Μονή Πλατυτέρας

Απο το wikipedia για την ενημέρωσή σας:

Η Ιερά Μονή Πλατυτέρας βρίσκεται στη Κέρκυρα μεταξύ των προαστίων Αγίου Ρόκκου και Μανδουκίου. Κτίσθηκε το 1774 από τους μοναχούς Νεκτάριο και Νικόδημο των οποίων οι τάφοι βρίσκονται στον νάρθηκα του Ναού.

Η Μονή καταστράφηκε κατά τη πρώτη κατοχή των Γάλλων (1797-1799) αλλά ανακαινίσθηκε αμέσως. Ο Ναός της Μονής φέρει ωραίο ξυλόγλυπτο κεχρυσωμένο τέμπλο, ρυθμού ροκοκό οι δε εικόνες είναι άριστης ιταλικής τεχνοτροπίας εκτός των βυζαντινών εικόνων της Παναγίας που υπάρχουν πολλές, όπως επίσης πολλά και τα αφιερώματα των χριστιανών.

Εκτός των τάφων των ιδρυτών μοναχών, στον νάρθηκα βρίσκονται και οι τάφοι του Ιωάννη Καποδίστρια, του Κερκυραίου ιστορικού Ανδρέα Μουστοξύδη και των Μητροπολιτών της Κέρκυρας Σεβαστιανού, Αλεξάνδρου καθώς και των εκάστοτε ηγουμένων της Μονής.

Τέλος η βιβλιοθήκη της Μονής Πλατυτέρας χαρακτηρίζεται λίαν αξιόλογος.

Meet Pinia - Γνωρίστε την θρυλική Πίνια!!!

Turks never invaded Corfu - The History of the Sieges

CORFIOTS THE GATEKEEPERS

Turks at the Gates of the City
Kerkyra remained in Venetian hands till 1797, though several times assailed by Turkish naval and land forces and subjected to four notable sieges in 1537, 1571, 1573 and 1716, in which the great natural strength of the city and its defenders asserted itself time after time. The effectiveness of the Venetian fortifications of the island as well as the strength of the Byzantine fortifications of Angelokastro, Kassiopi, Gardiki and others, was another great factor that enabled Corfu to remain the last bastion of free, uninterrupted Greek civilization after the fall of Constantinople.

Early contact
There were many attempts by the Turks to take the island starting as early as 1431 when Turkish troops under Ali Bey landed on the island, tried to take the castle and raided the surrounding area, but were repulsed.

The Siege of 1537
This was the first great siege by the Turks. It started on the 29th August 1537 with 25,000 soldiers from the Turkish fleet landing and pillaging the island and taking 20,000 hostages as slaves. Despite the destruction wrought on the countryside, the city castle held out in spite of repeated attempts over twelve days to take it, and the Turks left the island unsuccessful because of poor logistics and an epidemic that decimated their ranks.

The Siege of 1571
Angelokastro in Kerkyra. These were the Byzantine fortifications that withstood the Turkish onslaught in 1571.
Thirty four years later in August of 1571 the Turks returned for yet another attempt at conquering the island. Having seized Parga and Mourtos from the Greek mainland side they attacked the Paxi islands, killing, looting and burning. 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 eastern midsection. These areas were thoroughly pillaged and burnt as in past encounters. Nevertheless the city castle stood firm again, a testament to Corfiot-Venetian steadfastness as well as the Venetian castle-building engineering skills. It is also worth mentioning that another castle, Angelokastro (Greek: Αγγελόκαστρο meaning Angelo's Castle and named for its Byzantine owner Angelos Komnenos), situated on the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa (Greek: Παλαιοκαστρίτσα meaning Old Castle place) and located on particularly steep and rocky terrain, a tourist attraction today, also held out.
These Turkish defeats in the East and the West of the island proved decisive and the Turks abandoned their siege and departed.

