Μνημεία της νεώτερης Κέρκυρας
Προβολή/ Άνοιγμα
Συγγραφέας
Καλλιγάς, Π.Ημερομηνία
1967Γλώσσα
el
Εκδότης
Υπηρεσία Αρχαιοτήτων και Αναστηλώσεως
Λέξη-κλειδί
Βιβλιογραφικά στοιχεία
Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον, 1966, Τόμος 21, Μελέται/Μέρος Α’, 158-162.
Πρόσβαση
ελεύθερη
Τίτλος περιοδικού
Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον
Επιτομή
In 1630-31, a palazzo was built for one of the counsellors in the recently fortified
(late 16th century) city of Corfu. A year later, it became the official residence
of the Latin Archbishops of the island. Among the first residents, Archbishop
Carolus Labia (1659-1678) was responsible for most of the building’s embellishments.
In the Vatican there exists a picture by a Greek painter, commissioned
by Archbishop Angelo Maria Quirini (1724-1727), which depicts the main hall
on the ground floor.
The building was destroyed by an earthquake (1743 and 1745) and rebuilt
«e fundamentis» by the Archbishop Antonio Nani in 1754. It bears quite a close
resemblance to the former building, as shown in the plans in the city’s inventory
book (1771 ?)
After the French, under Napoleon, had expelled the Latin Archbishop (1797),
the palazzo was used for municipal meetings (Demarchia). A few years later, the
first Greek Orthodox Metropolitan was elected under its roof (1799-1800).
The British were the first to use the building for judiciary purposes. A number
of improvements and alterations were made at the time. As far back as 1836, Major
Me. Niven, to whom we owe a fine panoramic view of the city, marked it as «Palace
of Justice». It was in this capacity that it was used after the Seven Islands’
Union with Greece, until its destruction in the last war (1943).
Recently purchased by the Bank of Greece for the purpose of housing its Corfu
Branch, it now awaits restoration and reintegration in the life of the city.