Angelokastro (Corfu)

During excavations in 1999 by the 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Greece, two Early Christian closure slabs and other findings were unearthed at the top of the acropolis indicating that the site was occupied and perhaps fortified by the early Byzantine period between 5th-7th century AD.[3]

Byzantine ruins were found at the Patima location near Angelokastro, indicating a settlement in the area whose population could have used fortifications on the Angelokastro hill during times of crisis.[4]

After Byzantium lost its dominion over southern Italy in 1071, Corfu became the new Byzantine frontier to the West serving to separate Byzantium from its enemies to the west,[3][21] making the island strategic to the Komnenoi who had the incentive to build fortifications to safeguard Corfu from the frequent invasions of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, which had caused continuing upheaval in the island.[3][21]

The exact time of the building of the castle is not known. and there are estimates that it was built during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos,[2][22] or by Michael I Komnenos Doukas also known as Michael I Angelos, the Despot of Epirus, who took Corfu in 1214.[1][4][5][23] His son Michael II Angelos, further fortified the area of the castle,[1][7] and there is mention of him as the builder of the fortress.[5][10]

Following the takeover of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, Corfu was governed by a variety of rulers, including the Despots of Epirus, until 1267 when it was occupied by the Angevins of Naples.[3]

View of Angelokastro from below

In 1272 Giordano di San Felice took ownership of the fortress on behalf of Charles I of Naples, king of the Angevins.[24] The Angevins occupied Corfu from 1267 to 1386 and a document related to their takeover of the fortress is the earliest written record attesting to the existence of the castle.[2][3][22]

In 1386, after the violent death of king Charles III of Naples, the occupants of the castle, still loyal to Charles' successor king Ladislaus of Naples, resisted for a brief time the Venetian takeover but the transfer of power to the Venetians occurred with virtually no loss of life.[23]

View from the battlements

Before the Venetians conquered Corfu, there were three castles which defended the island from attacks: Kassiopi Castle in the northeast of the island, Angelokastro, defending the northwest side of Corfu, and Gardiki in the south of the island.[19]

In 1386, with the departure of the Angevins, the castle came under the ownership of the Most Serene Republic of Venice (Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta).[3]

A special Venetian officer assumed the responsibility for Angelokastro, a strong castle which never fell, despite frequent attempts to conquer it.[23]

Under the dominion of Venice, Corfu was defended throughout the period of her occupation. However invasions and associated destruction still occurred during this time, especially at the undefended areas of the island.[3][25]

The Venetians, being the prominent maritime power of the era, used Angelokastro to monitor the shipping lanes in the southern Adriatic and the Ionian sea.[3]

Throughout the period of Venetian rule the castle enjoyed great prominence because it offered protection to the locals from foes such as the Genoan pirates to the west as well as the Ottomans to the east. Neither the Genoans nor the Ottomans were ever able to penetrate its defences.[3][23]

The Gate to Angelokastro

In 1403, a Genoese fleet carrying a force of about 10,000 Genoan mercenaries landed at Palaiokastritsa. The Genoans were on their way to the Holy Land to take part in the crusades and they were under the command of French marshal Jean Le Maingre known as Boucicault.[2][13]

Following their landing, they laid siege to Angelokastro for a year.[13][22] The Genoans burned and pillaged the surrounding area. Then they attempted to occupy the castle. After furious battles with the Corfiot garrison, under the leadership of a Corfiote nobleman,[23] they were ultimately repulsed.[1][2][22][23]

In 1406, the Venetian Senate received a petition by Corfiote representatives to Venice under the capitoli, i.e. political privileges granted by Venice to Corfu upon entering the Venetian state, who had asked that positions of public officials in Corfu be filled locally for a year.[26]

Two years later, in 1408, the Senate replied and informed the local government of Corfu that certain public positions such as the comestabelaria, the Castellan or Governor of Angelokastro, the Castellan of Porto Ferro, and the salt official were exempt from the capitoli and they were to be filled by the Venetian bailo.[26]

Southeast side of Angelokastro. The city of Corfu is located to the southeast of the walls.

Later, the Corfiote representations to Venice succeeded in their demands that the Castellan of Angelokastro be appointed locally by the city of Corfu. Subsequently, the Castellan was chosen amongst the noblemen of the island.[3][26]

Occasionally, the Venetians provided funds for the repair and maintenance of old rural castles such as Angelokastro as a means of protecting the peasants and their livestock during times of crisis. The Venetians applied a similar policy to the old castles located in the mountain ranges of northern Cyprus.[25]

From 1387 until late in the sixteenth century, Angelokastro was the capital of Corfu and, in early sixteenth century, became the seat of the Provveditore Generale del Levante, who was the governor of the Ionian islands and also the commander of the Venetian fleet which was stationed in Corfu.[1][13]

Reference to Angelokastro during the first great siege of Corfu in 1537, in the History of Paolo Giovio published in 1555. Giovio spells it "Angelocastro".