The Siege of 1573
Two years later the Turks repeated their attempt. Coming from Africa after a victorious campaign, they landed in Corfu and wreaked havoc on the countryside yet again. Their troops however were not particularly noted for their discipline, so after a counterattack by the Venetian-Corfiot forces they were forced to leave the city by way of the sea.

The Siege of 1716
This is the second great siege of Corfu, which took place in 1716, during the last Turkish Venetian War. After the conquest of the Peloponnese in 1715, the Ottoman fleet appeared in Butrinto opposite Corfu. On 8 July the Turkish fleet, carrying 33,000 men, sailed to Corfu from Butrinto and established a beachhead at Ipsos.The same day the Venetian fleet encountered the Turkish fleet off the channel of Corfu and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle. On 19 July, after taking a few outlying forts, the Ottoman army reached the hills around the city of Corfu and laid siege to it. Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting, the Turks were unable to breach the defences and wereforced to raise the siege after 22 days. The 5000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries, together with 3000 Corfiotes, under the leadership of Count von der Schulenburg who commanded the defence of the island, loomed tall and victorious once again. The success is owed in no small part to the extensive fortifications, where Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds. The repulsion of the Ottomans was widely popularized in Europe, where Corfu was seen as a bastion of Western civilization against the Ottoman tide.
Today however, that role is often relatively unknown or ignored.Why?

HISTORY CALLS FOR REPARATION

The most significant historic heritage of the island and the town of Corfu are, undoubtedly, the two stunning fortresses and the remains of other fortifications, which embrace the historic part of the island’s capital for more than four centuries. The significance comes not only by the fact that these enormous arts of the Renaissance architectural science are unique, as human erections, in Greece and the whole of the NE Europe, but also due to their measureless contribution to the formation of the political and cultural character of modern Europe.
In three major occasions, the forts and people of Corfu formed the ultimate outpost of the European world in its struggle to keep the Ottoman Turks away from the heart of the continent. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Corfu, along with Vienna, were for the Europeans the equivalent of Marathon and Salamis for the ancient Greeks. In 1537, Corfiots faced the wrath of the infamous Chairedin Barbarossa, moaned almost 30,000 dead and captured, but they maintained an unmatched defense and won the battle against the conqueror of Brindisi and other castles in southern Italy. In 1571, Corfu, with its fortifications, ports and people, played the role of the remote base of the Sacred League’s fleet before and after the Battle of Lepanto. Finally, in 1716, the fortifications of Corfu “broke the spear” of the Turkish expansionism for the last time, having, thus, a large part in the decay of the Ottoman Empire.
One and a half century later, the British Armed Forces, while departing after the end of British Protection and the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece, detonated explosives under these very same fortifications that had saved Europe in the past. Their excuse was that they couldn’t leave such a strong fort standing, since poor Greece was not in position of maintaining and defending it.
Despite the fact that the destruction of Corfu’s fortifications was “legitimated” by two treaties signed in 1863 and 1864 by the European Great Powers (the latter signed by a Greek representative, as well), it was clearly an action against the international (absence of an Ionian representative) and civil laws (destruction of another’s property) and the ideas of preservation of monuments and freedom of independent states (deliberate reduction of an independent country’s means of defense). Under the Treaty of Paris (1815), the Ionian Islands formed “a single, Free and Independent State”, under the exclusive protection of the United Kingdom. Article V of the same treaty, clarifies that the British armed forces should occupy the fortresses, while their ownership was to be maintained by the Ionians. Furthermore, for the duration of the British protection, the Ionian State, paid no less than £ 1.395.000 (mid-19th century equity) as contribution to the occupying British forces, with the greater part concerning the maintenance and expansion of the fortifications.
These facts led even some spokesmen in the British Parliament to blame their government for the illegal action against the Corfiot historic heritage in 1864. At the same time, a century before the UN Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972), Corfiot scholars appealed to the international community for the urgent need to protect the monuments of the European history.The international political environment of the mid-19th century left no space for sensitivities for the protection of monuments and the respect towards one’s historic heritage, as the rulers of the world would sacrifice almost anything on the sake of raison d’ état. Today things have changed a lot· the international law and the voice of the people force the governments to act for the preservation of monuments which consist part of the world heritage.

