zafiris
December 2nd, 2004, 09:12 PM
Corfu town is a mix of Venetian residences and French and British public buildings, laid out between the Old and the New Venetian Fortresses and the harbor.
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The center of the city's social life is the Splanada, a huge park that is the biggest square in Greece.
The Splanada is a delight at all times of the day. In the early morning the coffee shops on Liston serve coffee and breakfast to early rising shopkeepers who stop by on their way to opening their stores. Later, the tourists and the local women, on a break from their shopping day, fill the chairs. In the afternoon it is time for the older crowd to have their coffee or refreshment on their way to dinner or for a walk. And later, at night, it is dinner, drinks, ice cream or just a stroll around the square.
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During the weekend the Corfu Philharmonic, one of the best orchestras in Greece, gives recitals here, while the local cricket teams, the only ones in the country, practice on the lawn at the north end of the Splanada.
At this end you will find the Ionian Academy and the Palace of St Michael and St George, built by the British in the 19th century. The Palace is today a memorable Museum of Asiatic Art, whereas the Ionian Academy building houses schools and departments of the Ionian University.
On the west side of the Splanada, the Liston is a public building whose facade defines the image of Corfu Town to the world. Built by the Napoleonic army in the 1810s, and modelled after the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, this used to be the hangout of the Corfiot aristocracy (Liston is derived from Liste d' Or, or Gilded List, i.e. the catalogue of Corfiot aristocracy). Today, it is a row of elegant coffee shops and snack bars that attract locals and tourists all day long.
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The square is dotted with 4 statues of the foreigners that marked the island's history in the last 300 years: the statue of Count Capodistria, Greece's first Governor after its liberation from the Turks in 1829, who lived abroad and became Foreign Minister of Russia before coming home; the statue of Sir Thomas Maitland, the first British High Commissioner of the island; the statue of Marshal Schulenberg, the Prussian officer who helped turn back the Ottoman's 1715 siege of the city; and the statue of the Earl of Guildford, the British hellenophile who, among other contributions, founded the Ionian Academy.
A stroll west of Liston is a trip back through time. Narrow, cobblestone streets, and Venetian 3- and 4-story houses tell the story of this city. The Campielo district, at the northern end of the city, seems like a theme park with a Renaissance theme, the only difference being that people actually live and work here.
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Clothes lines hang from 3rd story windows, kids kick footballs in the narrow streets, and women carry plastic bags with groceries to their homes.
The traveller should visit the Churches of Agios Spyridon (due west from just the northern end of Liston), the Patron Saint of Corfu, Agios Nikolaos ton Geronton (Saint Nicholas of the Elders), three blocks north of Agios Spyridon, and the ancient little church of Agios Ioannis, on Nikiforou Theotoki.
The Highlights
The Splanada, the biggest square in Greece, and the center of the city's life.
The streets of the old town, west of the Splanada.
The ancient churches of Corfu town.
The bars and restaurants at and around Liston and in the old town, behind Liston.
The weekend recitals of the Corfu Philharmonic.
Corfu Palace hotel
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The front face of the Palace of Saint Michael and Sant George.
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The magnificent entrance of the Palace of St Michael and St George.
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The Palace of St Michael and St George, on the northern end of the Splanada, with the statue of Kapodistria in front.
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The Ionian Academy (left) and the Cavalieri Hotel (right) stand behind Marshal Schulenberg's statue in Corfu Town's Splanada square.
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The City Hall is an old Venetian building, from the 1690s, and a sometime Gentlemen's Club.
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The Cavalieri Hotel, on the southwestern corner of the Splanada, belongs to one of Corfu's true aristocrats, London-based Count Spiro Flamburiari.
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Corfiots' love of cricket was acquired during British rule, and today is practiced on the Splanada during weekends.
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Empress Elizabeth of Austro-Hungary built the Achilleion in 1890.
The murals on the ceiling of the entrance to the Achilleion depict ancient Greek life in rococo style.
