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Corfu museums - Information about the GREECE CORFU museums

The ARCHAELOGICAL Museum of CORFU
In the Garitsa quarter, a pleasant 15 minute walk from the Old Town, this museum displays some of the archaeological finds unearthed on the island. Pride of place goes to the fabulous Gorgon Pediment, a 5th Century BC carving which once adorned the Temple of Artemis at Kanoni. This is one of the best preserved Archaic sculptures in Greece. The 56 foot long frieze depicts the snake-haired gorgon, Medusa, flanked by giant lion-like figures and her children, Chrysaor, and (almost invisible) Pegasus, the flying horse. Other important exhibits include three funerary monuments from the cemetery of the ancient town of Corfu dating from the 6th century BC. One of the most beautiful exhibits in the museum is the archaic lion which was found near Menecrates' tomb and which dates from the 7th century BC. There are also finds from the temple of Hera and the temple of Apollo which were found on the Mon Repos estate. There is also a large collection of Corcyran coins.

The FOLKLORICc Museum of CORFU
The museum was established by the Historical and Folkloric Society of Corfu in 1982. It is housed in a traditional building in the village of Sinarades, 12 km west of Corfu town. The whole museum is a reproduction of a middle-class village home of the 19th century. On the ground-floor is a huge room housing old tools and household effects. The first floor consists of the kitchen, sitting-room and bedroom with their original decoration and furnishings. On the second floor visitors will find a study with books and a collection of old documents that have been donated to the museum. On the same floor there are various Corfiot holiday costumes and musical instruments, farming tools, a cobbler's workbench, ceramics, fishing equipment, a children's corner with a shadow puppet show and various tools

The CORFU Museum of ASIAN ART
A rich and highly interesting collection of objects d’art, mostly Chinese and Japanese, is on display on the first floor of the Palace of St. Michael and St. George. This collection was presented to the Greek Government in 1928 and consists of 10.000 items. The collection includes some beautiful bronze wares of the Chou (1027-256 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) dynasties. The classical period of Chinese art is represented by a great variety of porcelain of Sung (960-1276), Ming (1368-1644) and Ch’ing (1644-1912) dynasties. The Japanese collection contains much more porcelain ware, wooden masks of the “No” theatre, suits of Samurai armor, Utamaro wood-cuts, beautiful eighteenth century silk and rice paper Kakemonos, and books illustrated with prints. The collection has been recently enriched by a donation, comprising four hundred and fifty interesting items.


The BYZANTINE Museum of CORFU
This museum is one of the most significant in GREECE. It is housed in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Antivouniotissa where a wide flight of steps leads up from Arseniu Street. The church has been entrusted to the Greek state by the owners, along with its numerous icons, frescoes and paintings (whose authors and titles we mention in the part Fine Arts of this web site) and rich collection of silver, which carried out extensive restoration and redecoration in preparation for the New Museum. The church is a single-nave basilica surrounded by a narthex on three sides, which constitutes a unique feature of Church architecture in CORFU. Several silver lamps hang from the ceiling, which is divided into richly decorated caissons.


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