In the heart of the old town of Corfu, the visitor will stop to photograph an imposing, towered bell tower, a historical monument preserved for about 7 centuries. It is the Venetian bell tower of “Annunciata”, a Catholic church dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and Saint Lucia. In the upper part of the bell tower, on each side, there are bilobed openings, while on one side, the emblem of Corfu or the trireme, carved on a marble slab, is placed.

The German bombings on September 14, 1943, caused serious damage to the Catholic church, but the bell tower remained unscathed. With an unjustified decision for the people of Corfu, in 1953 during the mayorship of Stamatios Dessylas, the church was demolished instead of being repaired. As the years went by, the need to maintain the bell tower was pressing, at the moment when with YA 2258/4-2-1966 – Official Gazette 175/B/26-3-1966 it was decided to declare it as a historical preserved monument.

It is said that originally it also served as an observatory

Historical sources state that Annunziata was built with money and land of the Neapolitan captain Petro Capece.

It was dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin, because March 25 coincided with the founding date of the Venetian Republic. The inauguration of the temple took place in 1394 and it was handed over to Augustinian monks. The Catholic church emerged as the most important Latin religious center in Corfu.

Historian and researcher Gerasimos Dimoulas, cites to APE-MPE important information from surviving accounts, as well as other archives.

In the handover document to the Augustinian Monks, the location of the church was defined, between the heights of Agios Athanasios and Agioi Pateros, i.e. in a section of the current Evgeniou Voulgareos street. It was a complex of considerable size, with buildings around the courtyard that opened next to the catholicon, while there was also a cemetery where many Venetian officials were buried.

At that time, Latin residents, soldiers and travelers gathered there to witness the divine service. From 1406 onwards, Venice entrusted the protection and supervision of the temple to the Vailo (city governor). The church suffered considerable damage in 1537 and was completely renovated in 1542. Annunciata had considerable real estate.

According to data obtained from the Latin Archdiocese, in 1571 the roof was repaired, while modifications were made in the period 1668-70. Perhaps then, the spire took its final present form. During the renovation, the ceiling was decorated with 28 paintings by Rigoni, while icons were created by the well-known painter and icon painter Poulakis Theodoros with his brother.

A burial slab of 1611 or 1612 and some surviving inscriptions were transferred to the Duomo, the Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, while a surviving relief slab on the wall next to the bell tower bore an inscription that was destroyed in 1798 by the French.

During democratic French rule, the buildings of Annunziata were sold off, on the plot of one, the Stock Exchange was built in 1841 according to plans by Yannis Chronis. Repairs were also made in 1916. After the disaster in 1943 and the demolition in 1953, most of the complex was expropriated.

Today, Annunciata is also characterized as a monument of pan-European importance, because it was associated with the great naval battle of Nafpaktos in 1571 between the fleets of the Holy Alliance, i.e. Venice, Spain, Naples, Sicily, Genoa and Malta against the fleet of Ottoman. Fighters who lost their lives in the naval battle were buried in the cemetery of the Catholic Church. In areas owned by the temple, they were accommodated in rehabilitation units for the wounded of the naval battle, among them the Spanish national poet Miguel Cervantes.

One month ago, the project for the restoration of the Bell Tower of the former Catholic Church of Evangelistria “Annunziata”, which was included in the “Ionian Islands 2014-2020” Operational Program, was completed.