Greece · 16th century
The New Fortress of Corfu (Greek: Νέο Φρούριο; Venetian: Fortezza Nuova) is a Venetian fortress built on the hill of St. Mark in Corfu in stages. The original architect of the fort was the military engineer Ferrante Vitelli. The current buildings which exist within the fortress were built by the British during their rule of the island (1815–63).
At the top of the castle there is a stone building which was used for defence and a brick building which in modern times functions as the headquarters of the Naval Station of Corfu. The Venetian fortifications were later expanded by the British and the French to help defend against a possible Turkish attack. Its fortifications included 700 pieces of artillery with range estimated as far as the Albanian coast.
Text adapted from “New Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Corfu New Fortress ranks #1,966 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #37 of the 134 mapped in Greece. Founded 1572, it is older than 35% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,200 times in the last 60 days, more than 71% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Ioannina, 80 km away. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.
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