DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0042
26 THE ISLES AND SHRINES OF GREECE
of 25,000 souls. Its veritable history can be traced
back to the settlement of a Corinthian colony there,
734 B. C. As in our own history, the colony soon
quarrelled with the mother country. In 655 r>. C,
the Corcyrseans, as they were called, beat the Corin-
thians in a naval battle. The island took the part of
Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Later it passed
into the hands of the Romans. When the Crusaders
insanely dismembered the Byzantine Empire, this
island jewel dropped easily into the hands of Venice,
and though the Neapolitan kings secured it for a
hundred years, and the Turks besieged it twice, the
Venetians ruled it until the beginning of this cen-
tury. Their occupation and that of the Neapolitans
covered a period of six centuries. The French
secured possession for seven years, from 1807 to
1814. For forty-eight years thereafter, until 1863, it
formed one of the seven Ionian Islands grouped into a
State under the protection of Great Britain. In 1863,
when King George was called to the throne of Greece,
the desire for political union with that country was so
strong, as expressed by a vote of their people, that
England gave up her protectorate, and the Ionian
Islands thenceforth became a part of the kingdon
of Greece.
Here, in brief outline, are the epochs in the history
of Corfu. The charm of the island lies in its phys-
ical beauty, its halo of tradition and the picturesque
and archaic features of its modern life.
If one wished to settle down into the simple luxu-
ries of physical existence, I know not where he could
find them more perfectly combined than on this
island. No fickleness of nature has marked its
of 25,000 souls. Its veritable history can be traced
back to the settlement of a Corinthian colony there,
734 B. C. As in our own history, the colony soon
quarrelled with the mother country. In 655 r>. C,
the Corcyrseans, as they were called, beat the Corin-
thians in a naval battle. The island took the part of
Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Later it passed
into the hands of the Romans. When the Crusaders
insanely dismembered the Byzantine Empire, this
island jewel dropped easily into the hands of Venice,
and though the Neapolitan kings secured it for a
hundred years, and the Turks besieged it twice, the
Venetians ruled it until the beginning of this cen-
tury. Their occupation and that of the Neapolitans
covered a period of six centuries. The French
secured possession for seven years, from 1807 to
1814. For forty-eight years thereafter, until 1863, it
formed one of the seven Ionian Islands grouped into a
State under the protection of Great Britain. In 1863,
when King George was called to the throne of Greece,
the desire for political union with that country was so
strong, as expressed by a vote of their people, that
England gave up her protectorate, and the Ionian
Islands thenceforth became a part of the kingdon
of Greece.
Here, in brief outline, are the epochs in the history
of Corfu. The charm of the island lies in its phys-
ical beauty, its halo of tradition and the picturesque
and archaic features of its modern life.
If one wished to settle down into the simple luxu-
ries of physical existence, I know not where he could
find them more perfectly combined than on this
island. No fickleness of nature has marked its