By Andreas Grammenos, Corfu, Greece, 20 June 2007

Κείμενο: Παναγώτης Περιστέρης - Mnemonic Comp Φωτ. Αρχείο: Αφοί Κόκκαλη, Ν. Δεσύλλας.

Οι ανηλεείς βομβαρδισμοί των Γιουγκοσλαβικών πόλεων από το ΝΑΤΟ πρόσφατα θύμισαν σε πολλούς παλιούς Κερκυραίους την τραγική περίοδο Οκτώβριος 1941 - Ιούλιος ΄44, όταν η πόλη αλλά και πολλά χωριά της Κέρκυρας βομβαρδίστηκαν, από Ιταλούς, Γερμανούς και Αγγλοαμερικανούς. Η πόλη της Κέρκυρας πολυβολήθηκε και χτυπήθηκε από αεροτορπίλες, εκρηκτικές και εμπρηστικές βόμβες, εκατοντάδες φορές, με αποτέλεσμα να σκοτωθούν δεκάδες ανυπεράσπιστοι πολίτες και να γκρεμιστούν εκατοντάδες κατοικίες και ιστορικά κτίσματα.1 Οι κάτοικοι της πόλης, προσπαθούσαν να κρυφτούν σε μίνες, υπόγεια και αποθήκες. Αυτά ήταν και εξακολουθούν να είναι τα καταφύγια της Κέρκυρας.
Οι από αέρος βομβαρδισμοί αναπτύχθηκαν κατά την διάρκεια του 2ου παγκόσμιου πολέμου. Χαρακτηριστική είναι η περίπτωση της ισπανικής πόλης Γκουέρνικα στην οποία η γερμανική αεροπορία δοκίμασε επί του αμάχου πληθυσμού αυτή την νέα πολεμική τεχνική. Οι Ιάπωνες στο Περλ Χάρμπολ έκαναν το δικό τους πείραμα και τέλος οι Αγγλοαμερικανοί με την ισοπέδωση της Δρέσδης και την συνειδητή εξόντωση αμάχων, σφράγισαν αυτό τον πόλεμο.

(More in http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/kane/51/history/bombs/bombs.html )

THE 3rd CASTLE OF CORFU!!!!

Το 1808 επί αυτοκρατορικών Γάλλων ο στρατηγός Δονζελότ οχυρώνει περαιτέρω το ΒΙΔΟ αλλά και πάλι κόβει τα δένδρα του για τις ανάγκες των τριών φρουρίων που κατασκευάζει. Το φρούριο Αλέξανδρος προς βορά, που σήμερα είναι γνωστό ως Ρώσικο, το φρούριο Αγ. Γεώργιος στη νοτιοανατολική πλευρά του νησιού και το φρούριο Μ. Ναπολέοντος στη νοτιοδυτική, που αργότερα ονομάσθηκε φρούριο Σχούλεμβουργ. Το 1825 οι Aγγλοι προχωρούν σε νέες οχυρώσεις στις ίδιες θέσεις που επέλεξε και ο Δονζελότ σύμφωνα με τις σύγχρονες οχυρωματικές τεχνικές. Eτσι τα 3 φρούρια του Δονζελότ βελτιώνονται με ισχυρές επάλξεις, προμαχώνες, υδατοδεξαμενές, με αποτέλεσμα να καταστεί το ΒΙΔΟ ισχυρό φρούριο στήριξης της Αγγλικής παρουσίας σε αυτό το τμήμα της Μεσογείου. Μεγάλο τεχνικό ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζουν σήμερα οι υδατοδεξαμενές του ΒΙΔΟ που χρησιμοποιούνται μέχρι σήμερα. Με την συμφωνία για την ένωση των Επτανήσων με την Ελλάδα, τα φρούρια της Κέρκυρας έπρεπε να κατεδαφισθούν. Η αντίδραση των Κερκυραίων αλλά και η διπλωματική δραστηριότητα του Χ. Τρικούπη έσωσαν ως ένα βαθμό το Παλαιό και το Νέο Φρούριο όχι όμως και το φρούριο του ΒΙΔΟ. Στις 14.11.1863 οι Aγγλοι το ανατινάζουν. Οι Κερκυραίοι παρακολουθούσαν από τις παραλίες της πόλης. Η έκρηξη ήταν σφοδρότατη. Πέτρες εκτινάχθηκαν μέχρι το προάστιο Μαντούκι. Η αρχική λύπη των Κερκυραίων για το γκρέμισμα των φρουρίων μετατράπηκε σε οργή κατά των Aγγλων και ουρανομήκης ακούσθηκε η κραυγή "ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΝΩΣΗ".

