The architecture of the villages

The densely-built housing which is a feature of the town is equally characteristic of the villages. The most common settlement pattern is linear, with houses built alongside streets linking the villages with their fields and with other settlements.

The buildings in these villages are plain, without the baroque details which we see in town. This is explained by the poor economic standing of the peasants during the Venetian and British periods of rule.

Conditions only began to improve after the union of the Ionian Islands with Greece in 1864. From then on, there was a tendency towards the embellishment of folk architecture with neo-classical details, giving the villages the appearance they have today. The most important detail of the Corfiot village house is the 'botzo', a covered first-floor balcony which gives a special character to the exterior of the building. In contrast to the botzos in town, decorative arches (kamares) are rare.

Corfu's mansions, homes of the local landowners, are built either in the villages or in an isolated position in the country. In both cases, they are distinguished by their splendour and by the amount of empty land around them. Those located out in the country are surrounded by auxiliary buildings such as olive presses and store rooms, and often have a defensive tower.

(Bibliography: Greek Traditional Architecture - Corfu. Aphrodite Agoropoulou - Birbili, publ. 'Melissa' 1982)

Architecture in town