PAXI > HISTORY

The island has pursued a course through history which was parallel to that of Corfu. Paxoi supported Corfu against pirate raids and Turkish attacks. However, the island was developed only after the Venetian occupation in 1386.

The castle of St. Nicholas was built in 1453 and although ruined, it still stands proudly on the island. All of the 152 isolated olive oil presses remind the visitor the prosperity the island had.

In 1797, after 411 years of Venetian occupation, Paxoi was handed over to the French revolutionary government. French occupation lasted only 2 years. A successful joint Russian -Turkish siege in 1799 led to the proclamation of an "Eptanisos Republic" (1800). The fledgling republic was under the protectorate of Turkey and Russia.

In 1814, however, the English fleet under Captain (later Sir Richard) Church, with the aid of the Greek freedom fighter Theodoros Kolokotronis, captured the castle and overcame the guard without a shot being fired.

In 1817, a new Constitution was signed, and the "United State of the Ionian Islands" came into being under British protectorate. The British Lord High Commissioner held supreme authority in the islands until 1854 when Paxoi and the rest of the group were formally united to Greece.