The
Corfiots are cultured people with a great heritage of music and
arts.
The island boasts no less than thirty-two philharmonic bands, three
of which are established in the town, and give regular outdoor
concerts during the summer months.
Opera became a favourite musical form of entertainment in Venetian
times, and performances are greatly appreciated even today. As a
proverb of the last century went, "to be applauded in Corfu is to be
sure of international success”.
The many art galleries have permanent and changing exhibitions by
artists of international as well as local fame. Today, the modern
theatre and various romantic outdoor locations serve as venue for a
great variety of events, from rock concerts to displays of
contemporary dance, from performances by the island's symphony
orchestra to theatrical works of tragedy and comedy.
In
Corfu the past lives in the present. Events which have been
celebrated for hundreds of years are still enjoyed, in the
traditional way.
For centuries, the year has been defined by the passage of
significant days and celebrations. The four annual processions of
the island's patron saint, Spiridon, are well-loved occasions, and
the two which occur at Easter are part of an extensive calendar of
religious and cultural activities, including traditions such as the
Easter Saturday morning (11 am.) “pot-throwing” ceremony.
Summer sees many festivals, with traditional music and dances, while
succulent lambs roasting on a spit scent the warm night air. The
Corfiots love festivities, but they also take their Greek Orthodox
religion seriously. The basis of Orthodox dogma, established in 733
by the Emperor Leonta, who took the Church of Western Greece out of
the authority of the Pope and gave it to the Patriarch in
Constantinople, was still in place at the close of the 9th century.
The
Episcopal Throne of Corfu, dependent until then on the Archbishopric
of Nicopolis, itself became an Archbishopric, with direct dependence
on the incumbent Patriarch. This period continued in the 12th
century with the Golden Bull of Emanuel Comnenus I, who provided
special prerogatives and tax exemptions to two groups of priests,
consisting of 33 members each. The first group was a political
company of 33 priests from the country who were exempted from every
tax imposed by the Emperor or local authorities, could freely sell
their merchandise and were exempt from forced labour. In return they
had to pray for Orthodox sovereigns. They were called Lefteriotes to
differentiate them from their neighbours in slavery, and from this
comes the surname Lefteriotis, which is common in the Corfu
countryside. The second group was the Holy Order, consisting of 32
priests of the town and one layman, who were called Pythagorians and
had the same rights and obligations as the Lefteriotes.
Almost two thousand years of religious tradition is manifest in the
richly endowed ecclesiastical buildings with their stunning icons,
in tiny, inaccessible chapels where a candle always burns, and in
the pristine, white-washed of monasteries where black-clad monks
reside.
The
Corfiots are cultured people with a great heritage of music and
arts.
In
Corfu the past lives in the present. Events which have been
celebrated for hundreds of years are still enjoyed, in the
traditional way.
The
Episcopal Throne of Corfu, dependent until then on the Archbishopric
of Nicopolis, itself became an Archbishopric, with direct dependence
on the incumbent Patriarch. This period continued in the 12th
century with the Golden Bull of Emanuel Comnenus I, who provided
special prerogatives and tax exemptions to two groups of priests,
consisting of 33 members each. The first group was a political
company of 33 priests from the country who were exempted from every
tax imposed by the Emperor or local authorities, could freely sell
their merchandise and were exempt from forced labour. In return they
had to pray for Orthodox sovereigns. They were called Lefteriotes to
differentiate them from their neighbours in slavery, and from this
comes the surname Lefteriotis, which is common in the Corfu
countryside. The second group was the Holy Order, consisting of 32
priests of the town and one layman, who were called Pythagorians and
had the same rights and obligations as the Lefteriotes.