gerassimos pagratis, archival research and "exploration" in the island of corfu

8/3/2019 Gerassimos Pagratis, Archival Research and "Exploration" in the Island of Corfu

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RESEARCHI~G VEN IC E ~HE

A rchiv I R ese rch nd " " th e Is i nd of Corf The traces of the long Venetian domi-natlon Corfu (1204-1214 and 1386-1797) are vlsible lts visitors as soonas they anive, either by boat, whichconnects the port of the northemmost island wlth tlle Greek malnland(1.5 hours from Igoumenltsa) and theItalian coasts (approximately 24 hoursfrom Venice, 19 hours from Ancona,7-8 hours from Barl and Brlndisi) by ai plane, lntemational anddomestic flights (from Athens andThessaloniki) .

The two , around whichthe defenses of the fonner headqU!!-ters of the provve(litore gener l dm r were st uctured, dominate theurban landscape of Corfu and con-tribute significantly shaping thearchitectural physiognomy of the oldcity. But a tour round the historic cen-tre of Corfu reveals that the influencesfrom Britlsh IUle (1815-1864) areequally strong. Spianada (Esplanade),the square vvhich tlle Venetlans began lay from the second decade ofthe sixteenth century, as empty groundbetween the Old Fortress and theborgo, vvhere hostile armies besieg-lng the lsland would be exposed toVenetlan cannon fire, ls the ideal place observe the coexistence of Venetianand Brltish influences the cityscapeofCorfu.

the ll011hside of Spianadastands the palace of the British HighCo unissioner, completed by GeorgeWhitmore 1819, \vhich today housesthe Museum of Aslan . . In tl1esouthem part stands a building whichwas the seat of the Ionian Academy,the first unlversity Greece, founded 1824 the initiatlve of FrederlckNorth, Earl of Guilford; during the Ve-netian dominion the military barracks,named Pasualigo, stood here. theeast side of Spianada ls the Old For-tress, which today houses the GeneralState Archives of Corfu (GSAC),

vvhich there are almost 11 linear ofdocuments essential knowledgeof tl1e island's history.

The GSAC, kept a build-ing which \vas the ba acks of Brltlshsoldiers the nlneteenth century,has a long history. Its foundation wasdecided 1443, when the VenetianSenate complied witl1 the request ofthe Communlty of Corfu to set anarchive of documents eatng to themanagement of affairs by the localauthorities and the privileges of tl1eJocal Communlty. It was agreed thatthese documents would be kept the of the Venetlan b ilo (thisbuilding presently houses an elemen-tary school, Psoroula Square).

Altl10ugh tl1eGSAC includes parch-ments from the fourteentl1 century andnumerous other documents from thefifteenth, the bulk of the material datesfrom after 1540, slnce many earliel"documents were destroyed dU1ing theOttoman siege August 1537. Apartfrom the rich notarial archive contaln-lng 3,262 files and over 10,000 wills,wmch documents are written mainly inGreek and a small percentage Ital-an, more rewarding archival series fOl"those who are better prepared to studyItalian manusClipts are:

a) Enhorios Di heirissis (DomesticAdmlnistration), consisting of 2,295files, which refer inter alia the man-agement of the property of the Ortho-dox and the Catl101icChurch du ngand after the end of the Venetian rule(1386-1926);

b) Enetokr ti (Venetian Domin- ), consisting of 108 files, whichmake the arcmves of tl1eCommu-nity of Corfu (1386-1797);

c) Enetiki Dioikissi (Venetlan Ad-minlstratlon), consistlng of 1,261 files,including declslons of tl1eVenetlangovemment, local (reggimento) andcentral, as well as court proceedings;

d) Of special lnterest to thosestudying economlcs and demogIaphicsls the archive of the S nit of ,consisting of 473 files spanning theyears 1673 1858 and incIuding deathcertificates, health ce tficates pas-sengers and ships, lists of departuIesand arrivals of passengers and ships,conespondence, etc.;

e) Ar equally lmportant archive the historica! demography of the lslandare the 335 files held by the Orthodoxchurches of Corfu, covering the periodfrom 1650 to 1858 and recording theregistering of baptisms, ma ages anddeaths.

large part of the arcmval materialIelatlng to subsequent periods, untiltl1e of the Islands wlth theGreek State (1864), ls written Ital-lan, as this was for centU es the llanguage which the-islandeIs weretralned at a higher leve!.

In geneIal, research tl1earchivesof Corfu ls invaluable for confi ningand/or enriching ihformation issuesalready studied the archives of Ven-ice. These concem l the historyof Corfu of the Ionlan Islands, butalso of other areas of wideI" geo-graphical lnterest. This ls because thell011hemmost lsland the an Sea,having tl1e function of a main admin-lstratlve and commeIcial ce t e of theVenetian St to d M r, \vas a common of call { those traveling fromthe Domin nte the Levant and vlceversa. Given these conditlons, Corfumay be seen as a sultable observa-tory fOl"monltorlng actl ltles of muchlargel" ambit tl1an the local-regional.

corning ! of the archives ofCorfu, ls a good idea take a bIeakat the cafe-bar and restaurant ' dFortIess." It is built the slte of theseat of the Venetlan provveditore etc pit no, which \vas destroyed 1943, when the lsland was bombed

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relentlessly by the Gennan Luftwaffe,and offers a superb view to the southof the island and the coast of .