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This bronze statue of a sitting young man adorns the garden of the Achilleion. One of the 9 muses, whose statues line the eastern yard of the Achilleion.
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A marble bust of Homer, in the eastern yard of the Achilleion.
This bust of William Shakespeare is the only non-Greek-related statue in the Achilleion.
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The bronze statue of Achilles gazes east, from behind the Achilleion.
Empress Sissy admired Achilles so much that she dedicated her summer villa to the Homeric hero.
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A bronze statue of a discus thrower in the garden of Achilleion.
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Achilles' statue stands about 4 meters tall in the back of Empress Elizabeth's villa in Garitsa.
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Detail from the exquisite ceiling murals of the Achilleion entrance lobby.
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Statues of ancient Greek gods and heroes dot the gardens of the Achilleion
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A neoclassical villa, the Achilleion was bought by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia after Empress Elizabeth's assasination in 1898.
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Paris' arrow has found its target, Achille's foot, and the mighty hero has fallen, victim to his hubris.
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A quiet corner of Achilleion's rear garden.
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Corfu Town's old Venetian port is north of the Old Castle, behind the Palace of St Michael and St George.
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The New Venetian Castle towers over the commercial harbor of Corfu town
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Liston was built by the French and modelled after Paris' Rue de Rivoli.
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The Old Venetian Castle, at the city's eastern end
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Maitland's Rotunda, in the southern end of the Splanada.
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This gazebo stands in the middle of Corfu Town's elegant Splanada square.
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Pontikonisi, or Mouse Island, is off the southeastern suburb of Kanoni
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The buildings that line the western end of the Splanada.
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Corfu Town looks today as it did 300 years ago, uniquely among Greek cities.
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The bells outside the St Nicholas of the Elders church, in the Campielo district.
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view of Liston, with the bell tower of Agios Spyridon on the right
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Nikiforou Theotoki, west of Liston, is Corfu Town's most elegant street
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The City Hall square is lined with nice restaurants serving traditional Corfiot dishes.
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"Everybody comes to Liston", to paraphrase the famous line from the movie Casablanca about Rick's Cafe. Five-story Venetian apartment buildings tower over the narrow streets of Corfu town.
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Narrow streets and clothes lines mark the character of this cosmopolitan town. A pretty and quiet corner of Corfu Town, off Nikiforou Theotoki.
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Venetsianiko Pigadi is one of the most interesting restaurants in Corfu town and certainly the most romantic. Souvenir and jewelry shops and boutiques line the streets near Agios Spyridon Cathedral
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The cathedral of the Patron Saint of Corfu, Agios Spyridon, is a focal point of life in the island. A typical street scene in Corfu town.
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The end of Evgeniou Voulgareos street in Corfu town. The Campielo district, at the northern end of Corfu old town, brings to mind Italian cities like Naples.
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Museums
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Mon Repos
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Palace
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Asian Art
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Boscheto Garden
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Fortress
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Carnival
The roots of the Corfiot Carnival are lost in the Dionysiac worship of ancient Greece. The Carnival of Corfu was revived during the time of the Venetian occupation of the island and through a course of more than 450 years, reaches our times, regenerated each year.
The Latin word CARNEVALE is probably derived from the Latin phrase carnem levare = to disappear the meat, consequently abstain from meat.
THE CARNIVAL OF THE RECENT TIME
Corfiot masquerades
With the outbreak of the Second World War the Corfiot Carnival, with the intense popular participation, became inactive but in 1955 a group of romantic Corfiots, the Manesis and Kourkoumelis families, took the initiative and decided the reorganization of the festivities. They tried with love and desire for the old times and managed to bring happiness and laughter to the Corfiots once again, who responded with the organization of balls and parades. In 1962 the "Organization of Corfiot Festivities and Happenings" (OKEE) was established, who supported the initiative of the previously mentioned team. Hundreds of masquerades and many floats welcomed at the old port the 'live' King Sior-Carnival (an exclusive characteristic of the Corfiot Carnival) who gave laughter and 'decorated' everyone with his 'comments'-"petegoletsa" (gossip).
