Mantouki: The old industrial working class suburb of Corfu Town

Mantouki - one of the oldest suburbs of Corfu Town, 'borgo' in the old Venetian language. It was an autonomous district, located in the northwest of the old Corfu Town and it has been existed prior to the fortification of the town in 1588. When Heraklion in Crete fell in 1669, many residents of Crete migrated to Mandouki. In the later years, the district welcomed refugees from Peloponesus and Parga. Mandouki's residents were fishermen, ferrymen and they many of them also had been involved in the ship repairing bussiness. In the 19th century, some factories had been established in the area because there were plenty of workers available. Those factories produced oil, ceramics, soaps and there was a tannery as well. In the 1960s though, those factories started to close as a result of tourism.

The architecture of Mandouki is typical Venetian. It is an interesting area despite the fact that for many years it has been negleted by local authorities. This is slowly come to an end - many bars opened in the newly pedestrianized Ksenofontos Stratigou, the main street of Mandouki.

- A Google map for Mantouki:

Let's start our journey through the pictures:

- The newly pedestrenized Ksenofontos Stratigou street:

- Typical lower middle class houses:

- Derelict factory:




- Ancient arcade:

- In detail:


- Here once was the Zafiropoulos Pasta factory:





-Dereliction:

- Arcades: a common architecture feature in Corfu

- Old block of apartments:

- Alleys:

- Probably a storage building:

- Mantouki's housing estate for the working class:

- Platitera monastery - in its cemetery, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Governor of Greece, was interred.