contents - indice - inhalt - Kyklos design

6
HISTORY - STORIA - GESCHICHTE
The Ionian has
been inhabited
since
prehistoric times and its
situation on the trade
and invasion routes to
and from the Balkans,
Italy and the Levant, has
insured a rich and varied historical
tradition. The first wave of Ancient
occupiers of contemporary interest were the
Myceneans who have left significant traces
particularly in Thesprotia and Kefalonia.
During the Classical period the region was
home to several independent city states
remains of which can still be seen
particularly in Corfu, Thesprotia and
Kefalonia. Later, these states joined one or
other of the great leagues organised by
Corinth, Athens and Sparta resulting in the
Peloponnesian war breaking out off
Southern Corfu in 431 BC.
During the Hellenistic period the region
was repeatedly threatened by Macedonian
invasions. King Pyrrhos of Epirus who had
already fought the Romans in Southern
Italy was one of those to offer resistance
until his death in 272 BC. The Romans
finally began to occupy the region in 187
BC.
When the Emperor Constantine divided the
Roman Empire in the 4th century AD the
Ionian became part of the Eastern
(Byzantine) Empire. Despite this, various
parts fell under the control of a number of
powerful Frankish and Italian baronial
families including the Normans in the 11th
century and the Angevins in the 13th
century. Eventually however, by the late
15th century, two forces had emerged to
dominate the region; The Ottoman Turks
and the Republic of Venice.
Despite brief periods of occupation by the
Turks and with the exception of most of
Epirus the islands fell under the control of
Venice until the latter’s defeat by
Napoleon in 1797. Then followed a brief
period of French occupation of the Ionian
islands until, in 1798, a joint Russian-
Turkish protectorate was established.
The Septinsular Republic, as it was called,
lasted until the islands were ceded to the
French in 1807 by the treaty of Tilsit. The
British occupied the islands in 1809 and,
following the Congress of Vienna in 1815,
set up the Union of the Ionian Islands under
their protection. (Septinsular, Eptanissa
were the terms used for the seven Ionian
islands which included Kythera off the
Southern Peloponnese).
Following the outbreak of the Greek war of
Independence in 1821 which received
strong support from the Greeks of the
islands, the Turks were gradually driven
northward. Britain returned the Ionian
Islands to the new Greek State in 1864 but
it was not until the end of the first Balkan
War in 1913 that Epirus was returned to
Greece.
Tutta la regione ionica, secondo
quanto testimoniano i ritrovamenti
che vi sono stati fatti, era abitata fin
dalla preistoria. A causa della sua posizione
geografica, sulla via dei commerci e delle
invasioni, da e verso i Balcani, l’Italia e
l’Oriente, fu soggetta, nello scorrere dei
secoli, ad occupazioni diverse, le quali
determinarono tradizioni quanto mai varie e
ricche.
In età storica, i primi dominatori furono i
Micenei, i quali lasciarono tracce del
proprio passaggio specialmente a
Thesprotia e Cefalonia.
Successivamente, nell’epoca classica, vi si
svilupparono città-stato autonome (resti
rimangono a Corfù, Thesprotia e
Cefalonia), le quali parteciparono alle lotte
tra le due eterne rivali dell’antichità greca,
Atene e Sparta, schierandosi dalla parte
dell’una o dell’altra (guerra del
Peloponneso, 431 a.C.).
Durante il periodo ellenistico, i Macedoni
invasero ripetutamente la regione, mentre i
Romani cominciarono ad occuparla nel 187
a.C..
Nel IV secolo, con la divisione dell’Impero
Romano, lo Ionio divenne parte
dell’Impero (bizantino) d’Oriente, ma la
zona continuo ad essere occupata da
potenze sempre diverse, passando dalla
dominazione di baronie francesi e italiane,
a quella di Normanni e Angioini (XI e XIII
sec.).
Verso la fine del XV secolo, la situazione
cambio. L’Epiro cadde sotto l’egemonia dei
Turchi Ottomani, dalla quale fu liberato
solo al termine della guerra dei Balcani, nel
1913. Invece, le Isole Ionie furono occupate
dai Veneziani, i quali vi rimasero fino al
1797. In seguito esse passarono sotto il
dominio dei francesi, cui furono cedute
definitivamente, con il trattato di Tilsit, nel
1807. Due anni dopo vennero occupate
dagli Inglesi, che dal 1815 le sottoposero al
proprio protettorato, per restituirle allo stato
greco nel 1864.
