Angelokastro (Corfú)

Angelokastro (en el idioma griego: Αγγελόκαστρο (castillo de Angelos o castillo del Ángel); en el idioma véneto: Castel Sant'Angelo; en latín: Castrum Sancti Angeli[1]) es un castillo bizantino[2] en la isla de Corfú, Grecia. Está construido sobre un alcantillado a unos 330 m s. n. m.[1] en la costa noroeste de la isla, cerca del pueblo de Palaiokastritsa.[3]

Vista de la fortaleza desde el pueblo de Krini.
Mapa veneciano de la Isola di Corfu: posseduta dalla Serenissima Republica di Venetia (ca. 1690). Angelokastro figura como "Castello S. Angelo".
Castel Sant Angelo, grabado de Edward Lear.[1]

Formaba parte, junto con el castillo de Gardiki (también bizantino),[4] al sur de la isla, y el castillo de Kassiopi, al noreste,[5] de un triángulo defensivo de la isla.

A partir del 1387 y hasta finales del siglo XVI, Angelokastro fue la capital de la isla y sede del Provveditore Generale del Levante, el gobernador de las islas Jónicas.[1]

Historia
Vista de la cara norte del castillo.

Aunque se desconoce con exactitud cuándo se construyó el castillo, se piensa que data del reinado de Manuel I Comneno –que reinó desde 1143 a 1180–,[3] o por Miguel I Comneno Ducas, también conocido como Miguel I Angelos, el Déspota de Epirus, y quien conquistó a Corfú en 1214.[6]

Se supone, asimismo, que su construcción se debe a la necesidad de proteger a la isla de los piratas genoveses.[6][7]

En 1403, un ejército de 10 000 mercenarios de Génova, comandados por Boucicault, de camino a unirse a las cruzadas, asediaron al castillo durante un año, sin lograr su conquista.[1]

Referencias
  1. Freely, John (en inglés) The Ionian Islands: Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaka and Beyond, pp. 77-79. I. B. Tauris, 2008. Consultado el 10 de abril de 2015.
  2. «The Old Town of Corfu Nomination for inclusion on the World Heritage List STATE PARTY Greece STATE, PROVINCE OR REGION Greece, lonian Islands Region, Corfu Prefecture NAME OF PROPERTY The Old Town of Corfu». UNESCO. p. 29. «One thing is certain, however. The area under plough outside the walls increased, since the village communities multiplied across the entire island (if we are to judge from the Byzantine castles that have survived) in order to protect the fields. They are castles such as Kassiopi, Angelokastro and Gardiki and, of course, the Old Fortress which was the medieval town itself ».
  3. Stamatopoulos, Nondas (1993). Old Corfu: history and culture (3 edición). N. Stamatopoulos. «On a precipitous rocky peak dominating a wide range of coastline around Palaeokastritsa stand the crumbling walls and battlements of the twelfth-century Byzantine Fortress of Angelokastro, not far from the village of Krini. (p. 163.) [...] After a siege lasting a year the invaders were finally driven away by the defenders of the fortress who were helped by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages. Again, during the first great siege of Corfu by the Turks in 1537, Angelocastro successfully resisted attack. About 3,000 villagers had sought refuge within the fortress to escape the fate of the inhabitants of other parts of the island who were ... In 1571, when they once more invaded Corfu, the Ottomans again unsuccessfully attacked, Angelocastro, where 4,000 people had taken refuge. During the second great siege of the city by the Ottomans in 1716, Angelokastro once again served as a refuge for the...During the course of the centuries Angelocastro played an important part in the defence of the island. In 1403 a force of Genoese soldiers, under the command of the French condot- tiere Boucicaut, landed at Palaeokastritsa and attacked the ...The fortress existed in 1272 when it was formally taken over by the Italian Giordano di San Felice in the name of the Angevin rulers of Naples, who held the island of Corfu from 1267 to 1386. (p. 164.)[...]...Angelocastro was probably built during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenos (1143-1180).(p. 164) [...]From the top of Angelocastro the view sweeps far and wide over the hills across the breadth of Corfu, to the town, the Eastern Channel and the mountains on the mainland, over a sheer drop of a thousand feet to the sea below (p. 325.) ».
  4. Young, Martin (1977). Corfu and the Other Ionian Islands. Cape. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-224-01307-9. Consultado el 11 de abril de 2015. Consultado el 10 de abril de 2015.
  5. Philippidēs, Dēmētrēs (1983). Greek Traditional Architecture: Eastern Aegean, Sporades-Ionian Islands 1. Melissa. p. 222. Consultado el 10 de abril de 2015.
  6. A. B. Tataki (Director of Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation) (1983). Corfu: History, Monuments, Museums. Ekdotike Athenon S.A. p. 20. Consultado el 15 de septiembre de 2013. «It was at this time that the fortress of Angelokastro was built on the west coast of the island, to protect the inhabitants against Genoese pirates.[...]Early in the 16th century a Proveditore Generale del Levante was established on Corfu with a three-year term of office: he had supreme authority over the Ionian Islands and commanded the naval force which was stationed at Corfu (p. 21)[...] Angelokastro, one of the Byzantine forts on the island. It was built by Michael Angelos I, Despot of Epiros. (p. 69.) ».
  7. Miller, William. The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece (1204-1566). p. 80. Consultado el 10 de abril de 2015.
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