Corfu - Museums and Libraries

Museums and Libraries

Kerkyra has always been a cultural centre of distinction, and its museums and libraries are studded with irreplaceable books and artifacts. The most notable of the island's museums and libraries are located in the city, and are:

• The Archaeological Museum, inaugurated in 1967, was constructed to house the exhibit of the huge Gorgon pediment of the Artemis temple in the ancient city of Korkyra, excavated at Palaiopolis in early 20th century. The pediment has been described by the New York Times as the "finest example of archaic temple sculpture extant". In 1994, two more halls were added to the museum, where new discoveries from the excavations of the ancient city and the Garitsa cemetery are exhibited.
• The Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa, a church converted into a museum featuring rare Byzantine art.
• The Banknote Museum, located in Aghios Spyridon square, features a complete collection of Greek banknotes from independence to the adoption of the euro in 2002.
• The Public Library of Corfu is located at the old English Barracks, in Palaio Frourio.
• Solomos Museum and the Corfiot Studies Society.
• The Reading Society of Corfu has an extensive library of old Corfu manuscripts and rare books.
• The Music Museum of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu is located in the building of the Philharmonic Society and features scores, instruments, paintings and documents related to the music history of Corfu and the 19th-century Ionian Islands.
• The Museum of Asian art of Corfu is located at the Palaia Anaktora (mainly Chinese and Japanese Arts); its unique collection is housed across 15 rooms, taking in over 12,000 artifacts, including a Greek Buddhist collection that shows the influence of Alexander the Great on Buddhist culture as far as Pakistan.

• Kapodistrias Museum. Ioannis Kapodistrias' summer home in Koukourisa in his birthplace of Corfu has been converted to a museum commemorating his life and accomplishments and has been named in his honour. Donated by Maria Desylla Kapodistria, grand niece of Ioannis Kapodistrias, former mayor of Corfu and first female mayor of Greece.
• The Serbian Museum of Corfu (Serbian: Српска кућа, Serbian House) houses rare exhibits about the Serbian soldiers' tragic fate during the First World War. The remnants of the Serbian Army of about 150,000 soldiers together with their government in exile, found refuge and shelter in Corfu, following the collapse of the Serbian Front as a result of the Austro-Hungarian attack of the 6 October 1915. Exhibits include photographs from the three years stay of the Serbians in Corfu, together with other exhibits such as uniforms, arms and ammunition of the Serbian army, Serbian regimental flags, religious artifacts, surgical tools and other decorations of the Kingdom of Serbia.