Читать книгу Walking and Trekking on Corfu. The Corfu Trail and 22 outstanding day-walks онлайн

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As is the fate of islands, Corfu has had a chequered history. Famous figures have been visiting the island since antiquity: the ancient Greek hero Hercules (before he set out on his 10 labours), the Argonauts (after they got hold of the Golden Fleece) and Ulysses (who procured a ship to take him back to Ithaca). Rather later on came the Venetians – who stayed for close on four centuries (from 1401 to 1797). Under them Corfu – in view of its position perilously close to the huge Ottoman Empire – became a heavily fortified outpost. Despite a number of touch-and-go battles the island didn’t succumb. Intermediate periods saw mainly French and British control: it wasn’t until 1864 that Corfu was finally unified with modern Greece.

Old Venetian fort at Corfu Town

The list of VIPs associated with the island includes European royalty such as Empress Sissi of Austria. For the majority of English-language readers Corfu is inextricably linked with the Durrell family thanks to the books of the brothers Gerald and Lawrence, relating their sojourns of the 1930s, the best-known of which is Gerald’s My Family and Other Animals. For the record, Roger Moore also came by – as James Bond, during the filming of the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only.