During the years of dictatorship (1967-1974) this fiesta became once more inactive and in 1975 with the establishment of the "Organization of Corfiot Festivities", the Corfiot Carnival revived again. Since 1981 the "Organization of Corfiot Activities", with the aid and assistance of the Municipality of Corfu, is the main organization responsible for the revival of the Corfiot Carnival and so far has succeeded, with the cooperation of many cultural clubs and associations, to organize many splendid carnival activities, group and float-parades and other cultural, theatrical and musical events.
THE CORFIOT PETEGOLETSA
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One of the new elements of the Corfiot Carnival is the Petegoletsa (gossip), whish is based on the Corfiot dialect and they are held each year in an open stage, in the central market of the Old City, in Pinia. It is a theatrical act very similar to COMMEDIA DELL' ARTE, and was developed in the past by the writer Theodoros Zamanis. The biggest part of them is written in satirical fifteen-syllable verses. They are performed by actors and they include old customs, traditional types of old Corfiots and most of all Corfiot dialect. The program is enriched with local satirical or light songs or with Heptanisian kantades. The final act is culminated with a sketch (prose) performed from the windows and balconies of the nearby houses.
The Corfiot Carnival with many significant qualitative differences from the other Greek Carnivals has the ambition to continue a 450 years old tradition. The "Organization of Corfiot Activities" tries to exhibit the identity of the Corfiot Carnival, which is based on the particularity of the Heptanisian Civilisation, which successfully fused together the systematic Western way of thinking with the local element and the Greek character of the place.
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Corfu is identified by most archaeologists with the mythical island of Phaeacians. It was here, according to those that accept the identification of Scheria with Corfu, that Homer placed the penult station where a necked castaway the ingenious Odysseus arrived after days of straggle with the sea-waves.
The arrival of Odysseus at the Courtyard of King Alcinous (Watercolour of the Scene of San Giacomo Theatre)
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The Fortifications of Corfu (Museum Correr Venice)
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View of Corfu city during the period of Venetian rule.
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View of Corfu city during the period of British rule
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The beginning of the opera
The opera started because of the ambition of the art-lover Florentine Count Giovanni Maria de Bardi and his humanistic company, to revive the ancient Greek tragedy. Thus in 1597 the bucolic drama "Daphne" was performed for the first time, Ottavio Rinuccini wrote the libretto and Jacopo Peri and Jacopo Corsi composed the music, in a free imitation of the ancient Greek tragedy, which was named dramma per musica or opera in musica.
The attempt met with great success and very soon the opera spread to the rest of Italy; about a century later opera was in the courts and the main cities of Europe and was performed in new scenic areas, specially made to host melodramatic performances.
Four different categories were distinguished in time:
Opera seria: Serious, not necessarily tragic
Opera semiseria: With comic parts in-between
Opera buffa: With light or comic story
Grand opera: With tragic story and high-quality expectations
The opera in Venice
Opera in 17th century Venice
The 'Father of the opera', Claudio Monteverdi, was present in Venice from 1613 until his death in 1643. This coincidence secured for the city of the Doges an enviable European primacy in the establishment and the development of the lyric theatre. The first public theatre, specially made to host opera, was constructed in 1637 in Venice (Teatro San Cassiano).
During the 17th century Venice, with sixteen scenes, was the Pan-European opera centre and Corfu belonged to the 'Maritime State of Venice'.
The musical initiation of the Heptanesians started under the influence of the Venetian Metropolis with the staging of an opera in 1733 at the San Giacomo Theatre in Corfu, 45 years before the building of the 'La Scala' Theatre in Milan (1778).
