Kynopiastes

Kynopiastes is an old, officially characterized, traditional settlement, eight (8) km south of the city of Corfu, two (2) km west of Achilleion, in the island’s heartland, on the slope of a green hill full of olives and cypresses.

Its thousand inhabitants keep their customs and traditions, all of which are worth experiencing with them. These are:

• The carnival events in the village square on Cheesefare Sunday, 50 days before the Orthodox Church Easter.
• The rich rituals of the Holly Week and the Resurrection.
• The lampatines (fires) custom, on the night of Saint John’s Eve, on 23 June.
• The great procession of the Virgin Mary through the village streets, on the afternoon of 15 August, immediately followed by the traditional festival in the village square with local dances for everyone.

The main sights - monuments of the village are:

• The church of Panagia, a three-aisled basilica that has existed since at least the 14th century. Here, the visitor can see old byzantine icons painted in fresco, the stone iconostasis with the early 18th century icons, the church’s exquisite architectural ornaments, and its impressive, corfiot-style, stone belfry.
• The Olive Museum “Don. Paipetis”, an old, well-preserved olive oil press, with its entire equipment, and a collection of tools and utensils of the rural life.
• A monumental olive tree, at Sochoro, one of the oldest on the island, with a base perimeter of 13.80 meters, the age of which is lost in the depths of time.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that Kynopiastes have a rich musical tradition preserved through the village’s Philharmonic orchestra and Choirs, while the visitor can still hear lyrics and melodies of a thousand years of tradition, which accompany the folk events in the cycles of life and time, and participate in them.

In the centre of the village, there are restaurants and recreation establishments for locals and visitors.