Angelokastro

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Angelokastro (Greek: Αγγελόκαστρο (Castle of Angelos or Castle of the Angel); Venetian: Castel Sant'Angelo) is a Byzantine castle on the island of Corfu, Greece. It is located at the top of the highest peak of the island's shoreline in the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa and built on particularly precipitous and rocky terrain. It stands 1,000 ft (305 m) on a steep cliff above the sea and surveys the City of Corfu and the mountains of mainland Greece to the southeast and a wide area of Corfu toward the northeast and northwest. Angelokastro is one of the most important fortified complexes of Corfu. It was an acropolis which surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle. Angelokastro formed a defensive triangle with the castles of Gardiki and Kassiopi, which covered Corfu's defences to the south, northwest and northeast. The castle never fell, despite frequent sieges and attempts at conquering it through the centuries, and played a decisive role in defending the island against pirate incursions and during three sieges of Corfu by the Ottomans, significantly contributing to their defeat. During...

The name may be related to the Komnenoi Angeloi, Despots of Epirus. The earliest textual reference to the castle is in an Angevin document of 1272, which refers to it as Castrum Sancti Angeli or Castrum S. Angeli, 'Castle of the Holy Angel'. Venetian documents of the 17th century call it Castel or Castello Sant' Angelo.

Angelokastro is one of the most important fortified complexes of Corfu. It forms an acropolis that surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and therefore presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle. Situated at an impregnable and strategic position, Angelokastro became important to the island's fortunes for many centuries.

Angelokastro was one of three castles which defended the island before the Venetian era (1401–1797). The castles formed a defensive triangle, with Gardiki Castle guarding the island's south, Kassiopi Castle the northeast and Angelokastro the northwest.

In peacetime it was also a centre of commerce and development. One of the reasons the castle was built was to defend Corfu against piracy and warn Corfu city of any approaching danger.

The city of Corfu lies to the southeast of the Castle and it is visible from Angelokastro. The garrison at the fortress would signal to the city the approach of any enemy.

During excavations in 1999 by the 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Greece, two Early Christian closure slabs and other findings were unearthed at the top of the acropolis indicating that the site was occupied and perhaps fortified by the early Byzantine period between 5th-7th century AD.

Byzantine ruins were found at the Patima location near Angelokastro, indicating a settlement in the area whose population could have used fortifications on the Angelokastro hill during times of crisis.

After Byzantium lost its dominion over southern Italy in 1071, Corfu became the new Byzantine frontier to the West serving to separate Byzantium from its enemies to the west, making the island strategic to the Komnenoi who had the incentive to build fortifications to safeguard Corfu from the frequent invasions of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, which had caused continuing upheaval in the island.

The exact time of the building of the castle is not known. and there are estimates that it was built during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos, or by Michael I Komnenos Doukas also known as Michael I Angelos, the Despot of Epirus, who took Corfu in 1214. His son Michael II Angelos, further fortified the area of the castle, and there is mention of him as the builder of the fortress.

Following the takeover of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, Corfu was governed by a variety of rulers, including the Despots of Epirus, until 1267 when it was occupied by the Angevins of Naples.

In 1272 Giordano di San Felice took ownership of the fortress on behalf of Charles I of Naples, king of the Angevins. The Angevins occupied Corfu from 1267 to 1386 and a document related to their takeover of the fortress is the earliest written record attesting to the existence of the castle.

In 1386, after the violent death of king Charles III of Naples, the occupants of the castle, still loyal to Charles' successor king Ladislaus of Naples, resisted for a brief time the Venetian takeover but the transfer of power to the Venetians occurred with virtually no loss of life.

Before the Venetians conquered Corfu, there were three castles which defended the island from attacks: Kassiopi Castle in the northeast of the island, Angelokastro, defending the northwest side of Corfu, and Gardiki in the south of the island.

In 1386, with the departure of the Angevins, the castle came under the ownership of the Most Serene Republic of Venice ( Venetian : Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta ).

A special Venetian officer assumed the responsibility for Angelokastro, a strong castle which never fell, despite frequent attempts to conquer it. Under the dominion of Venice, Corfu was defended throughout the period of her occupation. However invasions and associated destruction still occurred during this time, especially at the undefended areas of the island. The Venetians, being the prominent maritime power of the era, used Angelokastro to monitor the shipping lanes in the southern Adriatic and the Ionian Sea.

Throughout the period of Venetian rule the castle enjoyed great prominence because it offered protection to the locals from foes such as the Genoan pirates to the west as well as the Ottomans to the east. Neither the Genoans nor the Ottomans were ever able to penetrate its defences. In 1403, a Genoese fleet carrying a force of about 10,000 Genoan mercenaries landed at Palaiokastritsa. The Genoans were on their way to the Holy Land to take part in the crusades and they were under the command of French marshal Jean Le Maingre known as Boucicault.

Following their landing, they laid siege to Angelokastro for a year. The Genoans burned and pillaged the surrounding area. Then they attempted to occupy the castle. After furious battles with the Corfiot garrison, under the leadership of a Corfiote nobleman, they were ultimately repulsed.

In 1406, the Venetian Senate received a petition by Corfiote representatives to Venice under the capitoli, i.e. political privileges granted by Venice to Corfu upon entering the Venetian state, who had asked that positions of public officials in Corfu be filled locally for a year.

Two years later, in 1408, the Senate replied and informed the local government of Corfu that certain public positions such as the comestabelaria, the Castellan or Governor of Angelokastro, the Castellan of Porto Ferro, and the salt official were exempt from the capitoli and they were to be filled by the Venetian bailo.