The construction of 'San Giacomo'
The architectural bijou, which today hosts the office of the Mayor of Corfu and a few other services of the Municipality of Corfu, was built in the 17th century. At that time the Nobles decided to establish a Loggia (Club) where the members of that class could gather and exchange opinions and talks and at the same time entertain themselves, according to the prototype of the Venetian Metropolis and other Italian cities of the Renaissance. Thus a proposal was set forward in 1660 for the building of a Lodge, which was immediately approved by the General Proveditor of the Sea Antonio Damosto, but due to the luck of funds the construction started in 1663 and, after long delays, ended in 1690. The whole enterprise was undertaken by a special commissioner, Chevalier Konstantino Cocchini.
Corfu was already at the centre of the interests of Venice. After the fall of Candia (1669), the fleet of the Levant was stationed at Corfu with the Admiral, the officers and the numerous crews of the Serenissima Republica di San Marco. The mobilisation was more intense after the rescuing of the island from the last Turkish threat (siege 1716) and the Proveditor General da Mar, Andrea Corner, took the initiative in 1720 and transformed the Loggia of the Nobles into a theatre to amuse the naval officers, assigning the administration of the building to the military.
The theatre was named 'Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo' because of the Catholic Cathedral which existed nearby and was dedicated to Saint Jacob (Giacomo in the Venetian dialect)
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Special events in 'San Giacomo'
In 1833 King Otto of Greece, on his way to Nauplion, stopped for a few days in Corfu. The Lord High Commissioner Nugent escorted the King to the Theatre to see the performance "in between ineffable joyfulness of Greek hearts and souls".
Elena Angri
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In 19th century the astonishing Corfiot Elena Angri (1824-1886), mezzo-soprano coloratura, became very soon world-widely famous because of her exceptional voice and triumphed in Vienna, St. Petersburg, U.S.A. and in 'Theatro la Scala' Milan. In May 1848 the Eparchos (Mayor) of Corfu invited her in Corfu where the artist, already 'the official singer of the Imperial Court of Vienna', was honoured by the Eparchos and the rest of the local authorities. The artist was deeply moved and was offered for a single performance in San Giacomo Theatre where the proceeds were distributed to the poor. The adoration of the music-loving Corfiot audience was so deep that she stated: "…… I unhesitatingly confess that in no-way I had felt the unspoken sentiment when I was applauded in the place that I first saw the sunlight".
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The center of the city's social life is the Splanada, a huge park that is the biggest square in Greece.
The Splanada is a delight at all times of the day. In the early morning the coffee shops on Liston serve coffee and breakfast to early rising shopkeepers who stop by on their way to opening their stores. Later, the tourists and the local women, on a break from their shopping day, fill the chairs. In the afternoon it is time for the older crowd to have their coffee or refreshment on their way to dinner or for a walk. And later, at night, it is dinner, drinks, ice cream or just a stroll around the square.
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During the weekend the Corfu Philharmonic, one of the best orchestras in Greece, gives recitals here, while the local cricket teams, the only ones in the country, practice on the lawn at the north end of the Splanada.
At this end you will find the Ionian Academy and the Palace of St Michael and St George, built by the British in the 19th century. The Palace is today a memorable Museum of Asiatic Art, whereas the Ionian Academy building houses schools and departments of the Ionian University.
On the west side of the Splanada, the Liston is a public building whose facade defines the image of Corfu Town to the world. Built by the Napoleonic army in the 1810s, and modelled after the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, this used to be the hangout of the Corfiot aristocracy (Liston is derived from Liste d' Or, or Gilded List, i.e. the catalogue of Corfiot aristocracy). Today, it is a row of elegant coffee shops and snack bars that attract locals and tourists all day long.
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The square is dotted with 4 statues of the foreigners that marked the island's history in the last 300 years: the statue of Count Capodistria, Greece's first Governor after its liberation from the Turks in 1829, who lived abroad and became Foreign Minister of Russia before coming home; the statue of Sir Thomas Maitland, the first British High Commissioner of the island; the statue of Marshal Schulenberg, the Prussian officer who helped turn back the Ottoman's 1715 siege of the city; and the statue of the Earl of Guildford, the British hellenophile who, among other contributions, founded the Ionian Academy.
