Why go
Corfu's ancient history explains why the island mattered before its Venetian walls. Corinthian settlers, a strategic sea route and later conflict made Corcyra a significant Greek city, while the Phaeacian association links its landscape to the Odyssey as tradition rather than proven fact.
The full story
The ancient island was known as Corcyra or Kerkyra. Greek writers connected it with Scheria, the home of the Phaeacians in the Odyssey, but that identification remains a literary tradition rather than an established location. Another myth placed Jason and Medea on the island. These stories are part of Corfu's cultural history, yet its position on the sea route between mainland Greece and the western Mediterranean also gave it practical importance. Corinthian settlers arrived in the early Greek colonial period, and Corcyra developed a strong maritime identity. Relations with Corinth were often tense despite that origin. The ancient city occupied ground south of the later fortified town, near the waterways around today's Kanoni and Mon Repos area. A visit to archaeological remains or the Archaeological Museum becomes more meaningful with this distinction in mind: the classical city and the Venetian Old Town are related chapters in Corfu's history, but they occupy different urban landscapes.