(History of the VIDO island in http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/1076/perifereia/vidohist.html )

Corfu and Serbia (GR)

Το Δεκέμβρη του 1916 150000 Σέρβοι στρατιώτες διασχίζουν Σερβία και Αλβανία και φθάνουν στην Κέρκυρα. Οι περισσότεροι εγκαθίστανται στο ΒΙΔΟ. Οι κακουχίες και οι κακές συνθήκες υγιεινής φέρνουν την πανούκλα και αποδεκατίζονται. Το ΒΙΔΟ φιλοξενεί στα χώματά του τριάντα χιλιάδες Σέρβων στρατιωτών! Στην ανατολική πλευρά του σε χώρο 2500 τ.μ. που παραχώρησε η ελληνική κυβέρνηση, ορθώνεται από το 1939 το Μαυσωλείο των κυνηγημένων Σέρβων εκείνης της εποχής. Από τότε οι δεσμοί των Σέρβων με τους Κερκυραίους γίνονται πολύ στενοί, άρρηκτοι.

(Island of VIDO whole history in http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/1076/perifereia/vidohist.html )

664 BC — First naval battle in Greek recorded history, between Corinth and Corcyra

The first naval battle of Greek history took place in circa 664 BC; when it sought help of Athens against Corinth and this was one of causes of Peloponnesian War.

The Corfu Incident (1923)

The Corfu Incident was a diplomatic emergency in 1923. Greece and Albania were quarrelling over their boundary. The two nations took their dispute to the Conference of Ambassadors.
Incident
Meanwhile the League of Nations had appointed a commission set up by the Conference of Ambassadors to determine the boundaries. Groups of soldiers that had been called upon to help settle the situation were split up.
Four Italians drove, including General Enrico Tellini (18??–August 27, 1923), in one vehicle and stopped at a road, where a tree had fallen down. As they got out to move it, they were killed on the Greek side of the border.

Italian Reaction
The Italian government, lead by Benito Mussolini, sent an ultimatum to the Greek government on August 29, 1923, demanding the payment of 50 million lire in reparations and that the assassins be executed. The Greeks were unable to identify the assassins, so Italian forces bombarded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu on August 31, 1923, killing at least fifteen civilians. The location of Corfu, in a strategic position at the head of the Adriatic Sea, provided Mussolini with an ulterior motive for the invasion, for which Tellini's assassination was a convenient pretext.
Greece appealed to the League of Nations, which initially condemned the Italian occupation. The dispute was handed over to the Conference of Ambassadors, an organization established by the allies in 1919 to deal with problems arising out of the peace treaties following the First World War, and Italy and Greece agreed to be bound by its decision. The Conference of Ambassadors largely followed the Italian demands, ordering Greece to apologise and pay reparations, a decision that Greece accepted. Italy left Corfu on September 27, 1923. The decision was internationally criticized - it submitted to the aggression of a bigger world power instead of protecting the smaller Greece from attack.

(Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corfu_incident")