The Ekaterini Estate
The Ekaterini Estate is in Gastouri, an unspoiled and picturesque village built on the slopes of the mountain of Agioi Deka, among olive groves and cypress trees. It is conveniently located 20 minutes from Corfu Town and the airport.
Gastouri has many elegant buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries and it was here that the first island philharmonic orchestra outside Corfu Town was founded in 1898, which continues to perform regularly today. The village has beautiful ancient churches, including one of the oldest on the island with frescoes dating from the 12th century, as well as an ancient working well, still used by the local community.
It’s not by chance that Sissy, Empress of Austria, chose the beautiful village of Gastouri to build her palace, the Achilleion, with its wonderful gardens. Built in 1889 and named after the Homeric hero Achilles it is one of the most significant sights on the island and only a short walk from the Ekaterini Estate.
The village and port of Benitses are a five-minute drive away and the perfect place to board a day boat to explore the lovely Corfu coastline, swim in the warm calm Ionian sea and visit a seaside taverna for a delicious lunch.
Corfu Town and its impressive Venetian Old Town, a Unesco Heritage site, has a wealth of excellent restaurants and tavernas as well as great shops.
The beautiful golf course of the Corfu Golf Club has been characterised by many as one of the best hidden secrets in Europe and was designed by the famous Swiss architect Donald Harradine. He combined the natural beauty of the Ropa Valley with his own interventions in a harmonious way, in order to create a course perfect for both beginners and advanced players. Today, it is a magical place with tree groves, ponds, streams and a background of the surrounding hills. It can be reached by car from the Estate in 20 minutes.
Corfu
The ancient island of Corfu has a fascinating history dating back to 1300BC and is identified as the island of the Phaenicians described in Homer’s Odyssey. During the breakup of the Byzantine Empire, the island was occupied by different powers until 1386 when it came under the rule of the Republic of Venice, under which it remained until 1797. It was then briefly ceded to the French and in 1815 it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom until 1864 when it was unified with Greece. While under Venetian rule, Corfu was famous for successfully resisting all Ottoman sieges, owing largely to the Venetian fortress-building engineering skills, making Corfu one of the few places in Greece never to be conquered by the Ottomans. A number of these fortresses remain today, the most notable being the Old and New Fortresses in Corfu Town, built in the 15th-16th century and 16th-18th centuries respectively.
Corfu’s architecture is different from other Greek islands because of its unique history. The Old Town has a very strong Venetian influence and is a Unesco World Heritage site. It was in the Venetian period that the town saw the building of the first Opera house in Greece. Small and ancient sides streets paved with cobblestones, old buildings with beautiful arches, houses in hues of orange and red with wooden shutters and pretty iron balconies, the impressive esplanade between the town and the fortress, the Liston arcade, the Spianada, one of the biggest squares in Europe, all make Corfu Town especially beautiful. The Spianada is home to the ornate music pavilion that houses the numerous philharmonic orchestras on the island, as well as to summer cricket matches, a tradition dating to the period of British rule.
Corfu is a lively place all year round. Musical performances are in abundance in the musical tradition for which the island is known, there is a multitude of historic churches, museums and galleries, all worth a visit. There are many excellent restaurants as well as picturesque tavernas around the island, showcasing both the famous Corfiot cuisine as well as other international varieties. Corfu Town has an abundance of cafés and bars as well as a lively nightlife.
The gardens of Corfu are famous and being one of the greenest islands in the Mediterranean, it has a rich birdlife. Moreover, for the summer traveller, there are many wonderful beaches, beautiful coves and the sea is clear and warm in the best of Greece’s tradition.
