Corfu Town packs centuries of Venetian, British and Greek history into a few streets between the harbour and the Spianada, the great open square on the edge of the old town. This guide picks out five places along one walk: a statue of the man who became Greece's first head of state, a Venetian loggia that became a theatre and then a town hall, a bell tower that outlived its church, a house where a 19th-century noble family comes to life, and a British palace filled with Asian art. All five are stops on our scavenger hunt.
Statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias
The marble statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias stands near the Spianada, at the start of the street named after him. Kapodistrias was born in Corfu in 1776, made a career in Russian service, rising to become joint foreign minister of the Russian Empire, and in 1828 became the first governor of independent Greece. He was assassinated in Nafplio in 1831. For Corfiots he is the island's most famous son, and his statue is the place where our scavenger hunt begins. The Kapodistrias name turns up all over the town, on streets, schools and the university.
Old Town Hall (San Giacomo Theatre)
The stone building on Town Hall Square began life in the Venetian period as the Loggia dei Nobili, a meeting place for the island's nobility, finished in 1693. In 1720 it was turned into a theatre, the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo, and from 1733 operas were staged here, some of the first in what is now Greece. For more than a century it was the centre of the island's musical life. Around the end of the 19th century it became the town hall, and Corfiots still call it San Giacomo. It is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- The arches of the ground floor, a reminder that the building began as an open loggia.
- Town Hall Square itself, laid out on a slope with steps, and the Catholic Cathedral of Saints James and Christopher on its upper side.
Bell tower of the Annunziata
In the old town stands a bell tower without a church. It belonged to the Catholic monastery church of the Annunziata, known in Greek as Evangelistria, founded in the late 14th century. The site is linked with the Battle of Lepanto of 1571: men who fell in the battle were buried here, and their remains were found on the site. German bombing destroyed the church in 1943, and only the tower was left standing. After about five years under scaffolding, the restored tower was uncovered in 2025. Today it stands on its own in a small open space, its plain stonework easy to miss among the shops around it. It is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
Casa Parlante
Casa Parlante, Italian for 'talking house', is a small museum in a neoclassical mansion on Nikiforou Theotoki Street. It was opened in 2014 by Katerina Rantou and her daughter Theodora Efthimiou and recreates the home of a noble Corfiot family of the 19th century. Animated figures in period costume, the count and countess, their children, the grandparents and the servants, move and speak as you go from room to room, while the furniture, paintings and objects around them are genuine. It is a scavenger hunt stop and a good choice if you are travelling with children.
- The drawing room, where the countess receives her guests for tea.
- The count's study, the kitchen and the children's music lesson.
Museum of Asian Art
At the northern end of the Spianada stands the Palace of St Michael and St George, built between 1819 and 1824 for the British, who ruled the Ionian Islands at the time. Designed by George Whitmore, it was the residence of the Lord High Commissioner, the seat of the Ionian Senate and the home of the Order of St Michael and St George. Its long colonnaded front in pale Maltese stone looks quite unlike anything else in Corfu.
Since 1927 the palace has housed the Museum of Asian Art. It began with the collection of the diplomat Gregorios Manos, who gave his Chinese and Japanese pieces to the Greek state, and later gifts added art from India, Tibet, Korea and other parts of Asia. It is the only museum in Greece devoted to Asian art, and a stop on our scavenger hunt.
- The Doric colonnade along the front and the two gateways at either end, named after St Michael and St George.
- The statue of Sir Frederick Adam, the second Lord High Commissioner, standing in a pool in front of the palace.
- The state rooms upstairs, including the former throne room, which you see on your way through the museum.
How to see them in one walk
Start at the Kapodistrias statue by the Spianada and walk into the old town by way of Ionian Parliament Square. From Town Hall Square, follow the lanes to Nikiforou Theotoki Street for the Annunziata bell tower and Casa Parlante, then continue past the Church of Saint Spyridon, with its red-domed bell tower, to the Palace of St Michael and St George. From there, walk back along the arcades of the Liston and across the Spianada towards the Old Fortress, where the route ends. The old town is a maze of narrow lanes, the kantounia, so keep an eye on the street signs as you go.
See Corfu with World City Trail
Our Corfu scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from the Kapodistrias statue to the Old Fortress, and all five places in this guide are among them, along with Saint Spyridon, the Liston and the Spianada. At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Corfu.
Play the Corfu scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Corfu →
Play the outdoor escape game in Corfu →
Facts checked in October 2026.