Corfu Museums

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

The museum stands in Vraila Street, near the Garitsa coastal road and was built to house the Gorgon pediment from the temple of Artemis which was found in the area of Paleopolis. This pediment dates back to 580 BC and is supposed to be the oldest in Greece. The Museum also houses other finds from archaeological sites of the island, from the ancient town of Cassiopeia and from a private collection.


BYZANTINE MUSEUM

Housed in the Church of Antivouniotissa, the oldest and most elaborate church in Corfu. The church was donated in 1979 in order to become a museum. The Byzantine Museum exhibits a rich collection of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons and relics, dating back five centuries.


ASIAN ART MUSEUM

The Museum of Asian Art is the only Asian museum in Greece and is housed in the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George in Corfu Town. It was founded in 1927 after Gregory Manos, an ambassador, donated his private collection of 10, 500 objects of Sino Japanese origin. The museum was first a Chinese and Japanese Art Museum (until 1974) and became an Asian Art Museum later, when its collection was enriched with other private collection objects and items from Asia.


SOLOMOS MUSEUM

Dionysius Solomos is the National Greek Poet who wrote the lyrics of the National Greek Anthem; he lived the major part of his life in the island of Corfu (1798-1857) where he wrote a great part of his work. The museum is housed in Solomos’ beautiful house and exhibits many of his personal items, a collection of his manuscripts, various portraits and some photographic material.

NUMISMATIC MUSEUM

The Numismatic Museum was founded by the Ionian Bank in 1981; it is housed in a building designed by a local architect, Ioannis Chronis, and is the only museum of this kind in Greece. It houses a rich collection of banknotes, coins, bank documents, stamps and other bank’s paraphernalia as well as a reproduction of the modern banknote production.


THE HISTORICAL & FOLKLORIC MUSEUM

This museum is housed in a traditional house in the village of Sinarades, 12 kilometres away of Corfu Town. The museum has two sections: the first part consists of a reconstruction of the interior of a 19th century house, with the traditional kitchen, dining room, bedroom and all the original utensils, decoration and furniture of the epoch. The second part contains a collection of traditional and local every day objects, tools, costumes, instruments and many other interior’s and exterior’s house items.


THE MUNICIPAL GALLERY

The Municipal Gallery houses a wide collection of donated works from famous Corfiot artists from the 19th century including Pachis, Haralambos, Pavlos Prossalendis, Angelos Giallinas, Skarvelis, Koyevinas, Samartxis.


KAPODISTRIAS MUSEUM

The Kapodistrias museum is dedicated to the first president of the modern Greek state, John Kapodistrias.


THE NATIONAL ART GALLERY

The National Art Gallery “Alexandros Soutzos” features Art Exhibitions from a variety of renowned artists, both Greek and international. The gallery is accommodated in the “Castello”, a building of historical importance, in the heart of Kato Korakiana Village.