Northwest Corfu - Arillas, Agios Georgios and Agios Stefanos

Northwest Corfu; October 2004

Corfu, Kerkyra in Greek, is the most northerly and second largest of the seven Ionian islands – Corfu, Ithaki, Kefallinia (Cephalonia), Kythira, Lefkada (Lefkas), Paxi (Paxos) and Zakynthos (Zante). Geologically these are the old limestone summits of former mountains. Corfu is Greece's most westerly large island, and is 65 km long and 29 km at its widest, with an area of approximately 600 km². (Five reference works consulted while researching gave areas of 502, 585, 593, 637 and 1,060 km²!). Situated in the northwest corner of Greece, Corfu faces Italy some 80 km to the west, with Albania and the Greek province of Ipiros to the east.

Historically, Corfu has been a part of various empires, although it was the one part of Greece never ruled by the Ottoman Turks. The British took it from Napoleon in 1815 and passed it on to the fledgling Greek state in 1864. It was arguably featured in Homer's Odyssey and Shakespeare's the Tempest, and was definitely the location for Lawrence Durrell's Prospero's Cell and brother Gerald's more widely read My Family and other Animals. Prince Philip was born in a small house on the island, but locally its most famous inhabitant is St. Spyridon(as), a Cypriot monk and bishop whose body was only brought to Corfu eleven hundred years after his death.

Corfu often has heavy rainstorms in summer – unlike most of the Greek islands, the summer drought is not so sustained. The annual rainfall varies considerably, but averages 130 cm, more than three times that of south Aegean areas such as Crete, and the humidity is consequently higher. Sixty percent of this rain falls between November and April. The temperature in winter in coastal areas rarely drops much below freezing, averaging around 5-10 C in January, but snow does fall at sea-level every few years.

The recent development of tourism has affected the island considerably, particularly along the southeast coast, some of which has been completely abandoned to lager sales. However the west and northwest of the island have retained much of their Greek character, have the best scenery, and are still to a large degree the Corfu familiar to readers of Gerald Durrell.

THE CORFU TRAIL

This is a 10-day, 220km walking route that runs from Kavos and Panagia Arkoudilla in the south of the island to Akrotiri Agia Ekaterini in the northeast, going through the southern part of the area covered by this book. Its route is waymarked by diamond-shaped yellow "CT" signs. More details can be found at www.corfutrail.org.

NORTHWEST CORFU

Most of the traffic from Corfu Town to the northwest goes via the Troumbeta Pass, over the high limestone ridge that runs from Paleokastritsa to Spartylas, and which divides the rounded, northern part of the island from the attenuated, less mountainous, southern part. At its eastern end the ridge joins the island's main mountain mass – and highest peak – the bare-topped Mount Pandokrator (906m/2974ft). At the western end the ridge plunges into the sea near the spectacularly positioned fortress of Angelokastro, a thousand feet above the picturesque village, monastery and bays of Paleokastritsa resort. In the northern folds of the ridge are numerous old villages.

The western coastline north of the ridge starts with the huge sweep of Agios Georgios Bay, one of Corfu's most scenic, and bordered to the north by the headland, Akrotiri Arilla, the last major limestone outcrop and the site of Afionas village.

Behind the bay, the hills gradually rise to a low ridge which forms the watershed between the two sides of this corner of the island. The view over the other side of the ridge extends across a wide basin full of grey-green olive trees and pointed cypresses, while beyond the Kerkyras channel, the mountains of Albania can be seen on clear days, the highest over 2100m (6900ft).

To the north of Afionas is the bay of Arillas, ending in the lower headland of Akrotiri Kefali (sometimes incorrectly labelled Akrotiri Arilla), beyond which the coastline swings northeast, past Agios Stefanos.

Fading in the haze to the northwest towards Italy are the Diapontia islands, Mathraki, Othoni, Trakhia, Karavi, Diaplos and Diakopo. To the northeast, the last of the Diapontia islands, Erikoussa, is out of sight from Arillas, but visible from Agios Stefanos or some higher viewpoints.

