Old Perithia in Corfu

The ghost village of Old Perithia in Corfu, Greece: Old Perithia (or Palea Perithia) is a ghost village on the northern side of Corfu, just 8 km from Kassiopi. Constructed on the slopes of Mount Pantokrator, at an altitude of 650 m, Old Perithia is a wonderful place to visit.

The village was originally established in the 14th century, during the Byzantine times. Its location shows the need of people that time to move from the coastal side and protect themselves from pirate and enemy attacks. Another issue that made people move to the mountainside were the diseases caused by mosquitoes on the coast. When piracy was confronted from the Mediterranean Sea in the late 19th century, some inhabitants started to gradually move to the coasts.

However, the main motif to leave the village was tourism that started to develop after the mid 20th century. Gradually inhabitants abandoned Perithia and moved to the coast. Just a few elderly eventually stayed back to take care of the houses and the livestock, and today only 4-5 old people live there all year round, making Old Perithia an abandoned village.

A walk around the village will impress visitors. Most houses and public buildings were built with the Venetian style. Today these houses are almost ruined, so visitors will see broken window shutters, rusted doors, crumbling stone walls, closed churches and gardens with broken flowerpots. Only in the central square of the village, there is some life due to the five taverns that work in Old Perithia.

Very impressive is also the fact that the village is surrounded by eight churches, showing the deep religious faith of the locals. At the entrance of the village, you can see the bell tower of Saint Jacob from Persia. The school building is also very elegant with the coat of arms of a local noble family at the entrance door. In fact, the school of Old Perithia worked till 1940.

To go there, visitors can take a bus tour or drive to Kassiopi and then follow the road to Loutses and Old Perithia.