By Nicolas Bard

The Church of St. Spyridon is located in the heart of the beautiful Corfu, a breath away from Spianada and the multi -photographed pedestrian street “Liston”, and is undoubtedly the most famous church on the island and at the same time the largest religious pilgrimage.

The church was built on the 1580s and inside it is kept the scene of Saint Spyridonwhich comes to worship people from all over Greece and the world. It is a one -room basilica, with its iconic belfry, 40 meters high, standing out from afar.

According to tradition, in 1489, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the relics of St. Spyridon and St. Theodora were transferred to Corfu by Constantinople by the Greek priest George Kalohaereti, who was wealthy. Later, when Asimina’s daughter married one of the Bulgarian family’s son in Corfu, she was given the relic of the saint as part of her dowry.

Then the relics of the saint Spyridon were housed in a private temple of the Bulgarian family. The Bulgarian church was in San Rokko, a suburb of Corfu, but it had to be demolished when the Venetians built the outer forts of the city to protect the central fortress, after the first major siege of Corfu by the Ottomans in 1537. them, in a new church built within the city’s fortifications in the area of ​​Campielo. The plan of the bell tower of the Church is appropriate to that of the modern Greek Orthodox Church of St. George of the Greeks in Venice.

Inside the church there is a crypt on the right side of the iconostasis, where the saint of the saint in double sarcophagus. The largest of the two contains the smallest and is wooden with silver lining. The smaller sarcophagus is covered with red velvet and has a removable bottom to facilitate the change of the Saint’s pantheums. The lack of any underground chamber to house the relics of the saint was deliberate, with the aim of being accessible to the faithful. In the crypt they hang from the ceiling 53 threats, 18 of which are gold and the rest of silver.

The facade of the marble iconostasis resembles the outer entrance of a Baroque style church. The roof of the church is divided into sections depicting scenes from the life and miracles of St. Spyridon. The original painter of the roof of the church was Panagiotis Doxaras who painted the works in the distant 1727. Over time, Doxaras’ paintings rotted and were subsequently replaced by copies designed by Nikolaos Aspiotis, a member of the family. The only trace left of the work of Doxaras is the gold -plated outline of hagiography.

In this beautiful and historic church they flock daily crowdsto pray and ask for the blessing of the saint. Saint Spyridon celebrates December 12, and on August 11th the miracle of the Saint is celebrated. Going there you will undoubtedly feel the powerful energy of the space, while the love of the world towards the face of the saint will move you.