Kassiopi Castle

Kassiopi Castle sits on a headland above the harbour of Kassiopi, a fishing village on the north-east coast of Corfu, in the Ionian Islands of Greece. The location faces the Albanian coast across the narrow channel, which gave the site strategic value from antiquity. Kassiopi was an important settlement in Roman times, and the castle is generally attributed to the Byzantine period, with later alterations. It was contested in the Middle Ages: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard's son Bohemond attacked the island in the 11th century, and the Angevins, who held Corfu in the 13th and 14th centuries, repaired and used the fortress. The Venetians took control of Corfu in 1386, and the castle was dismantled in the 16th century as the island's defences were concentrated in the town.

What survives today is a ruin of walls and towers enclosing an irregular area on the hill. The stonework combines Byzantine and later Angevin masonry, with sections of curtain wall, remains of towers and a gate. Inside the enclosure there is little standing architecture, and the area is partly overgrown, which gives the visit an informal character. Parts of the walls are better preserved on the seaward side, where they follow the edge of the headland. A footpath leads up from the village, and some sections are easy to follow while others are uneven.

The site is open to visitors without a ticket or formal opening hours, and there is no museum or on-site interpretation, so visitors rely on the setting rather than exhibits. The views from the headland take in the harbour, the coast and the mountains of Albania. The castle has not been extensively restored, and its condition is that of a consolidated ruin. Because it lies within the village, it fits easily into a stroll around Kassiopi, which also has the remains of a Byzantine church and a Roman-era past.