The Ephorate of Antiquities of Corfu organized two workshops, at the Meeting Room of the EPH.Α. of Corfu at the Old Fortress, within its participation in “Coastal Heritage Network (CoHeN) project, funded under Interreg V-A Greece-Italy Programme 2014-2020.
The first workshop, held on November 26, 2022, was addressed to teachers of primary and secondary schools of Corfu’s Regional Unit while the second one, held on December 3, 2022, was addressed to tourism stakeholders of both the public and private sector of Corfu’s Regional Unit. Within both workshops there were brief presentations of the CoHeN project and of the monuments in Greece and Italy in which interventions are taking place, with special reference to the project that is implemented by the EPH.Α. of Corfu that concerns the island’s five castles and fortresses (Old Fortress, New Fortress, Angelokastro, Gardiki and Kassiopi Castle). In addition, the workshops included a lecture on the history, architecture and topography of the above-mentioned monuments.
The workshop addressed to teachers aimed to inform them about Corfu’s castles and fortresses in order to utilize them in their teaching and to include them in their school visits as well as to contribute with their pedagogical experience to the designing of future relevant educational material and actions that will promote the connection of the student community with this important part of their cultural heritage. Τhe presentations were followed by an extensive open discussion where interesting views and ideas were exchanged about the prospects of the castles’ and fortresses’ promotion to the local student community. During the workshop a questionnaire was distributed aiming mainly to detect the students’ needs regarding the designing of educational material and actions and to invite the teachers to express their ideas on the subject. The workshop ended with a visit to the Powder House of Versiada at the Old Fortress, where the works within CoHeN project are in progress.
The goal of the second workshop was for tourism stakeholders to consider including Corfu’s castles and fortresses in the promoted tourist routes and tours as well as to contribute to the designing of future relevant informative material and actions for the promotion of the monuments.
Following the presentations an open discussion took place about the prospects of the monuments’ promotion, taking into account the available data regarding the profile of Corfu’s visitors and their preferences as well as the existing limitations. During the workshop a questionnaire was distributed aiming mainly to explore the profile of visitors to Corfu’s castles and fortresses and the possibility to include the less visited castles and fortresses in organized tours.