Recommended next is a visit to thePublic Library, which is a continua- of the GSAC building, occupyinga space of about 1,800 sq. metres. It one of the oldest public librares Greece and in its checkered history hasbeen housed varous premises andhas survived major disasters, such asthe bombardment of 1943. Neverthe-less, its shelves hold numerous oldbooks relating to the history and cul-ture of Corfu. Furthermore, remainsopen untillate aftemoon, facilitatingthe work of researchers, contrast the GSAC, which closes for research-ers at 13:00.

Tbe Old Fortress, wben the vveatherpermits, offers more activiries, such asswimming and snorkeling along tbeMandraki beach, a_few metres avvayfrom the naval port of the Venetians,which tbe early sixteenth centurywas able accommodate ten galleysand a host of small boats. Cu ently,Mandraki ls a marina yachts andthere is a nlce restaurant where the gal-leys once anchored.

The exlt from the Old Fortressb ngs you back to Spianada, vvhich,vvhen does rain - something rare Corfu f Omautum early sum-mer - has a festive ai, vvlth colorfulnature as the main star. Around andbehind Spianada there are severalsmall hotels, which ha:ve the advantageof being wlthin \valking distance ofthe archives and libraries, as well asthe histOlical centre of the to,vn, wlthlts lively nightlife. So, you can avoidtIansportation by bus by car themomings, to mentlon the headacheof parking, and gain valuable tlme forIesearch the archives.

TheIe are a!so many restaurantsand cafes around Spianada. In sprlngand summer some of them ser e thebeverage tsisibira (ginger beer), ahe tage of the BIltlsh rule, as well as

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and liquell made f Omknm-quat, a small fnit resembling thetange ne, the trees of ,vhich are also aBritlsh import from China.

the main street of Spianada,wlth lts arcades constructed theyears of the fiIst French domlnatlon(1797 -1799), many streets lead off the beart of the o!d town. These arefilled with shops se!ling souvenlrs andstores sering daily commerclal trafficthroughout the year. The old town home numerous cafes and restau-rants, in smal! picturesque squa esformed between tbe rnultl-story build-lngs of the Venetlan and tsh ,such as the beautiful Kafe(Small Cafe) St Basil's Square.

the nortb side of Spianada, ashort distance from the f01mer pa!aceof the Brltisb High CommissioneIS, lsthe Reading Soclety of Corfu (RSC),,vhich was founded 1836, followingthe mode! of the Soclete de Lecture deGeneve. Apart from a rlch collection ofpaintings of landscapes of Corfu, theRSC has valuab!e collectlons of mapsand engravings, a.nd a great collectlo.nof about 7,000 books of Ionian nte estdating from the seventeenth century.Equally impOl1:antare the dozens ofarchives of hist cal, economic andartisric interest, acqu ed by the RSCthrough donatlons and U chases.Outstanding among them is an archiveconslsting of hundreds of letters of peI-sonal interest tten by addressed Frederick North, a of Guil-ford. Furthermore, the RSC archivesincludes a collectlon of some 1,000flyers-pamph1ets, many of which a eextremely rare, such as the Nelson'sproclamarion the Ionlan Islanders 9 October 1798.

Founded more less concu entlywith the RSC (1840) vvasthe CorfuPhilharmonlc Society, known as theOld Philharmonic, one of the eighteentbat cuuently exlst the island, fourof them to\vn. Recently the OldPhilharmonlc acqu ed lts Museum

and Archive "Nikolaos HalikiopoulosMantzaros," which include many docu-ments efe ing only lts adm.inls-tratlve history, but also the -tlons between Greek and Ionlan muslc

. and Italian music dU ng the nineteenthand the early twentieth century.

the point where the historicalcentre ends and the new town of Corfubegins is Saroko Square (named afterthe f011:San Rocco). few beyond the square, at 72 IoannouTheotoki St, ls he Ionlan U e sty,established 1985 and comprisingslx departments, lncluding the Depart-ment of History and the Departrnentof Archival and Library Sciences. TheLibIal"y of the Ionlan UniveIsity, ad-ditlon its typical academic holdings,includes most of the books ,v tte the history a.nd culture of the IonlanIslands.

question mark still exists as the exact content of the archives of theHoly Metropolis of Corfu and Paxos,\>vhichrepresent the Orthodox ChuIch.And this because the indexing of theil"contents the basls of archival nOImsand the opening of them reseaIchersdo seem to be a rt .

The archives of the CatholicAIchdiocese of C01fu lnclude but asmal1 numbeI" of files of demographiccharacter (17th-20th cent.), mainly"be-cause the building of the Archdiocese,including its archive, was destroyed the evening of 14 September 1943.

The leseaIchershould expect find the archives of the Jewlsh com-munity. A!though it was believed thatthese ,vere completely destroyed 1943, there ls recent-info nation, yetunconfi ned, that the archives of theJewish community at least a partof these, were sold the 1960s albrary Israel.

