Kapodistrias Mansion in Corfu

The Kapodistrias Mansion in Corfu Greece, Ionian: The Mansion of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of the modern Greek State, is among the most impressive buildings of Corfu Old Town. It is located in the quarter of Mouragia, in close distance to the Museum of Asian Art and just above Faliraki. This building and generally this quarter of Corfu can be well seen as the ferry approaches the island from Igoumenitsa or Italy.

This mansion was built in 1840 based on the designs of the architect Ioannis Chronis, on the location of an older mansion of the Kapodistrias family. At the period of the Ionian State, this building was the residence of the president of the Ionian Senat and after the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece, the offices of the Prefecture was housed there.

During the Second World War, this building housed the Italian Military Offices and after the war, the Prefecture was hosted there again. In 1977, the Greek Ministry of Education gave the building to the Ionian University to the house to the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpretation. This department is housed there till today.

The mansion has four floors and an inscription at the entrance reads that Conte Ioannis Kapodistrias was born there in 1776. The interior has an impressive marble staircase that leads to the first and the second floor, wooden ceilings, and arches. Over the last years, many works need to be done for the restoration of the mansion. The building is used for the needs of the University and not as a museum.