under the
culture of the 19 th century, were not applied in Corfu.
On the contrary, the constructions of this period defined the urban landscape, composed regularities,
monumental perspectives and classical orders at ‘privileged’ points, which were favoured by the arrangements
imposed, from time to time, along important roads or on the perimetric front of the Spianada - Mouragia - Port
and the streets Zambeli and Ioniou Academias. Hence, the general sense of the three-dimensional space
exudes an atmosphere of the late-medieval age, expressing, depending on the architectural style of the
buildings prevailing, a simple mannerism with Renaissance and Baroque elements or a Classicism with Neo-
Palladian and Neo-Classical characteristics.
A typical intervention of the 19 th century in the town's development was the planned development of the
residential area outside the walls (fortia), based on the classical urban planning conceptions of that period,
given that following the demolition of the western walls, it directly neighboured the densely built area. Despite
increased residential pressures, the British plan was only implemented in 1873.
The 20 th century (Annex, Exhibit 22)
Following the decline in the importance of the walls and the Fortress, the town continuously expanded towards
the west, towards nearby villages, having first integrated the historical suburbs (Garitsa, Anemomylos,
Manduki, Sarocco) that had developed in parallel to the section inside the walls.
The gradual expansion of the town was accelerated by the emergence of tourism, which today has already
exhausted the reserves of unoccupied spaces.
It should also be noted that the destruction of many buildings from the 1940-1943 bombardments had an
important effect, during the 20 th century, on the property's development. The effects of this loss, however, have
not been totally restored.
The Old Town of Corfu Nomination for inclusion on the World Heritage List 38
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