Archives and librarles outsidethe city are few. Some ofthem areknown and documented, such as the ch "George Theotoky" library and

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RESEARCHING VENICE

a chve Roppa, whe eas others,because they a e family aIchives, aregUaJ:dedjealousy the "curiosity"of Iesearchers by theI cunent owners. , archives are associated \>viththe administration of a feudatory thecountryside and Co. futovvn.

OccasionaIly, archives of this kind"are discoveIed" unexpectedly, suchas during the of old houses,when the ovvneIS find eighteenth- andnineteenth-century documents usedas insulating mateIial under inside walls. In otheI cases, manu- have been discovered stablesand hencoops, WheIe they WeIe usedto incubate eggs and chickens theInests.

For historians of the Venetian State,[egardless of theil' individual interests,a visit to the Venetian shipyard of theis!and, which relativelygood condition at Gouvia (Govino),app. Oximate!y 11 km from town,is well worth the effort. The COIfiotAIsenale was built the fi st ha!f ofthe eighteenth century, as part of thenew mi!itaJOYort of Gouvia (Govino),but the Venetians did not persist itsfunction, and quick!y changed p!ansand abandoned it.

the northwest part of the is!and,above the village of Pa!eokastIitsa, acast!e, knovvn as Angelokastro, vvasbl1ilt top of a steep cliff, p. Obably the Late Byzantine period. TheVenetians invested large sums itsmaintenance and Ieinforcement, sinceit was a [efuge fOI the inhabitantsof neighbol1Iing villages dl1ring thefIequent pIate raids the island. TheByzantine cast!e of Gardiki, only theouter vvalls of which still stand the village of Agios Mattheos, thesouthwest coast of the is!and, served asimi!ar purpose.

Just beyond the \>vallsof Gardiki!ies a lovely sandy beach, vvhich theIesearcheI' has to visit; the combina-tion of archival [esearch with explor-ing beautiful beaches and gorgeous

!andscapes is high!y recommended!Corfu is a magnet fOImass touIismand is largely adapted to the aestheticstandards of the !ess demanding of itsvisitors. Nonethe!ess, a short distanceinland, particlar!y places whichstill resists tourist development, thereare many p!easant , both thenatuIal and the bui!t landscape. Goodexamp!es are the villages situated atthe foot of Mount Pantok. ator (900 m.a.s.l.), the north of the is!and.

pIereql1isite for enjoying all typesof ''. esearches'' is to visit the island sp ng ear!y autumn. Inany case, you shold avoid the Easterholidays and the first three weeks ofAugust (the GSAC are closed fOI thewhole of August), when the islandhosts a poplation much larger than itspotentia!, with all the consequences 'the unprepared.

ARCHIVES, LIBRARIES ANDMUSEUMSGeneral State A. chives, Old Fortress,C fu,49100, tel. 0030266138193,website: htt :llgak.ke .sch.gl, e-mail:[email protected] .sch.gr.Public Libraoy of , O!d Fortress,Co. fu,49100, tel. 00302661038583,\>vebsite:www.bc rfu.g , e-mail:info@libco. fu.gr.Reading Society of Corfu, 120 Ka- St, tel. 00302661033297,website: http://www.anagnostikicorfu.com/index.asp, e-mail: [email protected] Philarmonic Society, 10 Niki-forou Theotoki St, Corfu 49100, tel.00302661039289, vvebsite: www.fek.gr, e-mail: [email protected] A. chdiocese of Corfu, 1Agiou A. seniouSt, Corfu 4910, tel.00302661039912, website: ht tp://w \>vw .. n co rfu .g r/, e-mail: [email protected].

Catho!ic A. chdiocese of Co. fu,3Montsenigou St, Corfu 49100, tel.00302661030277 , website: ht tp:/ /www.cath !C-C!lU ch-cOlfu. rg, e-mail: [email protected] , 44, Kapodistriou St,49100, tel. 00302661037670, e-mail:info@arcadionhote!.com.Hote! Konstantinoupo!is, 11 Zavit-sianou St, 49100, tel. 0030266148716,\>vww.konstantinoupo!is.com.gr.Hote! Bella Venezia, 4 . Zambeli St,Corfu town, 49100, tel:00302661046500, e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] COIfu Palace, 2 Leofo- Dimok. atias, COIfu, 49100,00302661023926, e-mail: c f [email protected] ssimos D. P gr tsUniversity / Athens

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE at ca Fortini Dept. oj Art & ArcheologyPrinceton UniversityRobert c. DavisDepartment ! HistoryThe Ohio State UniversityPaul GrendlerEmeritus Projessor ! HistoryUniversity ojTorontoEdward MuirDepartment ! HistoryNorthwestern UniversityEDITOREric DurstelerDepartment oj HistoryBrigham Yottng University

Published with the support ! tlleGladys Krieble Delmas FoLtndaton, The EvansFoundaton, and the Department ! History tBrigham YoLtngUniversity.For injorm ton, contact:News on the RialtoProvo, 84602 USATel. (801) 361-2904F x (801) [email protected] or www.newsontherialto.com

gerassimos pagratis, archival research and "exploration" in the island of corfu

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