A stroll west of Liston is a trip back through time. Narrow, cobblestone streets, and Venetian 3- and 4-story houses tell the story of this city. The Campielo district, at the northern end of the city, seems like a theme park with a Renaissance theme, the only difference being that people actually live and work here.
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Clothes lines hang from 3rd story windows, kids kick footballs in the narrow streets, and women carry plastic bags with groceries to their homes.
The traveller should visit the Churches of Agios Spyridon (due west from just the northern end of Liston), the Patron Saint of Corfu, Agios Nikolaos ton Geronton (Saint Nicholas of the Elders), three blocks north of Agios Spyridon, and the ancient little church of Agios Ioannis, on Nikiforou Theotoki.
The Highlights
The Splanada, the biggest square in Greece, and the center of the city's life.
The streets of the old town, west of the Splanada.
The ancient churches of Corfu town.
The bars and restaurants at and around Liston and in the old town, behind Liston.
The weekend recitals of the Corfu Philharmonic.
Corfu Palace hotel
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The front face of the Palace of Saint Michael and Sant George.
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The magnificent entrance of the Palace of St Michael and St George.
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The Palace of St Michael and St George, on the northern end of the Splanada, with the statue of Kapodistria in front.
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The Ionian Academy (left) and the Cavalieri Hotel (right) stand behind Marshal Schulenberg's statue in Corfu Town's Splanada square.
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The City Hall is an old Venetian building, from the 1690s, and a sometime Gentlemen's Club.
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The Cavalieri Hotel, on the southwestern corner of the Splanada, belongs to one of Corfu's true aristocrats, London-based Count Spiro Flamburiari.
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Corfiots' love of cricket was acquired during British rule, and today is practiced on the Splanada during weekends.
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Empress Elizabeth of Austro-Hungary built the Achilleion in 1890.
The murals on the ceiling of the entrance to the Achilleion depict ancient Greek life in rococo style.
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This bronze statue of a sitting young man adorns the garden of the Achilleion. One of the 9 muses, whose statues line the eastern yard of the Achilleion.
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A marble bust of Homer, in the eastern yard of the Achilleion.
This bust of William Shakespeare is the only non-Greek-related statue in the Achilleion.
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The bronze statue of Achilles gazes east, from behind the Achilleion.
Empress Sissy admired Achilles so much that she dedicated her summer villa to the Homeric hero.
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A bronze statue of a discus thrower in the garden of Achilleion.
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Achilles' statue stands about 4 meters tall in the back of Empress Elizabeth's villa in Garitsa.
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Detail from the exquisite ceiling murals of the Achilleion entrance lobby.
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Statues of ancient Greek gods and heroes dot the gardens of the Achilleion
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A neoclassical villa, the Achilleion was bought by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia after Empress Elizabeth's assasination in 1898.
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Paris' arrow has found its target, Achille's foot, and the mighty hero has fallen, victim to his hubris.
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A quiet corner of Achilleion's rear garden.
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Corfu Town's old Venetian port is north of the Old Castle, behind the Palace of St Michael and St George.
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The New Venetian Castle towers over the commercial harbor of Corfu town
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Liston was built by the French and modelled after Paris' Rue de Rivoli.
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The Old Venetian Castle, at the city's eastern end
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Maitland's Rotunda, in the southern end of the Splanada.
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This gazebo stands in the middle of Corfu Town's elegant Splanada square.
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Pontikonisi, or Mouse Island, is off the southeastern suburb of Kanoni
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The buildings that line the western end of the Splanada.
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Corfu Town looks today as it did 300 years ago, uniquely among Greek cities.
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The bells outside the St Nicholas of the Elders church, in the Campielo district.
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view of Liston, with the bell tower of Agios Spyridon on the right
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Nikiforou Theotoki, west of Liston, is Corfu Town's most elegant street
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The City Hall square is lined with nice restaurants serving traditional Corfiot dishes.
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"Everybody comes to Liston", to paraphrase the famous line from the movie Casablanca about Rick's Cafe. Five-story Venetian apartment buildings tower over the narrow streets of Corfu town.
