Church of Saint Spyridon

The Church of Saint Spyridon stands on Agiou Spyridonos Street in the Old Town of Corfu in Kerkyra, Greece, and is dedicated to the island's patron saint. It was built in 1589 and is easy to find from afar thanks to its red-domed campanile, the tallest in the Ionian Islands, which rises above the surrounding rooftops and lanes. Inside, a single-nave Orthodox interior is richly decorated with gilded fittings, painted ceiling panels and hanging silver lamps, many of them offered by sailors and families as votive gifts. The main focus for pilgrims is the silver casket in a side chapel, which holds the relics of Saint Spyridon, a 4th-century bishop of Cyprus whose body was brought to Corfu after the fall of Constantinople. Worshippers queue to bow and kiss the casket, and the church is busy with local devotion at most hours. The relics are carried through the town four times a year in processions, tied to events including Palm Sunday, Holy Saturday, a summer procession on 11 August and a November procession, in which the whole community and the town's philharmonic bands take part. Visitors should dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and behave quietly, as services are held regularly and photography can be restricted near the relics. A visit takes about 20 to 30 minutes if the church is not crowded. The best time is in the morning outside service hours, when the interior is calm and light falls on the painted ceiling. The church is busiest on the saint's feast days and during Easter week, when queues extend into the street. Entry is free, though donations are welcome. The location, a four-minute walk from the Liston, makes it a natural stop on a walk through the Old Town, together with the nearby cathedral and the Campiello quarter.