now Corfu, an island in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Epirus, from which it is separated by a strait varying in breadth from two to fifteen miles. At its northern extremity, where its breadth is greatest, Coreya is about twenty miles broad; half-way between the cities of Casslope and Coreya it contracts to about a third of that width; at Coreya it again expands to about twelve miles; from Coreya southwards the average breadth of the island is only three miles; length from north to south nearly forty miles; total area 227 square miles. The northern part of the island is intersected from east to west by a chain of mountains, the highest peak of which, San Salvatore, nearly 4000 feet in height, is covered with forests to the top. A spur from this northern range intersects the southern portion of the island, and is indented throughout its whole extent with numerous valleys, renowned for their fertility both in ancient and modern times.

The ancient Corcyreans delighted to identify their island with the Homeric Scheria, the kingdom of Alcinous and his Phaeacian subjects. It is with a description of this happy isle that nearly a third of the Odyssey is occupied. But the first authentic event in the history of Corcyra is its colonization by the Corinthians. So favourable was the position of Coreyra for trade that in a short time it rivalled the mother country, set it at defiance, and destroyed the fleet which it sent to vindicate its sovereignty. This is the first naval battle on record. (See Corinth.) The Coreyranes were shortly after, however, compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Corinth by the tyrant Periander, the son of Cypselus. After his death they regained their independence; but at the time of the Persian invasion their pusillanimity drew down upon them the contempt of all Greece.

At a subsequent period their dissensions with the parent state brought on the Peloponnesian war. They remained faithful to the Athenian alliance during that war, and repelled several attempts of the Lacedemonians to bring them under the dominion of Sparta. After the death of Alexander, Coreyra experienced various vicissitudes of fortune, but ultimately fell into the hands of Pyrrhus king of Epirus. After his death it was seized by the Illyrian pirates, who retained it till B.C. 229, when it surrendered to the Romans. Under them it became an important naval station in their wars with Greece, and continued to be so till the downfall of the Eastern Empire. From the Romans it passed to the Normans, and from them to the Venetians. In 1797 it shared the fate of the Venetian republic. (For the subsequent history of Corfu see Ionian Islands.)

Coreyra, the chief city of the island, was situated on a peninsula on the east coast, nearly half-way between its northern and southern extremities. It had two excellent harbours, which served for the headquarters of the Coreyran fleet. The only other town of importance in the island was Cassiope, on the N.E. side. Some remains of it, which still exist, are known under the name of Cassopo.