Page 43 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Corfu & the Ionian Islands

Myths and Legends ❮❮ 41

The Gorgon Medusa,
7 TOP 10 HISTORIC SITES
Corfu
Envious of her beauty, the goddess
Athena turned the maiden Medusa
into a snake-haired monster whose
gaze turned the beholder into stone.
Her hideous effigy, carved on the
marble pediment of the Temple of
Artemis, is the most important
exhibit in the collection of the Corfu
Archaeological Museum (see p42).
Sappho, Lefkáda
8 Palaio Frourio fortress, Corfu Town
Greek poet Sappho was born
around 620 BC. It is said that she 1 Palaio Frourio, Corfu
fell in love with an ugly boatman, This old fortress dom inates Corfu
Phaon, whom the goddess Aphrodite Town’s skyline (see pp14–15).
changed into a hand some man. 2 St Kerkyra Basilica, Corfu
Phaon rejected Sappho, who then Now lying in ruins, this church was
jumped to her death from the cliffs an important place of worship in the
near Cape Lefkáda. 5th century AD (see p17).
3 Mazarakata Mycenean Cemetery,
Kefalloniá
An ancient Mycenaean graveyard has
been unearthed near Argostolí (see p86).
4 Analipsi Hill, Corfu
MAP D4 • Corfu Town, Corfu
The remains of a 6th-century BC Doric
temple stand on this hill.
5 Angelokastro, Corfu
MAP B3 • Krini, Corfu
Located near Krini, this was the site of
the 13th-century Angelokastro for tress.
6 Skála, Kefalloniá
Sappho and Phaon (1809), an oil A 3rd-cen tury-BC Roman villa near the
painting by Jacques-Louis David town of Skála houses some remarkably
well-preserved floor mosaics (see p86).
Panagia Langouvarda,
9 7 Palaeochóra, Ithaki
Kefalloniá
Local legend claims that thousands MAP J4 • Palaeochóra, Ithaki
Once Ithaki’s capital, this medieval site
of harmless snakes appear each includes ruins of houses and churches.
August at the convent of Panagia 8 Hypapanti, Paxí
Langouvarda, where the Virgin MAP A5 • Hypapanti, Paxí
turned the nuns into snakes to save Legend has it that this sea cave was
them from a band of pirates. If the a Byzantine church dedicated to the
snakes do not appear, it is an ill Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
omen, which villagers avert by 9 Cavo Nira Sanctuary, Lefkáda
delivering them by the sackful at According to Greek folklore, this
the Feast of the Virgin. ancient sanctuary was once the shrine
of Apollo Leukatas (see p76).
Nymph Melissanthi,
0 10 Monastery of the Revealed
Kefalloniá
Saints, Kefalloniá
The famous blue cave of Kefalloniá is MAP H5 • Sámi, Kefalloniá
named after the nymph Melissanthi, This ruined monastery retains some
who is said to have drowned herself important post-Byzantine wall frescoes.
here for the love of the god Pan.

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