Die ionischen Inseln und Küsten
sind seit vorgeschichtlichen Zeiten
bewohnt, und ihre Lage an den
Handels- und Wanderungsstraßen von und
nach dem Balkan, Italien und der Levante
war ausschlaggebend für ihre reiche und
bunte Geschichte.
Als erste Welle von -wenn auch
kurzfristigen- Eroberern kamen die
Mykener, die vor allem in Thesprotia und
auf Kefallonia bedeutende Spuren
hinterlassen haben. In klassische Zeit
bestanden in der region mehrere
Stadtstaaten von denen sich noch Reste auf
Korfu, in Thesprotia und auf Kefallonia
erhalten haben. Später traten diese Staaten
den großen Allianzen unter Führung
Korinths, Athens und Spartas bei, was
letztlich zum Peloponnesischen Krieg
führte, dessen Beginn mit der Seeschlacht
bei den Syvota-Inseln (vor der S-Spitze
Korfus) 431 v.Chr. angesetzt wird.
Während der hellenistischen Zeit war die
Region mehrmals von makedonischen
Invasionen bedroht: König Pyrrhos von
Epiros, der bereits gegen die Römer in S-
Italien gekämpft hatte, leistete bis zu
seinem Tode 272 v.Chr. Widerstand. Ab
187 v.Chr. wurde das Gebiet dann
schrittweise von den Römern besetzt.…
Seit der Teilung des Römischen Reiches in
der Mitte des 4. Jh. n.Chr. unter Konstantin
d. Gr. gehörte das Gebiet des Ionischen
Meeres zum Oströmisch-Byzantinischen
Reich. Dennoch gerieten Teile davon unter
die Kontrolle fränkischer (Normannen im
11. und Anjou im 13. Jh.) und italienischer
Adelsfamilien. Gegen Ende des 15. Jh.
hatten sich zwei führende Mächte in der
Region etabliert: das Osmanische Reich
und die Republik Venedig.
Trotz einiger kurzer türkischer
Besatzungszeiten blieben die Inseln (im
Gegensatz zu Epiros) unter venezianischer
Herrschaft - bis zur Niederlage Venedigs
1797 gegen Napoleon. Es folgte eine kurze
Franzosenzeit bis 1798, als das Gebiet unter
die vereinte russisch-türkische Schutzmacht
kam. Diese sog. "Siebeninsel-Republik"
bestand bis 1807, als die Ionischen Inseln
im Vertrag von Tilsit an die Franzosen
abgetreten wurden.Die Engländer besetzten
die Inseln 1809 und errichteten -als Folge
des Wiener Kongresses 1815- unter ihrer
Schutzherrschaft die "Vereinigten Staaten
der Ionischen Inseln" (Sieben Inseln,
griech.: Eptanissa, bezeichnen die
Ionischen Inseln).
Nach Ausbruch des griechischen
Unabhängigkeitskrieges 1821, der von den
Bewohnern der Inseln leidenschaftlich
unterstützt wurde, mußten sich die Türken
immer mehr nach Norden zurückziehen.
England gab 1864 die Ionischen Inseln an
den jungen griechischen Staat zurück,
Epiros dagegen kam erst am Ende des 1.
Balkankriegs 1913 an Griechenland zurück.
Dimarchiou Square and the
Catholic Cathedral
In the heart of the old town, spend a little
time in the town hall square where you
can enjoy a relaxing meal and a drink
amidst some of Corfu's most famous
landmarks. The Corfu Town Hall, or
Dimarchiou was built by the Venetians
as a club or meeting place (loggia) for
the nobility and served as the Teatro di
San Giacomo between 1733 and 1893. It
was the centre for opera in Corfu and
Greece and attracted many famous
musicians from Italy as well as Greece.
Subsequently it was converted into the
town hall but it helped to cement the
musical traditions that still exist on
Corfu. Adjacent to the town hall is the
Catholic cathedral of St Jacob and St.
Christopher, the Duomo, dating from
1553. Although damaged at certain
points throughout history it has been
restored several times. There is an active
Greek Catholic community in Corfu and
the Duomo often has choir and other
concerts during important festival events.