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Narrow streets and clothes lines mark the character of this cosmopolitan town. A pretty and quiet corner of Corfu Town, off Nikiforou Theotoki.
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Venetsianiko Pigadi is one of the most interesting restaurants in Corfu town and certainly the most romantic. Souvenir and jewelry shops and boutiques line the streets near Agios Spyridon Cathedral
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The cathedral of the Patron Saint of Corfu, Agios Spyridon, is a focal point of life in the island. A typical street scene in Corfu town.
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The end of Evgeniou Voulgareos street in Corfu town. The Campielo district, at the northern end of Corfu old town, brings to mind Italian cities like Naples.
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Museums
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Mon Repos
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Palace
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Asian Art
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Boscheto Garden
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Fortress
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Carnival
The roots of the Corfiot Carnival are lost in the Dionysiac worship of ancient Greece. The Carnival of Corfu was revived during the time of the Venetian occupation of the island and through a course of more than 450 years, reaches our times, regenerated each year.
The Latin word CARNEVALE is probably derived from the Latin phrase carnem levare = to disappear the meat, consequently abstain from meat.
THE CARNIVAL OF THE RECENT TIME
Corfiot masquerades
With the outbreak of the Second World War the Corfiot Carnival, with the intense popular participation, became inactive but in 1955 a group of romantic Corfiots, the Manesis and Kourkoumelis families, took the initiative and decided the reorganization of the festivities. They tried with love and desire for the old times and managed to bring happiness and laughter to the Corfiots once again, who responded with the organization of balls and parades. In 1962 the "Organization of Corfiot Festivities and Happenings" (OKEE) was established, who supported the initiative of the previously mentioned team. Hundreds of masquerades and many floats welcomed at the old port the 'live' King Sior-Carnival (an exclusive characteristic of the Corfiot Carnival) who gave laughter and 'decorated' everyone with his 'comments'-"petegoletsa" (gossip).
During the years of dictatorship (1967-1974) this fiesta became once more inactive and in 1975 with the establishment of the "Organization of Corfiot Festivities", the Corfiot Carnival revived again. Since 1981 the "Organization of Corfiot Activities", with the aid and assistance of the Municipality of Corfu, is the main organization responsible for the revival of the Corfiot Carnival and so far has succeeded, with the cooperation of many cultural clubs and associations, to organize many splendid carnival activities, group and float-parades and other cultural, theatrical and musical events.
THE CORFIOT PETEGOLETSA
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One of the new elements of the Corfiot Carnival is the Petegoletsa (gossip), whish is based on the Corfiot dialect and they are held each year in an open stage, in the central market of the Old City, in Pinia. It is a theatrical act very similar to COMMEDIA DELL' ARTE, and was developed in the past by the writer Theodoros Zamanis. The biggest part of them is written in satirical fifteen-syllable verses. They are performed by actors and they include old customs, traditional types of old Corfiots and most of all Corfiot dialect. The program is enriched with local satirical or light songs or with Heptanisian kantades. The final act is culminated with a sketch (prose) performed from the windows and balconies of the nearby houses.
The Corfiot Carnival with many significant qualitative differences from the other Greek Carnivals has the ambition to continue a 450 years old tradition. The "Organization of Corfiot Activities" tries to exhibit the identity of the Corfiot Carnival, which is based on the particularity of the Heptanisian Civilisation, which successfully fused together the systematic Western way of thinking with the local element and the Greek character of the place.
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Corfu is identified by most archaeologists with the mythical island of Phaeacians. It was here, according to those that accept the identification of Scheria with Corfu, that Homer placed the penult station where a necked castaway the ingenious Odysseus arrived after days of straggle with the sea-waves.
The arrival of Odysseus at the Courtyard of King Alcinous (Watercolour of the Scene of San Giacomo Theatre)
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The Fortifications of Corfu (Museum Correr Venice)
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View of Corfu city during the period of Venetian rule.
