Corfu Asian Art Museum
Corfu Asian Art museum is unique to Greece and one of Europe’s best as it has one of the largest and sleeker collections worldwide. You can visit it in Corfu’s main square in the old town. You can easilly recognise it from the arc which is visible from anywhere in the square.
It is housed in an imposing neoclassical building near Liston promenade, Espianada square, in the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George. This building was constructed between 1819 and 1824 by the British and initially served as the residence of the British High Commissioners of the Ionian islands.
Corfu Byzantine Museum
The main gateway into Corfu’s Palaio Frourio (Old Fort) dates from about 1550, and is contemporary with the western fortifications.
The Byzantine Museum of Corfu is housed in the Church of Virgin Mary Antivouniotissa, located in the quarter of Mouragia, Corfu Town. The Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa hosts many portable Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, made from anonymous or famous artists and dating from the 15th to the 19th century.
The main gateway and its guardhouses were restored in 1994; the guardhouse on the left (as you come in) is used by the Archaeological Resources Fund for the sale of models, reproductions and other items, while the right-hand building now houses Byzantine Collection of Corfu.
Corfu Municipal Art Gallery
Admire works of art by famous Corfiot painters, such as Kogevina, Pachis and Prosalenti. The Municipal Gallery of Corfu was originally established in 1978, but it was legally recognized as a public institution in 1991.
Housed in the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Municipal Gallery of Corfu exhibits mostly the works of 19th-century local artists, including the works of Haralambos Pachis, the founder of the Artist’s School of Corfu, S. Skarvelis, P. Prosalentis, G. Samartzis, and others.
Apart from paintings, there are also some very interesting carvings. The gallery is very active today as it frequently organizes art workshops, exhibitions, seminars, and lectures.
Corfu Archaeological Museum
The Archaeological Museum of Corfu is housed since 1967 in a two-storey modern building in the area of Garitsa. It houses antiquities from the ancient city of Corfu and the rest of the island. The museum houses findings dating from the Prehistoric to the Hellenistic times.
The collection consists of bronze and marble statues, funeral offerings, ancient coins, clay pottery, golden jewelry and parts of ancient temples. The most important exhibit of the museum is the impressive Gorgona-Medusa pediment from the temple of Artemis, dating from 585 BC. This pediment was excavated in 1911 and it is considered the oldest stone pediment of an ancient Greek temple.
From 2012 until 2016 an extensive project for the restoration of the building complex and the re-exhibition of its collections based on a modern museological approach was launched.
Corfu Sea Shell Museum
This interesting museum is a private initiative of the diver and collector Mr Napoleon Sagias, who lived in Australia for more than 20 years and returned in 1989 to his homeland, Corfu. Ηaving a large collection of sea shells and fish fossils, he decided to open this museum, that is now managed by his family.
The Sea Shell Museum of Corfu is housed in a modern building about 2 km before Benitses village. The most expensive and rare shell of the museum is the Cypraea fultoni shell, whose price has been estimated at 22,000 USD. Visitors can also see the shell Tridacna gigas, which weighs 65 kg, and Haliotis iris, the most beautiful shell in the world, that can be found in Nea Zealand.
In September 1998, the Italian research Institute IREDA awarded the Corfu Shell Museum for its work and the overall contribution.
Corfu Music Museum
Τhe beautiful Greek island of Corfu is known for its natural wonders, beautiful capital city, and impressive monuments. The Music Museum Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu opened in September 2010 and it is housed on the first floor of the building of the Society in Corfu Town.
Corfu, Greece also has a fascinating history and culture that should be explored. When visiting the island of Corfu, be sure to stop into the Music Museum. Here’s what you should know about the Music Museum.
With a rich history and almost two centuries of uninterrupted course, the Philharmonic Society of Corfu was founded in 1840 by a team of well-educated Corfiots and its aim was to be organized on European standards.
Corfu Acharavi Folklore Museum
The Folklore Museum of Acharavi in Corfu was inaugurated in October 2008. It is located just opposite the Roman baths of Acharavi in a private building of 1,000 sq.m.
The museum was an inspiration and creation of Spyros Vlachos, who searched and found interesting folk items of northern Corfu to display there.
The museum also has a conference room where lectures and seminars take place, a traditional coffee shop as well as a permanent exhibition of traditional products and woven handicrafts.
Corfu Sinarades Folklore Museum
It was established in 1982 by the Historical – Folklore Society of Corfu, an association that was embodied in the face of Nikos Paktitis, a retired teacher, researcher and pioneer folklorists.
He was an emblematic figure of Corfu on the late 90s, as his efforts led to the islands’ cultural growth. On the first floor, there is a representation of a rural house with living room, bedroom, kitchen, oven, and wine-pressing. An internal floor leads to the second floor, where there is a library, an archive of old documents, some pottery pieces, traditional costumes, musical instruments, a loom, agricultural tools, puppet theatre, and some photos.
An interesting exhibit is papirela, a ship of Mesolithic Age made from papyrus.
Corfu Banknote Museum
The Banknote Museum of Corfu is housed in one of the most historical buildings of the Old City, in the building of the Ionian Bank which was the first Greek bank, in 1839, when the Ionian Islands were under English Supervision.
In 1981 it housed the Banknote Museum which is now considered one of the best in the world, in its kind. Hosted in an impressive neoclassical building designed by the architect Ioannis Chronis, the museum operates within the same historical edifice as the Ionian Bank -the first national bank of Greece-which was established in 1839.
The extensive collection includes banknotes printed by the Ionian Bank during its operation, as well as all the versions of national banknotes issued by the National Bank of Greece until the coming of euro in 2002, rare bills from various greek regions that were secretly issued by the Church during the Ottoman rule as well as all the national banknotes of all the members of the European Union before the establishment of euro.
A rather precious exhibit is also an extremely rare Chinese banknote that dates from the 1.300 A.D., reportedly one of the oldest ones worldwide.
Corfu Solomos Museum
The National poet of Greece, Dionysios Solomos, lived for the greater part of his life and to the day of his death (1798-1857) on the island of Corfu, where he also wrote the major and the most important part of his work, including the “Free Besieged”.
The house were he lived, wrote and died was destroyed by the World War II bombings, but was later restored and still stands today. Solomos lived the greater part of his life on the island of Corfu, where he wrote the major part of his work. The museum in his honor is hosted in the beautiful house that constituted his residence, and the museum’s establishment was undertaken by the Corfiot Studies Society.
The bombings of World War II unfortunately damaged the house but it was later restored and today it hosts many of Solomos’ personal items; a collection of his manuscripts, memorabilia, various portraits, photographic material as well as archives from his personal and professional life.
Corfu Casa Parlante
This is what you would hear at Casa Parlante, the most alive historical museum in Corfu.
Casa Parlante is a very special museum in the center of Corfu Old Town, few meters from Liston Paved Avenue and Spianada Square. Housed in a 19th-century noble mansion, this museum first opened to the public in March 2014.
With animated figures and old furniture, this museum actually presents the daily life of a noble family living in Corfu during the 19th century.