In late spring and early summer evenings, when the day's excitements are finished, there is further entertainment after dark, with remarkable firefly displays over low-lying fields. These insects are small beetles, which produce a winking green fluorescent light to attract mates. Both sexes flash, but it is the males that fly around searching for the females. Glow-worms also occur in the area, though less commonly. Only the wingless females produce light, a pale glow as they sit among plants.

ARILLAS

North of the headland with the village of Afionas perched on the top, is the scattered resort of Arillas, which has a long, though narrow, sandy beach ending at the shale, clay and conglomerate cliffs of Akrotiri Kefali. The name may derive from the Greek argillos, "clay".

Just offshore from Arillas seafront is the island of Petrokaravi ("stone ship") or Gravia, with the smaller companions Yinaika ("woman/wife") and Sykia ("figtree").

AGIOS GEORGIOS

The large sandy beach of Agios Georgios (Saint George, the patron saint of Greece) is set in a large, horseshoe-shaped bay. The southern side of the bay has an escarpment of high cliffs, scaled by an old, paved donkey-road leading to the villages behind. The lowest/first of the villages beyond the beach is Pagi, the 'home town' of the southern end of Agios Georgios resort which is therefore known in full as Agios Georgios Pagon. This name is sometimes used to distinguish the whole resort from the resort of Agios Georgios Argyradon (the St. George of some holiday brochures) in the south of the island. Unofficially, it is also referred to as Agios Georgios North or "San Giorgio".

AGIOS STEFANOS

The resort of Agios Stefanos (Agios Stefanos Avlioton, Agios Stefanos Gyrou) developed from the 1960s onwards, having previously been a small fishing hamlet, harbour and agricultural area for the village of Avliotes, with the local clay being used for pottery. The area has been linked with the shipwreck of Odysseus and his rescue by Nausica, the daughter of King of the Phaeacians, leading archaeologist Wilhelm Dorpfeld to excavate local sites in 1912-13 – which turned out to be Neolithic. The original church, dedicated to Agios Stefanos, was of the late Byzantine or early Venetian period, but was rebuilt in the 1930s. The small original harbour has been replaced by a much larger one, further along the headland, from where boats go to the Diapontia islands.

Agios Stefanos has a large beach, although the sand has a tendency to be muddier after rain than at the other two resorts, with a gradually shelving seabed. The beach dwindles away to nothing at the northern end, where a series of high and near-vertical clay cliffs marks the coastline towards Akrotiri Drastis. Apart from the church and harbour, most of the layout of the area is entirely tourism-based.

panorama of islands from Iliovasilema viewpoint, Afionas

Flower photos

Photos of Northwest Corfu

Plant checklist for Northwest Corfu

Plant checklist for Corfu island

Walk book and map

Online update September 2008 for 2004-08 edition of the walk book

2004 autumn walks photos

2008 autumn walks photos

Paleokastritsa; October 2004

LINKS

The Friends of the Ionian is a registered not-for-profit membership organization working for sustainable tourism in the Ionian island region. See their website for detailed information on many aspects of the islands' environment and heritage.

For accommodation in Agios Georgios, contact Theo at Theo's Hotel, tel/fax: 0030 26630-96482. He also has copies of the book and map for sale. When Theo told me, in September 2008, that the Pound would be worth the same as the Euro by 2009, I thought he was joking. I now wish I had listened to him and invested in Euros...

For carhire in Arillas (or from the airport) contact Theo at Arillas Rent-a-Car.

(Both these Theos speak good English.)

See the following websites for general information about individual resorts and the island:

For extensive general information on Corfu and many other Greek islands, see Greek Island Postcards.

If you want an accurate map of the whole island of Corfu, we recommend ROAD Editions map 301 "Corfu", ISBN 960-8481-07-4. We were unable to find this in rural Corfu in October 2004, so would suggest buying a copy before you go. It is stocked by Hellenic Bookservice, 91 Fortess Rd, Kentish Town, London NW5 1AG.

Lance Chilton and Marengo 2009

Marengo, 17 Bernard Crescent, HUNSTANTON PE36 6ER, England
e-mail us: here

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