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View of Corfu city during the period of British rule
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The beginning of the opera
The opera started because of the ambition of the art-lover Florentine Count Giovanni Maria de Bardi and his humanistic company, to revive the ancient Greek tragedy. Thus in 1597 the bucolic drama "Daphne" was performed for the first time, Ottavio Rinuccini wrote the libretto and Jacopo Peri and Jacopo Corsi composed the music, in a free imitation of the ancient Greek tragedy, which was named dramma per musica or opera in musica.
The attempt met with great success and very soon the opera spread to the rest of Italy; about a century later opera was in the courts and the main cities of Europe and was performed in new scenic areas, specially made to host melodramatic performances.
Four different categories were distinguished in time:
Opera seria: Serious, not necessarily tragic
Opera semiseria: With comic parts in-between
Opera buffa: With light or comic story
Grand opera: With tragic story and high-quality expectations
The opera in Venice
Opera in 17th century Venice
The 'Father of the opera', Claudio Monteverdi, was present in Venice from 1613 until his death in 1643. This coincidence secured for the city of the Doges an enviable European primacy in the establishment and the development of the lyric theatre. The first public theatre, specially made to host opera, was constructed in 1637 in Venice (Teatro San Cassiano).
During the 17th century Venice, with sixteen scenes, was the Pan-European opera centre and Corfu belonged to the 'Maritime State of Venice'.
The musical initiation of the Heptanesians started under the influence of the Venetian Metropolis with the staging of an opera in 1733 at the San Giacomo Theatre in Corfu, 45 years before the building of the 'La Scala' Theatre in Milan (1778).
The construction of 'San Giacomo'
The architectural bijou, which today hosts the office of the Mayor of Corfu and a few other services of the Municipality of Corfu, was built in the 17th century. At that time the Nobles decided to establish a Loggia (Club) where the members of that class could gather and exchange opinions and talks and at the same time entertain themselves, according to the prototype of the Venetian Metropolis and other Italian cities of the Renaissance. Thus a proposal was set forward in 1660 for the building of a Lodge, which was immediately approved by the General Proveditor of the Sea Antonio Damosto, but due to the luck of funds the construction started in 1663 and, after long delays, ended in 1690. The whole enterprise was undertaken by a special commissioner, Chevalier Konstantino Cocchini.
Corfu was already at the centre of the interests of Venice. After the fall of Candia (1669), the fleet of the Levant was stationed at Corfu with the Admiral, the officers and the numerous crews of the Serenissima Republica di San Marco. The mobilisation was more intense after the rescuing of the island from the last Turkish threat (siege 1716) and the Proveditor General da Mar, Andrea Corner, took the initiative in 1720 and transformed the Loggia of the Nobles into a theatre to amuse the naval officers, assigning the administration of the building to the military.
The theatre was named 'Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo' because of the Catholic Cathedral which existed nearby and was dedicated to Saint Jacob (Giacomo in the Venetian dialect)
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Special events in 'San Giacomo'
In 1833 King Otto of Greece, on his way to Nauplion, stopped for a few days in Corfu. The Lord High Commissioner Nugent escorted the King to the Theatre to see the performance "in between ineffable joyfulness of Greek hearts and souls".
Elena Angri
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In 19th century the astonishing Corfiot Elena Angri (1824-1886), mezzo-soprano coloratura, became very soon world-widely famous because of her exceptional voice and triumphed in Vienna, St. Petersburg, U.S.A. and in 'Theatro la Scala' Milan. In May 1848 the Eparchos (Mayor) of Corfu invited her in Corfu where the artist, already 'the official singer of the Imperial Court of Vienna', was honoured by the Eparchos and the rest of the local authorities. The artist was deeply moved and was offered for a single performance in San Giacomo Theatre where the proceeds were distributed to the poor. The adoration of the music-loving Corfiot audience was so deep that she stated: "…… I unhesitatingly confess that in no-way I had felt the unspoken sentiment when I was applauded in the place that I first saw the sunlight".