Angelokastro was instrumental in repulsing the Ottomans in three sieges of Corfu: in the first great siege of Corfu in 1537,[27] in the siege of 1571 and the second great siege of Corfu in 1716.[2]

In 1537, during the first great siege of Corfu, Suleyman the Magnificent dispatched a force of 25,000 men under the command of admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa to attack Corfu. The Ottomans landed at Govino Bay, present day Gouvia, and proceeded toward Corfu town, destroying the village of Potamos as they made their way toward the City. The Old Fort, Corfu city's only fortification during that period, and Angelokastro were the only two places on the island not in the hands of the invaders at the time.[23]

In undefended parts of the island, people where killed or taken away as slaves by the army of the Sultan.[25]

Even at the Old Fortress in the City of Corfu, the weaker segments of the civilian population, women, children and the elderly, called the inutili (useless) by the Venetians, were not allowed to enter the fort and were forced to remain outside its walls. The Ottomans killed many among them or enslaved them. The rejection of the people at the gates, and its consequences, angered the Corfiots who lost faith in Venice's defensive measures.[25]

When the Ottomans attacked Angelokastro, 3,000 villagers had retreated inside the safety of the walls of the castle. The invading army was repulsed four times by the Corfiote garrison and was unable to breach the defences of the castle.[2][8]

In the account of the Ottoman invasion contained in the History of Paolo Giovio published in 1555, the author mentions Angelokastro, out of all the other castles of Corfu, and praises the bravery of its defenders.[27] As it was retreating from Corfu, the Ottoman army devastated the undefended areas of both Corfu city and the island.[2] In total about 20,000 people who were unable to find shelter in either castle were either killed or taken away as slaves.[13]

Anabasis to Angelokastro

In August 1571, the Ottomans made another of many attempts at conquering Corfu.[28] Having seized Parga and Mourtos from the Greek mainland side they attacked the Paxi islands, landing a force there.[10] Subsequently they landed on Corfu's southeast shore and established a large beachhead all the way from the southern tip of the island at Lefkimi to Ipsos in Corfu's midsection of the eastern part of the island. These areas were thoroughly pillaged and burnt as in past encounters.

An Ottoman force, on its way to the city, first occupied and destroyed the village of Potamos.[10] Although the Corfu city castle stood firm, the rest of Corfu was destroyed and the general population outside the castles was defenceless and suffered heavy casualties, while homes, churches and public buildings were burned in the city suburbs.[29][30][31]

Admiral Kilich Ali Pasha was dispatched to Corfu by the Ottoman Empire as head of an invasion force in 1571 and deployed two-thirds of his men to lay siege to and attempt to conquer Angelokastro, while the rest of his army attacked the city of Corfu.[2][13]

Detail of the underground arched cistern of Angelokastro.[2]

The Angelokastro garrison, composed of about 4,000 peasants from the nearby villages, successfully resisted the invading force and the Ottomans were not successful at establishing a beachhead in the northwestern flank of the island.[2][10][13]

After their unsuccessful siege, the Ottoman army retreated from Angelokastro and they set a course for Corfu city through the mountains intent on continuing their siege of the city. The garrison of Angelokastro scuttled their plans by exiting the castle and rolling boulders at them as they were passing through the mountains. Following these events, Kilich ended the siege of the island destroying vineyards and fruit trees during his retreat,[10] and finally departing with his fleet.[13]

These Ottoman defeats both at the city castle in the east and Angelokastro in the west proved decisive and the Ottomans abandoned their attempts at conquering Corfu. Angelokastro protected the population of the region again during the second Great Siege of Corfu by the Ottomans in 1716.[2]

Ruins of Angelokastro

With the advent of modern warfare the castle's importance declined and gradually it fell into a state of disrepair.[3] The passage of time did to the castle what no aspiring conqueror could. From 1999, however, the Corfu office of the 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Greece has undertaken a restoration programme under the co-sponsorship of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the European Union.[3]

The castle was closed to the public for excavations and reconstruction starting in 1999. Since 2018 there is an entry fee of 2 euros. The castle is closed on Wednesdays.

The church of Archangel Michael at Angelokastro with anthropomorphic graves at the foreground

The acropolis is located at the highest point with a church at the southern side. The church is dedicated to Archangel Michael and it is built at the site of an Early Christian three-aisled church.[3]

The main gate points to the north and is protected by a circular tower. The ruins opposite the main gate formed the garrison's quarters. There were three underground cisterns that supplied water to the castle occupants.[3]

Battlements survive only on the northeastern side of the castle. A small gate also existed at the southern side.[3]

Anthropomorphic graves carved in stone

There is a cemetery on the western side with seven graves carved out of the rock in the shape of the human body as in a sarcophagus. The origin of the anthropomorphic graves has not yet been determined.[2][3]

The exterior of the church of Aghia Kyriaki. The hermit's quarters are on the left of the church entrance

At the east side there exists a tiny chapel, dedicated to St. Kyriaki, that also served as a hermitage. The chapel was created by digging into the rock formation and as such it is a cave-like structure. There are paintings inside the chapel that date back to the 18th century.[3] A hermit also resided in the same area.[2][21]