Kerkyra

History

Corfu ( kor-FOO, -⁠FEW, US also KOR-foo, -⁠few) or Kerkyra (Greek: Κέρκυρα, romanized: Kérkyra, pronounced [ˈcercira] ) is one of the Ionian Islands in western Greece, and the northernmost island on Greece's west coast except for its satellite Diapontian Islands, which are also the westernmost point of all Greece. Corfu and the Diapontian Islands mark the International Hydrographic Organization border between the Ionian Sea to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the north. Within the Ionian Islands region, the regional unit of Corfu extends as far south as the Paxoi. The capital and largest city of the regional unit is also named Corfu. The island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology, and is marked by numerous battles and conquests. Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota, which was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War, and, according to Thucydides, the largest naval battle between Greek city-states until that time. Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of Greece in the fifth century BCE, along with Athens and Corinth.